UK looks to sweep season series against Texas A&M on the road

Kentucky freshman guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looks for a path to the basket during the game against Texas A&M on Tuesday, January 9, 2018 in Lexington, Kentucky. Kentucky won 74-73. Photo by Arden Barnes | Staff

Pranavdeep Singh

The No. 24 Kentucky Wildcats will visit Reed Arena Saturday to take on the Texas A&M Aggies in their second meeting of the season. A win for the Cats would complete another season sweep over the Aggies.

In their previous matchup, then-ranked No. 21 Kentucky got the best of the Aggies 74-73.

Junior center Tyler Davis led the way for the Aggies with 21 points, along with five rebounds. Guard Admon Gilder added 14 points and forward Robert Williams amassed 12 points and eight rebounds off the bench.

For the Cats, freshman guard Hamidou Diallo led the way with 18 points, with both forward P.J. Washington and guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scoring 16 points. Kevin Knox scored 15 points while shooting perfectly from the field and from three.

The Cats are coming into this game trying not to lose three straight games, with a tough loss to No. 15 Tennessee last game. UK has never lost three games in a row under John Calipari, who started coaching the Cats in 2009.

The Cats are coming into this game needing to shoot better from three, as they have shot 5-34 in the last two games. UK also needs to play better as a team, as they only contributed 16 assists in their last two losses.

Everyone will be looking to the freshmen Knox and Gilgeous-Alexander to carry the offensive load. They are averaging 14.9 and 12.8 points per game, respectively. 

On the other side, the Aggies are coming off a big upset of the No. 8 Auburn Tigers, holding off 81-80 to win at Auburn Arena.

For the Aggies, Davis and Gilder lead the team in points per game with 14.4 and 11.6, respectively. Davis is also second on the team with 8.9 rebounds per game.

As of Friday evening, ESPN’s Basketball Power Index gives the Aggies a 67.9 percent chance to win. The game will be broadcast on ESPN at 8:15 p.m.