The SEC Championship lived up to expectation as the conference’s two best teams faced off in an overtime thriller. UK was able to pull out the win thanks to key shots from Derek Willis and Jamal Murray. Ulis led UK with 30 points and Danuel House for Texas A&M scored a game-high 32 points.

MVP: Tyler Ulis

Sophomore point guard came up huge in UK’s OT win over Texas A&M. With his normal go-to scorer Jamal Murray struggling, Ulis was forced to play the role of scorer for the Cats. He played it to perfection, chipping in a career-high 30 points. Ulis hit crucial shots down the stretch and it’s hard to imagine UK pulling out the win without Ulis. 

Game Defining Moment: Murray’s three with 4 minutes left to play

After struggling for most of the game only going 5-14 from the floor, Jamal Murray was able to hit when it mattered most to give UK a 67-60 lead, its biggest lead of the game to that point.

While it was Murray that hit the shot, it was Briscoe who made the play for the most part. Briscoe crashed the glass after Murray’s initial shot and was able to grab the rebound and kick it out to Murray for a second try. Murray was able to capitalize with the extra chance in a big moment of the game.

Trending Up: Isaiah Briscoe’ Play

Freshman Isaiah Briscoe has received criticism all season for his offensive game, but he showed how good he can be, even as a one-dimensional driver, against Texas A&M. Briscoe started his great play in the second half against Georgia.

The guard responded great after being pulled in the first half because a sloppy turnover. He was a great source of offensive driving to the basket and made an impact on the glass for UK in the second half.

Against the Aggies, Briscoe showed much of the same and then some. He had six points in the first half to go along with three rebounds and three assists. He made a couple great plays in the paint whether it was beating his man with his ball-handling, tough finishes at the rim, or finding guys inside with sharp passing.

Briscoe was huge for the Cats in the win finishing with ten points, six assists and five rebounds.

Trending Down: Rebounding

Just like in the first matchup between these two teams, UK struggled mightily with securing defensive rebounds. Freshman center Tyler Davis caused all sorts of problems for the UK frontline as he went off for eight points and nine rebounds.

It also didn’t help that Marcus Lee and Skal Labissiere were in foul trouble for most of the game. UK was out rebounded 41-35 and gave up 17 offensive boards.