Kentucky basketball (13-6) seems to have found its way back on track after a quick three-game turnaround.

After losing to South Carolina at home one week ago, Kentucky has now won three straight, most recently defeating Texas A&M 76-67 on Saturday inside Rupp Arena. 

The victory against the Aggies saw Kentucky improve to 4-3 in SEC play and saw John Calipari’s squad move back into the top five of the league standings. 

By the nature of any important win, there were plenty of things to take away from the victory and, with that said, three main points of interest can be taken from the game.

Jacob Toppin has found his rhythm

After recording an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double in the win over Georgia earlier this week, and his gutsy performance against Tennessee prior, Toppin continued to play well on Saturday, recording 17 points against the Aggies.

Going 7-12 from the field, Toppin added four boards and five assists with two steals and a blocked shot on defense to highlight the versatility he adds to Calipari’s squad. In fact, the team is currently 4-0 this season when he scores at least 17.

Toppin’s performances in the last three wins for the Cats are something that have not gone unnoticed by Calipari, with the hall of famer crediting the former Rhode Island Ram’s mindset as a important factor in the recent difference of play. 

“He’s getting better,” Calipari said. “He’s learning to mix it up but, see, grit is not just physical and, ‘I’m going to fight somebody.’ Grit is, ‘I missed two baskets, and it doesn’t affect my defense, and I still rebound. I go 1-8, but I get 11 rebounds and I guard.’ That is grit.”

Antonio Reeves makes the team better

Illinois State transfer Antonio Reeves caught fire in Lexington on Saturday. Coming off the bench, Reeves led the Wildcats to victory with a season-high 23 points, his 14th double-figure game of the season.

Following the impressive performance against the Aggies, Reeves is averaging 17 points per game and is shooting 45.3% from the field and 38.2% from beyond the arc in his last five games. On top of that, Reeves is shooting 87.5% from the free-throw line.

In the game against Texas A&M specifically, Reeves made five 3-pointers, one shy of his career best, and, with 8:29 remaining, hit a 3-pointer that broke a tie to give the Wildcats a lead they would never surrender at 56-53. 

“It felt great. It feels like I was working hard,” Reeves said. “It feels like it just paid off as soon as I got in the game. Some of them were open so I could take my time and just relax when I was out there, and it just ended up falling.” 

With the addition of CJ Fredrick, who himself is also on an upwards trajectory, the 3-point shooting of Kentucky can now cause issues for opposing teams, something that had been expected of the team earlier this season but hadn’t truly come to fruition. 

3-point shots make a difference 

Perhaps the biggest difference that led to Kentucky’s victory on Saturday was the fact that the Cats outshot the Aggies from beyond the arc, going 11-32 as opposed to Texas A&M, which went just 3-16 from deep. 

With the emergence of Fredrick and Reeves as consistent shooters, Kentucky is proving to be the serious threat that many thought this team was originally going to be.

Fredrick himself went just 2-10 from deep, but the 12 points from the Cincinnati native were pivotal in lifting the Cats over the second-best team in the SEC standings entering the game.

Chris Livingston, however, did not miss from 3-point range, hitting on both of his attempts from beyond the arc as Toppin and Cason Wallace also both nailed a three themselves, and that’s on top of Reeves’ aforementioned 23-point performance, with the veteran going 5-11 from beyond the arc.

With Kentucky attempting the most 3-pointers in a game since 2011, the heavier weighted points were integral in keeping the team in the game against an Aggies team that, until the end, had been shooting over 50% from the field for the majority of the matchup. 

While it’s a rarity for the team to rely on the deep ball so much, if the team can knock down wide-open shots when presented with the opportunity, the rest of the SEC will be in trouble against this Kentucky squad going forward.