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By Hayden Kennedy
Eighth-ranked Kentucky played host to the 11th-ranked Texas A&M Aggies before a packed Rupp Arena crowd Tuesday night with the Wildcats winning 81-69. UK improved its overall mark to 14-3 with 3-1 in the highly competitive SEC.
This marked UK coach Mark Pope's fifth win over a Top 15 opponent this season.
Kentucky would start the game slow, only scoring 35 points in the first half. Three-pointers from Travis Perry and Jaxson Robinson to start the second half would spark Kentucky never to look back.
Robinson, playing against his former team, delivered a standout performance for the second game in a row. He scored 22 points, shooting 8 of 17 from the field and 5 of 13 from three-point range.
“Well, just treating tonight like every other game. We come in with the same mentality,” Robinson said of his outstanding performance. “Regardless of who we're playing, and we have bigger goals, trying to win championships. So, as far as just my confidence, I think my teammates and my coaches are doing a great job of just instilling it in me. And it showed tonight.”
Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams had high praise for Robinson. “I have always thought he has had a great spirit," he said. "I guess we have known him since he was a sophomore in high school. Incredible mom, incredible dad, great story on what his career has unfolded to be. One of the best players in his class. I know he reclassified but it is hard for me to compare his spirit. I think he is excited. They are good enough to win the national championship.”
Kentucky dominated the glass in impressive fashion, outrebounding an Aggie team known for its prowess on the boards by a margin of 10.
Coach Mark Pope, in the post-game press conference, said, “For us to be 40 to 30 (rebounds vs. Texas A&M) and we are going to out-offensive rebound them by one (12 to 11), and we are going to hold two of the best offensive rebounders in the entire country, their starting five and backup five to only one offensive rebound between them. That's an epic effort by our guys and I'm really proud. I'm saying that because we have so much respect for what Texas A&M does on the glass. They are incredible on the glass. They offensive rebound 44 percent of the opportunities, that's an insane number. And they came in as number one in the country.”
The Wildcats will face the fourth-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide Saturday in Rupp Arena at 12:00 pm ET. The contest will be shown on ESPN with Jay Bilas and Dan Shulman on the call.
Hayden Kennedy, a recent UK graduate, is a contributing writer from Lexington.
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