Texas A&M
8-1016-14; SEC
Kentucky
16-226-5; SEC
Men's Basketball Drops Home Finale to No. 9 Kentucky
Mar 04, 2017 | Men's Basketball
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- De'Aaron Fox scored 19 points and No. 9 Kentucky overcame an early 15-point deficit to defeat Texas A&M 71-63 on Saturday and claim the Southeastern Conference regular-season title outright.
Kentucky won its fifth regular-season SEC championship in eight seasons under coach John Calipari.
The Aggies (16-14, 8-10) leaped to a 19-4 lead 8 minutes into the game, as the Wildcats (26-5, 16-2) missed nine of their first 10 shots. A&M's big lead early only seemed to ignite the Wildcats, as Kentucky closed the first half with a 28-9 run.
Admon Gilder led the Aggies with 22 points and Robert Williams added 20.
The Aggies closed the gap to 55-51 with 6:10 remaining when Kentucky's Isaiah Briscoe and Derek Willis responded with consecutive baskets, the latter a 3-pointer that bounced off the front of the rim before falling through with 4:13 remaining.
The swifter Wildcats held a 14-4 advantage on the fast break.
Texas A&M Basketball
Postgame Notes
#9 Kentucky 71, Texas A&M 63
March 4, 2017 - Reed Arena (College Station, Texas)
RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
- Texas A&M closed out the regular season with a 71-63 loss to No. 9 Kentucky on Saturday inside Reed Arena … The setback left the Aggies' overall record this season at 16-14 with a final 8-10 mark in league play.
- The all-time series between the schools now stands at 8-3 in favor of UK.
TEAM NOTES
- Texas A&M opened the game on a 16-2 run as the Wildcats started 1-of-11 from the field … UK, however, recovered from the slow start to score 28 of the next 30 of the game's next 42 points and take a 32-28 lead into the intermission.
- The Aggies notched 17 assists on 23 made field goals while shooting 40.4 percent for the game (23-of-57).
- A&M used the starting lineup combination of Admon Gilder, JC Hampton, Tonny Trocha-Morelos, Tavario Miller and Tyler Davis for the first time this season (0-1).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Junior Tonny Trocha-Morelos notched career-high 10 assists in the contest, becoming the first Aggie to register double-digit dimes since Alex Caruso collected 11 assists at Missouri on Feb. 7, 2015 … Trocha-Morelos also carded five rebounds as well as a career-high-tying three blocks in 38 minutes of action.
- Rookie Robert Williams notched his team-leading 11th double-double of the season, finishing with a career-best 20 points to go along with 11 boards … The Oil City, La., native also blocked a pair of Wildcat shots to mark his 22nd multi-block game of the season and extend his school-record blocked shot streak to 30 games.
- Sophomore Tyler Davis also approached a double-double, ending play with 11 points and eight rebounds.
- Sophomore Admon Gilder hit the 20-point mark for the fifth time in his last 14 games, finishing with 22 points, five rebounds, four assists and a steal.
- Texas A&M head coach Billy Kennedy fell to 115-84 in his sixth season at Texas A&M and 326-263 in 19
seasons as head coach.
UP NEXT
- Texas A&M is Nashville-bound for the 2017 SEC Tournament which will take place March 8-12 at Bridgestone Arena … The Aggies will be the field's No. 10 seed and play their first game in Nashville at 6 p.m. on Thursday against a yet to be determined opponent.
Texas A&M Basketball
Kentucky 71, Texas A&M 63
Mar. 4, 2017 ? Reed Arena (College Station, TX)
TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH BILLY KENNEDY
Opening Statement...
"I thought we executed our game plan and gave ourselves every chance to win, but not making free throws and not making enough plays that you have to make against a team like Kentucky. I thought De'Aaron Fox was really good in the second half. He played with a lot of poise and was the difference in the second half."
On the quick start...
"Our guys were ready. They did what we asked them to do. Defensively, we tried to take the pick and roll away in the middle of the floor. Offensively we went inside, moving the ball side to side. But you have to give Kentucky credit for never breaking. I thought if we had made some free throws in the second half to put a little pressure on them, we would have been in this game.
TEXAS A&M SOPHOMORE CENTER TYLER DAVIS
On the SEC Tournament...
"Just take it one game at a time. It doesn't matter who we are playing. The next game is the most important."
On Bam Adebayo...
"You just know going into a game against him that it's going to be a fight. That's exactly what it was. We had to get those offensive rebounds, play offense and defense the right way and just execute. He likes contact. Not a lot of big's these days play that way. So it's a different kind of game. It's fun and a good experience.
On the start...
"We were doing our job. We played defense well. Guys were on their assignments I think in the end it came down to doing the little things. Missing those free throw was huge When you have a chance to score you have to score."
KENTUCKY HEAD COACH JOHN CALIPARI
Opening statement...
"De'Aaron (Fox) was ridiculous, both the energy that he showed, his defensive plays, his drives and the three-point plays. He has given this team such a lift. But what is happening, there is only few thing we can do. We can't start six, we can only start five, and I have great kids."
On slow starts…
"How we practice, what we are doing defensively, what we are doing offensively, because a lot of time it maybe be technical. But the other side of it is it maybe one or two players, and if you're aggressive you can see who they are right away. Then it is hey, you two out, you're killing us. This was a hard game because, Billy has done a great job. I watched the game against Florida and I went oh man, they had Florida beat, they should have won the game. A&M is playing the way this team needs to play and get the ball where they need to get the ball. Robert [Williams] played, 20 and 13, he just absolutely killed us. So knowing that and knowing what I saw here I was a little worried coming into the game. This is for your seed, this is all about your seed, and this is not about this game. The better your seed, better for advancing, and what you want is force them to give you the seed you deserve, and to do that you have got to win games."
KENTUCKY SENIOR FORWARD DEREK WILLIS
Starting off slow...
It's just how it is. Some games Malik (Monk) isn't going to be on. We can't depend on him to have these 20-point scoring games every night. That's where everybody steps up. Dom (Hawkins) came in and kind of saved us. He pressured their guards and he had a solid game despite some fouls.
On Tyler Davis and Robert Williams...
"Those are two big dudes. Williams is strong player, real athletic and long. I was trying to box him out during free throws and he was pretty much jumping over me. He's nice player and a lot to deal with. Glad we came out on top."
KENTUCKY FRESHMAN GUARD DE'AARON FOX
First half play...
"We've been going through stuff trying to fix it. We picked up the intensity in the middle, taking the lead right before half time and we kept it going throughout the game."
Playing close to home...
"It was fun to be able to play in front of family and friends. I knew most of the students out here tonight. It doesn't necessarily motivate me because the last few games I've been playing in front of friends and I've been playing my best basketball. It's just fun to do it front of friends."
