Aggies Suffer First SEC Loss in Scrappy Game vs. Kentucky
The Texas A&M Aggies have come alive as conference play has begun.
But they ran into a hungry and under-achieving Kentucky Wildcats (13-6, 4-3) squad at the wrong time, as A&M (13-6, 5-1) fell 76-67 in Lexington on Saturday for the team's first SEC loss of the season.
Both teams battled both before and after the whistle all game long, as there were multiple instances where the officials had to review excessive contact on hard fouls.
Kentucky star big man Oscar Tshiebwe - who was held scoreless in the first half four days after having 37 points and 24 rebounds on Tuesday - caught some rhythm in the second half amid some bruising battles with Texas A&M bigs Henry Coleman III and Julius Marble.
Tshiebwe finished with seven points and 17 rebounds on Saturday, while Antonio Reeves came off the bench for a game-high 23 points.
The Aggies were led by Tyrece Radford (22 points), Marble (12 points) and Dexter Dennis (10 points, six rebounds). The team turned the ball over 16 times and went just 3 of 16 from 3-point range.
In the first half, the Aggies used some fearless defense to jump out to a 29-23 lead and led 31-29 headed into the break.
But after some continued physical play to begin the second half, the Wildcats started to turn the corner, as they used a 7-0 run in the late stages of the game to take a 58-53 lead. A&M wasn't able to recover after a pair of three-minute scoring droughts.
The Aggies will now look to start a new conference winning streak on Wednesday when they visit the No. 16 Auburn Tigers.
You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7
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