Kentucky begins its postseason run tonight against the Texas A&M Aggies. It’s been a while since Kentucky has won this event and this year the path has opened up nicely.
When: Friday. March 15th, at 7pm ET
Where: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN
Channel: SECN
Texas A&M So Far
On January 13th the Aggies got an important Quad 1 win by beating Kentucky 97-92 in OT. The win seemingly got their season back on track. They followed that up with a double digit win at home against Tennessee a month later and things were looking up. Then in mid-February the Aggies had 5 game swoon that included a last second loss to Vandy and two separate blowouts against Alabama and Tennessee.
Buzz Williams has been able to right the ship as A&M is coming into this game winning 4 straight (including back-to-back wins over Ole Miss). Despite the Aggies’ 13 losses this will still be another Quad 1 opportunity as Texas A&M sits 46th in the NET.
How Does Kentucky Matchup
This another tough matchup for Kentucky. A&M has two very good guards in Wade Taylor and Tyrece Radford who both lit Kentucky up back in January scoring 31 and 28 respectively. Even during Kentucky’s resurgence, the Cats have struggled to stay in front of crafty guards. A&M is also the best offensive rebounding team in the country. In College Station, Kentucky gave up an embarrassing 25 offensive rebounds and that was really the difference in the game. Last night against Ole Miss, the Aggies grabbed 21 OREB so this isn’t just a fluke. This is who they are and I expect them to fight like hell to do it again tonight. Importantly, Adou Thiero did not play in that first matchup. Having someone with his physical profile back in the lineup should help.
Defensively, A&M is not particularly good but they do fly around and use their physicality (they foul a lot) to disrupt offenses. In the first matchup Kentucky really struggled and seemed overwhelmed at times. Kentucky was rushed into some poor shots (especially early). The Cats were still able to put up 92 points (89 in regulation) despite not playing particularly well thanks to the pace of the game. The resurgence of Justin Edwards and the additional offensive versatility of Big Z both change the equation. Kentucky is a lot harder to guard than they were in January.
Player To Watch
Wade Taylor IV is the one to watch. The team hasn’t been as good as everyone thought in the preseason but Wade Taylor is still one of the best guards in the country. When he’s hitting contested shots (he did in the first matchup) he’s virtually unguardable. He has been streaky in terms of shooting as he’s dropped 30% from three on the season but he rarely has two bad shooting games in a row. He was 5/15 from the floor last night against Ole Miss including 2/8 from 3. I’d expect him to have a big game tonight.
Who Wins
A&M is still fighting for their tournament life. As of last night’s games, Joe Lunardi had the Aggies as the last team in the field and a win against Kentucky probably guarantees them a spot in the field. Much like they did in January, Kentucky is probably going to get A&M’s best effort tonight.
Kentucky wins 89-82 but I expect this to be a war. Buzz Williams is a good coach and usually has good showings in the SEC Tournament.
Go Cats.
