Antonio Reeves made two 3-pointers late in the second half and scored 23 points in all on Saturday, lifting host Kentucky to a 76-67 victory over Texas A&M in Lexington, Ky.
Reeves broke a 53-53 tie on a 3-pointer with 8:30 to play and then hit a second triple with 5:54 left that put the Wildcats up 63-57 in a physical and tightly contested game.
Reeves finished with five made 3-pointers and Jacob Toppin added 17 points as the Wildcats (13-6, 4-3) won their third in a row and snapped Texas A&M’s seven-game winning streak. CJ Frederick and Cason Wallace scored 12 and 11 points, respectively for Kentucky, which made 11 3-pointers.
The Aggies (13-6, 5-1) lost despite 22 points from Tyrece Radford, who scored all but two of those points in the second half. Julius Marble had 12 points and Dexter Dennis and Henry Coleman III added 10 apiece for the Aggies, who were 16-of-16 from the free-throw line.
Reigning national player of the year Oscar Tshiebwe, who torched Georgia for 37 points and 24 rebounds on Tuesday, did not score in the first half for the Wildcats.
Foul trouble limited his playing time. He finished with seven points and 18 rebounds.
There was a delay three minutes into the second half as officials discussed if the elbow Tshiebwe unleashed at Marble was intentional while the two were running down the court.
At the end of the play, Marble pushed Tshiebwe to the floor. Both players were called for a Flagrant 1.
Tshiebwe finally scored with 13:55 to play on a layup that put the Wildcats up 47-44.
A&M pulled in front 51-47 nearly two minutes later after a 3-pointer by Radford.
Reeves’ 3-pointer gave the Wildcats the lead for good.
Both teams struggled to find a rhythm early before a back and forth battle featuring 10 ties and 11 lead changes ensued.
The Aggies led 29-23 with a little over three minutes left in the first half after three consecutive layups by Marble, who beat the defense down the floor each time.
–Field Level Media
