Kentucky hopes to keep its home-court advantage going on Saturday when it faces Texas A&M in a Southeastern Conference game in Lexington, Ky.
The Wildcats have lost just once in 11 games at Rupp Arena this season, dodging their second home defeat Tuesday in an 85-71 win over Georgia.
Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe imposed his will in that game, helping the Wildcats (12-6, 3-3 SEC) erase an eight-point halftime deficit. The 6-foot-9 standout finished with 37 points and 24 rebounds.
“Oscar was a video game,” Kentucky coach John Calipari told the Lexington Herald Leader.
The Wildcats’ Antonio Reeves was impressed as well.
“He surprised me because I’d never really seen him go crazy like that,” Reeves said.
Tshiebwe leads Kentucky with averages of 17.2 points and 13.8 rebounds per game. Reeves is averaging 12.1 points.
The Wildcats hope to get more of the same from Tshiebwe when they face the Aggies (13-5, 5-0), who are coming off a 54-52 win over Florida on Tuesday for their seventh consecutive victory.
Julius Marble has been an integral part of that success, particularly in conference play, where he’s averaging 15.6 points per game in the Aggies’ five SEC wins. He has increased his overall scoring average to 9.9 points a game.
“We’re in SEC play,” Marble told 12thman.com. “It means a whole lot more. Every game is going to be a battle, and you have to stay focused throughout.”
Marble ranks third on the Aggies in scoring; Wade Taylor IV leads the team with an average of 15.2 points per game.
Texas A&M is 8-2 over its past 10 games and is averaging 72.8 points per outing while holding opponents to 61.
–Field Level Media
