Written by: Ainsley Saurers
“Just keep shooting. That is all my teammates and coaches are telling me. I missed the
first four, but I knew eventually one was going to fall. Once it went in, I just stayed
confident.” Said Jaxson Robinson, who was the highest scoring player for Kentucky
Men’s Basketball during the Tuesday night game against Texas A&M.
No.8 Kentucky Basketball pulled out a win against No.11 Texas A&M in front of a crowd
of 20,039 people in Rupp Arena.
Kentucky came out fast scoring the first points of the game thanks to a layup from
Andrew Carr who intercepted the ball from Amari Williams. A&M made a three, but
Kentucky didn’t give the Aggies long before Jaxson Robinson had a reverse lay up.
Robinson, still hot, hit a three securing the Cats a 7-3 advantage.
The Aggies put some more points on the board but it was short lived when Carr scored
keeping the Cats in the lead 11-6. A&M found their footing and managed to score the
next 12 points, finally putting themselves in the lead 18-11. Thanks to a free throw from
Robinson, leaving them four points from regaining the lead 18-14.
A&M continued to grow their lead with some free throws of their own, but Ansley
Almonor kept Kentucky on the Aggies’ heels making three free throws leaving the score
at 20-17. Kolby Brea put the Cats even closer with two free throws, the score now
20-19. The Aggies scored a two putting, but Almonor hit a three now tying the game
22-22.
The Aggies reacted with a three putting them back in the lead 25-22 and Lamon Butler
didn’t let them get comfortable making two free throws putting Kentucky within one
25-24. A&M hit another three, and Robinson scored one of his own, still keeping
Kentucky within one 28-27. Both teams managed to each score a three of their own
putting them at 31-30. A&M had some free throws and Butler found the basket tying
Kentucky 32-32. Robinson managed a three within the last four seconds of the half,
pushing Kentucky back into the lead 35-32.
Otega Oweh opened up the second half with a pair of free throws and Travis Perry
managed a three helping continue to grow the Cats lead 40-32 pushing A&M into a
timeout. Coming out of the timeout Robinson managed another three putting the score
at 43-32. A&M managed one basket, but Perry scored another three, not letting the
Aggies get close with 46-34. With another bucket from A&M, Carr scored keeping UK
48-36.
Oweh’s hands found the rim with a dunk, the score now at 50-38. Amari Williams
plucked an offensive rebound and popped it back in stretching the Cats lead 52-41. The
Aggies would make another bucket before Oweh stole the ball and put it in the basket,
54-43. Brandon Garrison wanted to get in on the dunk action and managed one of his
own, extending the lead 56-43.
A&M got hot and managed to score five points in a row, creeping up 56-48. Brea put
some distance back after hitting a three, 59-48. The Aggies were still hot and showed it
by scoring another five in a row with just under 7 minutes left.
Williams made use of those 7 minutes hitting two free throws and Robinson had a
jumper pushing the Cats further into a 10 point lead 63-53. A&M only managed to make
one of two before Robinson grabbed the rim with a dunk of his own making it 65-54.
With a little more than three minutes left remaining, the Aggies made two free throws,
but Carr gave the Cats a 69-58 lead with a three-point play. A&M only managed one
more basket before Garrison landed two free throws to make it 71-60. With now less
than 3 minutes left, the Aggies’ landed three free throws, but the Cats scored six
consecutive points securing the win.
Kentucky will be hosting No.4 Alabama at Rupp Arena this Saturday at 12 P.M. ET.
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