By Keith Taylor
Special to NKyTribune
NASHVILLE — It all comes down to the top two teams in the Southeastern Conference in the tournament championship.
Kentucky and Texas A&M shared the regular-season title and will battle for the conference title and the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in a game set for 1 p.m. Sunday at Bridgestone Arena.
The Wildcats (25-8) knocked off Georgia 93-80, while the Aggies rolled past LSU 71-38 in the semifinals Saturday. Kentucky has won two tournament titles in Nashville (2010 and 2015) but enters the finale under a different set of circumstances than last season when the Wildcats were an overwhelming favorite to take the title and did so convincingly.
“Last year we were here, it was a different story,” Kentucky guard Tyler Ulis said. “Being in this game is big for us. This is a team that we’re co-champions with (and) we just want to come out and get the win.”
The Aggies edged the Wildcats 79-77 in overtime on Feb. 20 at College Station. A controversial technical foul on Isaac Humphries in the final 12 seconds, resulted in a narrow victory for Texas A&M, a contest that had a bearing on the regular-season title.
Humphries has moved past his mistake in the first game between the two teams and said it won’t affect Kentucky’s preparation.
“It’s just a good opportunity for us to go out again and face them again, and just be able to prove that we can play against them and stuff, because we did lose,” Humphries said. “A lot of people when you lose, people think that you’re not as good as them and stuff like that, but we just have another opportunity now to prove that we can easily play with them.”
Despite the close call during the regular-season, Kentucky knows it can’t take the Aggies for granted.
“This is a team that we have to respect because they beat us the first time,” Kentucky freshman guard Isaiah Briscoe said. “If we play them the way we played (against Georgia) and everybody clicks as a team, I think we can come out with the win.”
Like Humphries, Marcus Lee said the Wildcats aren’t looking back.
“It’s another game,” he said. “We’re not really worried about who we’re playing. We’re just trying to get to the next game and just keep on battling. I mean, it’s a game. Things, sometimes they don’t go your way, just like the first half. We had a couple mistakes that led to something not going our way and you gotta work on that.”
Although the Wildcats have proven they can compete with Texas A&M, the Aggies have been on a roll and carry an eight-game winning streak into the conference finale. Despite a struggle against Florida in the tournament opener, Texas A&M manhandled No. 4 seed LSU 71-38 in the semifinals.
“I’m looking forward to playing them,” Kentucky junior Derek Willis said. “(They are a) good team, I really like the (Alex) Cauruso kid. I think he’s an underrated player in the SEC, like his game. So it’ll be fun. I’m just looking forward to playing them again. It’s getting us ready for the real thing. That’s just what we took from it and it is what it is. We’ll get another shot at them and it’ll be fun.”
Both teams will be fighting for conference tournament bragging rights, they also want to make one last impression before the NCAA selection committee unveils its seeding for the Big Dance.
“I think us and Texas A&M (are) fighting for a good seed,” Calipari said. “We want the highest seed we can get, the best chance to advance.”
Game tracker: Kentucky vs. Texas A&M, 1 p.m., Sunday. TV/Radio: ESPN, 98.1 FM WBUL.
Keith Taylor is a columnist and senior sports writer who covers University of Kentucky athletics for KyForward.com