By Keith Taylor
Special to NKyTribune
Kentucky’s top nemesis in the Southeastern Conference has changed during the past five years.
Although traditional rivals Florida, Vanderbilt and even Arkansas have given the Wildcats their share of headaches, add Texas A&M to the list of teams the Wildcats have struggled against since the Aggies joined the league more than five years ago.
Since its arrival, Texas A&M has defeated the Wildcats twice, including a 79-77 victory last season at College Station. The other encounters also have been close, with four of the past five games decided in overtime. The Aggies shared the regular-season title with the Wildcats a year ago but Kentucky claimed the tournament crown with an 82-77 overtime victory over the Aggies last year in Nashville.
“They’re a worthy and terrific opponent for us,” Calipari said. “They’ve always been excited about playing us and we’ve been excited about playing them, and that’s why the games have been so strong.”
Calipari has compiled a 5-2 mark against the Aggies, but as the Kentucky coach noted, only two of those games have been decided by double digits.
“I can remember them coming here and beating us at our place and the kid getting 41 and our fans giving him a standing ovation when he walked off the court,” Calipari said. “I can still remember that. The games that we had – even the team that was 38-0 ended up going there and it was an overtime game and I can’t believe we won the game.”
Calipari said last year’s finish at College Station, a loss that cost the Wildcats the top seed in the conference tournament and a 70-64 victory that went to overtime two years ago has been indicative of the recent series between the two foes.
“(In 2015) I think something happened that we got the ball late and ended up Karl Towns or Trey Lyles,” he said. “I believe it was Trey, went crazy late in the game that we won. And then down there last year the technical foul on Isaac changed the game. There’s been stuff in every game we’ve played with them. They’ve all been hard.”
Kentucky senior Derek Willis said a big reason the Aggies have been tough to beat in the past is because “they’ve been a well-rounded team.”
“They have veteran players, they play well, they don’t make a lot of mistakes, and if you make a mistake they make you pay for it,” Willis said. “I think it was my sophomore year we had the 38-1 team that came down to, I think it was overtime, I think Trey Lyles came through for us and got us the win. They’re just a really well-coached team, really good team to play against. You learn a lot when you play against them. Pretty excited to see what’s in store (Tuesday).”
As has been the case in the past, Texas A&M is top-heavy in the post, anchored by Tyler Davis, who leads the team in scoring with 13.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.
“(His size is) a huge factor, but he plays one or two moments ahead in the game,” Kentucky assistant coach Tony Barbee said. “He’s always angling for position in the post. He’s always angling before a shot is taken to get offensive rebound position. It’s what makes him so effective down there. He’s very similar to Bam (Adebayo) in that way. Bam thinks the game the same way. He’s always a step or two ahead of his opponent. That’s what the better players do. They see the game ahead and a little faster paced then other guys do.”
Kentucky is coming off a 99-76 victory over Ole Miss in its conference opener, while the Aggies (8-4) lost to Tennessee 73-63 at College Station. Despite the loss to the Volunteers, Calipari isn’t taking Texas A&M for granted.
“Billy (Kennedy) is a hell of a coach, he gets his teams ready,” Calipari said. “Thhey’re going to be well coached, they’re disciplined in what they do, they go after their big kid, they know how they’re playing and he does a great job of fighting for position. They’re running good stuff, they’re playing a lot of zone, they’ll play that 1-3-1, they mix it up. If something works he sticks with it on both offense and defense.”
Barbee agreed and said Texas A&M’s defense is the Aggies’ main component.
“That’s why they’ve played our team so well — because of how well they played defensively and how physical they are,” Barbee said. “It’s why they’ve been one of the best teams in this conference since Billy’s taken over at Texas A&M. It’s going to be a fist fight. All of our games have been. They’ve been down to the wire, so we expect nothing less.”
Gametracker: Texas A&M at Kentucky, 9 p.m., Tuesday. TV/Radio: ESPN, 98.1 FM WBUL.
Keith Taylor is a senior sports writer for KyForward, where he primarily covers University of Kentucky sports. Reach him at keith.taylor@kyforward.com or @keithtaylor21 on Twitter