By Keith Taylor
Special to NKyTribune
Kentucky overcame another slow start and found a way to win without its leading scorer providing the heroics.
For the third straight contest, the ninth-ranked Wildcats fell behind by double digits only to rally to keep their eight-game winning streak intact going into the postseason. This time Kentucky erased an early 15-point deficit and escaped with a 71-63 triumph over the Aggies Saturday.
The victory was the eighth straight to conclude the regular season for the Wildcats, who claimed their fifth outright league title in John Calipari’s eight seasons at the school.
BOXSCORE: Kentucky 71, Texas A&M 63
Kentucky (25-5, 16-2 Southeastern Conference), the top seed in next week’s conference tournament, opens the postseason Friday. The four-day event begins Wednesday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
Kentucky guard De’Aaron Fox led three players in double figures with 19 points. Fox scored 15 of those in the second half to give the Wildcats their fourth straight road win since suffering an 88-66 loss at Florida on Feb. 4.
Fox picked up the slack for Kentucky leading scorer Malik Monk, who tallied a season-low six points against the Aggies. Monk made just two field goals on 10 attempts and missed all four of his shots from long range.
Bam Adebayo followed Fox with 13 points. Adebayo missed just one field goal on seven attempts from the field and collected eight rebounds.
Senior Derek Willis chipped in with 11 points and drained three of Kentucky’s seven 3-pointers, including a clutch trey with 3:39 remaining that sealed the deal for the Wildcats.
Kentucky missed seven straight field goals to open the game before Willis connected on the team’s first basket at the 15:05 mark of the first half. Willis, along with fellow classmates Dominique Hawkins and Mychal Mulder combined for 16 of Kentucky’s 32 points in the opening half and kept the Wildcats from suffering a complete meltdown.
Hawkins scored eight points and dished out three assists off the bench for the Wildcats, who led 32-28 at the half.
Fox scored the first eight points of the second half for Kentucky never relinquished its lead, while the Aggies couldn’t get no closer than four during the final 20 minutes.
Isaiah Briscoe finished with seven points and added six rebounds and a team-high eight assists.
Gametracker: Kentucky vs. TBA, 1 p.m., Friday at SEC Tournament, Nashville. TV/Radio: SEC Network, 1530 WSAI AM.
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