Wednesday night was not Kentucky’s night. Texas A&M’s Cats had a difficult night. They didn’t shoot well. They couldn’t rebound well. They turned the ball over.
The Cats managed to win the game with a 64-58 victory in front of the Reed Arena’s largest crowd.
It was a gritty performance from veterans down the stretch Davion MintzAnd Jacob ToppinAs well as freshman TyTy Washington Jr.
Toppin stated, “In a close match like this, it was crazy.” It’s huge that we could stay together while they went on their runs. Big time. It just shows what kind of group it is.”
Kentucky head coach John CalipariHe stressed the last four minutes to his team and the Cats won the game down the stretch tonight.
Toppin said, “Down to the stretch, we definitely played plays that won the game.” “We played much better in the final four minutes. Coach always stressed the last four minutes of a game when we are in a tight game situation. This is how we will finish the game. I believe we did a decent job of finishing this game. While there are still things to be done, that’s only part of basketball. We’re going back to the drawing board to see what needs to be fixed and to get better at it.
UK won despite 17 turnovers exceeding the season average and tied a season record by scoring 36.2 percent. Mintz called it as it was.
Mintz said, “I’m just happy for this team, came home with a win regardless of how ugly that turned out tonight.” “We won. That’s all that matters.”
Calipari was pleased by the willingness of certain players to step up and help the Cats over the hump Wednesday.
“A few guys didn’t play well. Calipari said that it’s okay. You’re not robots, you’re not machines. “Other guys stepped up and played well. Jacob (Toppin), and how did he play? What about Lance (Ware?)? Lance came in when we needed him. And he came in, and we ran an offensive through him. Unbelievable. What happened to TyTy (Washington Jr.)? He turned it over twice while we were going to him. I took him out of the room and said, “hey kid. In a big league, this is who your are?” You can’t make play? You must turn it over. You’ve got the opportunity to prove that you can make baskets. I pushed him back in, and he made two big hoops. He kind of bowed down his neck, and I was happy about that.”
Calipari appreciated that his team showed great fight despite having a low percentage.
“Is that 36 percent? Calipari stated that that’s even better. “That means that you knew you had fight and had to guard. You had to rebound if you wanted to win.”
The Cats stepped up their defense in the final minutes. UK was leading 60-58. TAMU was held scoreless by UK for the final 2 minutes of the game. This covered five Aggie possessions. Toppin attributed this to one thing.
“Pride. Toppin stated that we didn’t take pride in our defense during the first half. “We gave up many straight-line drives, and had a lot turnovers that led into layups. We just pulled it together in the second half and played better basketball, to put it mildly.
Although it wasn’t the most beautiful win, the Cats managed to overcome many obstacles on Wednesday.
