No. 6 Kentucky rallied late in regulation to force overtime, but the Cats could not get past Texas A&M, falling 97-92 on Saturday at Reed Arena in College Station, Texas.
Antonio Reeves scored 22 points to lead the Cats, making 5 of 10 from behind the arc. D.J. Wagner had 18 points and four assists.
Kentucky (12-3, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) got 15 points from Rob Dillingham and 13 points, six rebounds and three steals from Reed Sheppard.
Early in the game, the Aggies were hot from the floor. A&M used the three-point shot to build an early 15-8 advantage. Kentucky would tie the game by scoring seven in a row, including a three from Reeves.
Texas A&M then went on an 11-3 run to take an eight-point lead, 26-18. Kentucky got a three from Justin Edwards and layups from Rob Dillingham and Wagner to get within four, 31-27. But again, A&M had an answer, scoring the next seven points to take a 38-27 advantage with 5:20 left in the half.
The Cats would chip away at the lead for the remainder of the half. Reeves stayed hot and, with 17 seconds left in the half, his three put UK up 45-44. However, Wade Taylor made a pair of free throws with seven seconds left in the half to give the Aggies a 46-45 lead at the half.
Kentucky took an early second-half lead on a Reeves three. After an A&M basket, Edwards hit a three and the Cats led 51-49.
From there, the game would be extremely tight. There were five ties throughout the remainder of regulation. Kentucky was down five late before Dillingham hit three three-pointers in a row to tie the game at 87-87. After A&M took an 89-87 lead with seven seconds left, Sheppard was fouled with just 0.5 seconds to play. The freshman made both free throws to tie the game and send it to overtime.
However, Kentucky went cold in overtime. The Cats would miss all eight of their shots from the field in the extra time. UK’s only three points in overtime came from the free throw line.
Kentucky returns to action on Wednesday night, hosting Mississippi State at Rupp Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and the game can be seen on ESPN2.
