KSR Gameday: Kentucky faces another test at Texas A&M
Tonight, your University of Kentucky Wildcats look to extend their winning streak to four against a team above them in the conference standings. At 8:30 p.m. ET — a very odd time to start a basketball game — the Cats will take on the Texas A&M Aggies at Reed Arena in College Station.
The Aggies aren’t mentioned in the same tier as Kentucky, Auburn, LSU, Tennessee, and Alabama when it comes to SEC Basketball, but they’re 15-2 this season, 4-0 in conference play, and riding an eight-game winning streak. Buzz Williams’ squad leads the SEC in three-point shooting (37.4%) and is second in scoring defense, holding opponents to an average of 62.9 points per game. Their resume is a little odd — they lost to Wisconsin and TCU and beat Notre Dame and Arkansas, but only beat Georgia by two and Missouri by three. The Aggies received votes in both polls this week, but Joe Lunardi has them as the first team out in his latest Bracketology. What gives?
As for Kentucky, you know that the Cats are coming off their most impressive performance of the season, a 28-point beatdown of Tennessee. If that Kentucky team comes to play tonight, it’s hard to imagine Texas A&M keeping up, but strange things happen on the road in the SEC. The Cats have won their last two in Reed Arena, but we all remember the 2016 loss in which Isaac Humphries got T’d up for “slamming” the basketball to the ground. Two years later, the Aggies beat the Shai Gilgeous-Alexander/Kevin Knox squad by 11 too.
T-Shirt Night at Reed Arena
Texas A&M is undefeated at home, a perfect 10-0. The Aggies’ yell leaders will have the crowd rocking and rolling as only they can. It’s t-shirt night, because of course:
The Aggies are also honoring the 1979-80 team that made it to the NCAA Regionals with throwback uniforms:
[Insert complaint about checkerboard uniforms here]
Vegas, TV, Radio
The Cats opened as a 7-point favorite. That line has moved to Kentucky -7.5 in most sportsbooks, with the total set at 144 points. KenPom also favors the Cats by seven, predicting a 77-70 victory and giving Kentucky a 74% chance of winning.
Here’s how you can watch or listen to the game, which, again, tips at the very weird time of 8:30 p.m. ET:
- TV: SEC Network (Mike Morgan and Jon Sundvold)
- AM: 840 WHAS, 630 WLAP
- FM: 98.1 WBUL
- Satellite: Sirus 158, XM 191, SXM App 962
- Online: iHeart Radio
The KSR Pregame Show begins at 6 p.m. ET on 630 WLAP and iHeart Radio. Matt Jones will be in College Station for the game, so have your supper with a side of KSR.
Tale of the Tape
Bruiser Flint, Sahvir Wheeler preview the game
Yesterday, assistant coach Bruiser Flint and point guard Sahvir Wheeler hopped on Zoom with reporters to preview the game. Flint scoffed at the idea of Kentucky overlooking this game with a trip to No. 2 Auburn coming up on Saturday.
“We better handle our business. This team’s in first place in the SEC. You better be ready. You know you’re going to a place where they have — they’re first place in your league. If you think that’s a trap game then you’re crazy.”
This game will be a homecoming of sorts for Sahvir Wheeler, a Houston native. He told reporters yesterday he’ll have plenty of family and friends at the game, but won’t allow it to be a distraction.
“I think I just get more excited knowing the fact that I am in Texas and I’m going to see my family,” Wheeler said. “As far as the game you know, I’m going in there and doing whatever I can to help the team win.”
College Gameday is coming to Kentucky vs. Kansas
In case you missed the news last night, College Gameday is coming to the Phog for the Big 12/SEC Challenge on Jan. 29. For the first time since 2020, Rece Davis, Jay Bilas, LaPhonso Ellis, and Seth Greenberg will be live on location to preview Kentucky vs. Kansas and other big games of the day. I’m making my first trip to Lawrence to cover what should be an incredible atmosphere. Can’t wait.
Calipari and Lucas watched Cason Wallace last night
Calipari and Jai Lucas made a detour on their way to College Station last night, stopping in Dallas to watch Kentucky signee Cason Wallace.
Due to the pandemic, this was the first time Cal’s been able to watch Wallace play in person. The five-star combo guard finished with 15 points in Richardson’s 85-78 win over Lake Highlands. Tre Johnson, one of the top players in the 2024 class, had 37 points for Lake Highlands. While there, they also ran into Tyrese Maxey’s dad:
(Other) College Basketball on TV tonight
First off, did Duke win last night?
The No. 6 Blue Devils lost to Florida State 79-78 in overtime. You love to see it.
In the SEC, No. 24 Tennessee held off Vanderbilt 68-60 at Memorial Gym, Arkansas beat South Carolina 75-59 in Fayetteville, and Missouri routed Ole Miss 78-53.
Here’s tonight’s Top 25 and SEC slate. The LSU vs. Alabama game should help us pass the time to tip-off nicely.
- 6:30 PM (SECN): Mississippi State vs. Florida
- 7:00 PM (ESPN2): No. 13 LSU vs. Alabama
- 8:00 PM (CBSSN): Marquette vs. No. 11 Villanova
- 9:00 PM (ESPNU): Georgia vs. No. 2 Auburn
- 9:00 PM (FS1): No. 20 Xavier vs. DePaul
Wheeler’s honors Joe B. Hall
The folks at Wheeler Pharmacy are honoring one of their favorite patrons this week, a touching tribute to the Kentucky Basketball legend that spent many a morning at that counter talking hoops.
Finally, a message from our friends at Justice Dental:
Step into the Justice Dental Smile Spotlight!
Attention Big Blue Nation! We want to see your smiling faces. KSR and our good friends at Justice Dental are on the look out for your best fan photos. We want to see you in your best blue and white apparel cheering on the ‘Cats. You can also include any stories of how you first became a fan. Do you have any funny game day superstitions? We’d love to hear about those as well.
The best entries will be featured on KSR in our Justice Dental Smile Spotlight series. You can submit your entries by tagging @ksr_ig and @justicedental on Instagram and you can direct message your entries to @ksr_ig on Instagram as well. you can also use the hashtag #KSRSmileSpotlight on Twitter. We look forward to seeing your Justice Dental Smile Spotlight fan photos. Go Cats!
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