Jaxson Robinson hit for 22 points and No. 8 Kentucky won the battle of the boards and the paint in an 81-69 victory over No. 11 Texas A&M on Tuesday in a key early-season Southeastern Conference clash in Lexington, Ky.
Kentucky (14-3, 3-1 SEC) had a three-point lead at halftime that it expanded to a dozen less than four minutes into the second half. Short-handed Texas A&M (13-4, 2-2) whittled that margin to six with just under seven minutes to play, but the Wildcats pushed their lead to 63-53 less than a minute later and maintained at least an eight-point cushion the rest of the way.
The Wildcats outrebounded Texas A&M 40-30, earned a 28-22 edge in points in the paint and forged a 24-16 advantage in made free throws in a gritty game.
Andrew Carr added 13 points for Kentucky while Otega Oweh had 11 and Amari Robinson grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds. Robinson had eight boards and Lamont Butler dished out a game-high seven assists.
Zhuric Phelps led Texas A&M with 21 points, with Pharrel Payne adding 15 and Manny Obaseki scoring 12. The Aggies dropped their second straight contest after a nine-game winning streak.
Texas A&M played its third straight game without leading scorer Wade Taylor IV, who is nursing a left groin injury.
After an early A&M lead, Kentucky swung back, tying the game at 22 when Ansley Almonor canned a 3-pointer with 4:56 left. The Aggies regained the lead by as many as four before Kentucky surged answered again, getting a pair of free throws by Butler with 52 seconds remaining to knot the game at 32.
Robinson’s 3-pointer with four seconds left gave the Wildcats a 35-32 lead at the break.
Robinson led all scorers in the first half with 15 while Phelps paced the Aggies with 11.
Kentucky roared out of the gate after halftime, scoring the initial eight points and 11 of the first 13, taking a 46-34 lead when Travis Perry poured in a 3-pointer at the 16:57 mark.
A&M culled its deficit to 59-53 on a free throw by Andersson Garcia with 6:58 to play, but Kentucky pushed the lead back to double digits after a Robinson jumper less than a minute later.
–Field Level Media
