Latest Texas A&M-Kentucky tilt comes with higher stakes attached

Note: Watch Billy Kennedy, D.J. Hogg and Anthony Collins talk Texas A&M-Kentucky above.

Typically, Kentucky has brought out the best in Texas A&M basketball.

That’s good because the Aggies will need to be at their best to beat the 14th-ranked Wildcats on Saturday at Reed Arena.

In past years Billy Kennedy’s Aggies have usually raised their level of performance when facing Kentucky.

In 2013 A&M’s Elston Turner scored 40 points in an 83-71 victory over Kentucky in Lexington.

Later that season the Wildcats needed overtime to subdue the Aggies, 72-68, in College Station.

Last season Kentucky needed double overtime to win, 70-64, at Reed Arena even though A&M’s Jalen Jones sat out with a sprained ankle.

The Aggies (19-7, 8-5 SEC) hope they’re at their best again because this meeting against Kentucky (20-6, 10-3) is much bigger than any of the previous games.

“We’ve played them well,” Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy acknowledged. “We caught them early. We’ve played them well, but they beat us. We lost last year. It could have been worse, we know, because Kentucky was that good. We thought we had opportunities to win, but didn’t finish the job.”

A completed job this time would put the Aggies back in the hunt for the Southeastern Conference championship. A&M could pull within a game of the league-leading Wildcats in the SEC standings.

A loss would all but eliminate A&M from the championship discussion.

Also, a victory would greatly enhance the Aggies' chances of gaining a more advantageous seeding in the NCAA Tournament.

“We just want to go out there and win,” senior point guard Anthony Collins said. “The rest of the stuff … if it comes, it comes. Our goal is just to go out there and win.”

The Aggies appear capable of challenging the Wildcats after breaking out of a five-game conference losing streak with an impressive 71-56 victory over Ole Miss on Tuesday.

Danuel House, who had 25 points in last season’s loss to Kentucky, led A&M with 13 points in the win over Ole Miss.

Meanwhile, Collins scored 10 points, dished out eight assists and played a strong defensive game against the Rebels’ Stefan Moody.

He’ll need a similar showing against Kentucky’s Tyler Ulis, an SEC Player of the Year candidate who is averaging 16.4 points per game.

The Aggies will also need to capitalize on a projected advantage inside with 6-10 center Tyler Davis and Jones against Kentucky forwards Marcus Lee, Derek Willis and Skal Labissiere.

Most importantly, the Aggies must play well in the areas in which they frequently struggled during their slump – committing turnovers, allowing offensive rebounds and three-point defense.

Kentucky averages 13.1 forced turnovers, is third in the SEC and 23rd in the nation in offensive rebounding and has a trio of three-point shooters that have hit more than 35 treys — Ulis (37), Willis (42) and Jamal Murray (79).

“We have a game plan for Ulis,” Kennedy said. “We’ve played some really good point guards and he’s as good or better than any of them. And Murray is an outstanding player.

"But when you talk Kentucky basketball it’s not one or two guys, it’s 10 guys usually in their program.”