Kentucky Basketball: De’Aaron Fox Leads Wildcat’s To Victory Over Texas A&M
By J Bill Sosh
Fully recovered from his recent knee injury, the Kentucky Basketball freshman guard got hot in the second half. Fox paced the Wildcats to a road win over the Aggies Saturday afternoon in College Station.
With the victory, Kentucky Basketball clinched the outright SEC regular season title. They had to overcome yet another slow start in the process. A&M got out to a 19-4 lead in the first eight minutes. Kentucky clawed back into the game with another recent trend, this one positive.
Senior guard Dominique Hawkins once again gave the Cats a big lift they really needed. Hawk had eight points and three assists in 13 minutes off the bench in the first half. He also played his usual tough defense and helped steady the ship as UK battled back.
Two of his fellow seniors made big threes during that stretch. Derek Willis gave the Cats their first lead at 24-23 with 3:09 left. Mychal Mulder gave UK the lead for good at 30-27 with 1:09 to go in the half.
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An Isaiah Briscoe driving layup high off the glass at buzzer gave Kentucky a 32-28 lead at the half. After the break, it was time for a Texas native to shine
I’m Coming Home
Playing as close to his Houston home as he ever will in college, Fox scored 15 of his team-high 19 points in the second half. He hit two quick three-pointers to extend the lead. Fox hit five of his nine shots in the half. Maybe best of all, he was perfect on all five of his free throws for the game.
Kentucky needs their point guard to hit his foul shots to make a deep tournament run. Fox has been streaky from the line this season. The Cats need him on a heater going forward.
It’s The Little Things
Other positives for Cats included Willis’ 11 point, eight rebound effort. Derek’s work on the boards and improving defense have increased his value and playing time. They have also been essential elements in the Cats eight game winning streak.
Briscoe had the kind of stat line that makes you tolerate his sometimes frustrating play: seven points, six rebounds, eight assists and only one turnover. That’s solid. He was only one of four from the free throw line, though. That needs to improve.
What Do You Do
Leading the minus side of the ledger is the aforementioned slow start, which makes three games in a row Kentucky has had to dig out of a hole. They are playing with fire there. John Calipari needs to find the right buttons to push in order to avoid falling behind early against a tougher opponent that may not give up the advantage.
Malik Monk had a season low six points for the day. He was only two out of 10 from the floor and whiffed on all four of this attempts from beyond the arc. This continued a season long trend of shooting much worse on the road than at Rupp Arena.
On the bright side, he has played well on neutral courts, including his 47 point explosion in the win over North Carolina in Las Vegas in December. Neutral courts are all that is left as tournament season arrives.
You Can’t Resist It
Nothing is certain but death, taxes and the Isaac Humphries Index. The Cats are now 23-0 this season when Isaac puts a dent in the scoring column. His baseline jumper with six minutes left in the first half iced the victory.
Even though Kentucky still trailed 23-17. Isaac is indeed The Closer. They should play Enter Sandman when he scores his first bucket every game.
Closing Time for Kentucky Basketball
The win over the Aggies puts a wrap on the regular season for Kentucky. The Cats finish 26-5 overall and 16-2 in conference play. The SEC tournament in Nashville is next. Kentucky plays Friday at 1:00 p.m. ET against a yet to be determined opponent.
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Anything can happen, but no one will be surprised if a third match-up between the regular season champs and the Florida Gators occurs in the championship game next Sunday.