Kentucky has guards to match guard matchups Texas A&M likes to use

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Kentucky has road showdowns coming up with Auburn and Kansas the next two weekends. However, don’t count on a gimme win tonight at Texas A&M. Texas A&M is not a marquee team but the Aggies are 4-0 in Southeastern Conference play and 15-2 overall. No, Texas A&M has not had to beat any of the top teams in the SEC yet but the Aggies are still 4-0 and Kentucky has had problems at Texas A&M. The Aggies are 10-0 at Reed Arena this season and have an overall eight-game win streak going into tonight’s game.

Kentucky assistant coach Bruiser Flint said Tuesday that Texas A&M had “really good guard play” Tuesday during his pregame press conference.

“One of the things they’ve done is they’ve won a lot of close games. They have guys who can make plays when they need them,” Flint said. “They get after you defensively, they put a lot of pressure on you offensively. It’s one of the more balanced teams in the league. It’s going to be tough down there. This is going to be a challenge.”

Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams has done with a four-guard lineup at times with five of his top seven players being guards. Flint said UK won’t change what it does. 

“I think you always do what you do best. When you try to counter what the other team does, sometimes it doesn’t work,” Flint said. “So, I think we’re going to stick to our plan.”

“We know we’ve got some tough matchups, we’ve talked about it. But, we’ve been pretty good defensively, so I think we’re going to stick to what we do. We have a size advantage, we hope we take advantage of that on both ends of the floor with rebounding and posting the ball.”

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Kentucky is dynamic with its guard play, too. TyTy Washington, Sahvir Wheeler, Kellan Grady and Davion Mintz are a terrific quartet. Just ask Wheeler, the SEC assists leader.

“I think the biggest thing is that we’re all playing confident,” Wheeler said. “We’re trusting our training and we’re a veteran backcourt, outside of TyTy, but he is as mature as it gets. With Kellan, Davion and myself, we kind of know what to expect. We don’t really force anything.

“We know if it’s our turn, we’re going to be aggressive. But we also keep each other motivated. And we’re playing unselfish. When you’ve got guys who are playing unselfish and willing to play for each other, it’s hard to focus on just one player.”

Flint said that attitude is part of what is making UK special.

“We have great chemistry, they get along together. As a coach, you can’t ask more than that. They do what you ask them to do, both on and off the floor,” Wheeler said.

One Response

  1. A&M used the same frenetic defense that LSU used and almost got the same result. That is how you beat KY. Wheeler has become a shoot only guard. I guess he figures that the NBA is not looking for passers. Ty finally toughed up enough to be a positive. Grady needs to settle down. If he is going to keep shooting 1 for 9 from 3, give Allen a chance. How could it hurt? The dribble drive only works when the driver is a willing passer FIRST. They need to get back to playing as a team and not as a bunch of NBA wannabes.

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