No Reason for UK Players or Fans to Panic Because of Overtime Loss

Rob Dillingham poured in three 3's in just over a minute late in the second half. (Vicky Graff Photo)

There are no good losses. However, there can be learning losses and that’s what Kentucky needs to remember after falling 97-92 in overtime at Texas A&M on Saturday.

This was a desperate A&M and it played that way. Picked by many to win or challenge for the SEC title, the Aggies came into this game 0-2 in league play. A win over Kentucky was a must to salvage the season.

And if you had told me that freshman Aaron Bradshaw would go 0-for-1 from the field, grab only one rebound, and play just six minutes because of foul trouble or that Tre Mitchell would go 3-for-13 from the field, have three turnovers, and have to play 44 minutes against the physical Aggies, I would never have thought UK would keep the game close — especially with A&M making 12 3-pointers.

Sure, Kentucky’s defense was porous at times but this is not going to be a lockdown defensive team. What it can be — and has been — is elite offensively.

But what I liked is that I did not see any backing down from this team. Did the Cats make mistakes? Yes. Did the Cats miss chances to put the game away? Yes. Did UK fight for 45 minutes? Yes and to me that is what I liked.

“This young team has been in some battles and they do not take a step back,” ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said late in the game. “They may get beat but you have to kill them. This was just a magnificent game. No one lost this one. Texas A&M just took it.”

Credit the Aggies for some sensational play as guard Tierce Redford (28 points, nine fouls drawn) and Wade Taylor (31 points, seven fouls drawn) were simply unstoppable at times.

For Kentucky, freshman guard D.J. Wagner continues to elevate his game. He had 18 points on 7-for-15 shooting, four rebounds, four assists and one steal. Yes, he had a costly turnover late when he just dropped the ball, but he’s emerging as the player everyone expected.

Freshman guard Rob Dillingham had 15 points and hit three 3-pointers in 64 seconds late in the second half to help force the overtime. Again, he went just 3-for-10 overall from 3 but he plays fearlessly and the more he plays and learns, the better he’ll be.

Antonio Reeves carried UK early with 16 points in the first half. He played like a fifth-year player and finished with 22 points on 5-for-10 shooting from 3 — another 20-plus road game. He also had six rebounds, one assist, and one block and his overall game continues to be more than just making 3’s.

Reed Sheppard was Reed Sheppard. He took just one shot in the first half but finished with 13 points, six rebounds, three assists, three steals, and one block in 32 minutes. It was his heads-up defensive rebound/shot attempt with 0.6 seconds left in regulation that got him to the foul line where he buried two free throws to force overtime.

And the most encouraging performance was by Ugonna Onyenso, a player some thought might never play this season because of the foot injury suffered in July. With Bradshaw a non-factor, the sophomore 7-footer got to play 31 minutes and had seven points, 10 rebounds, and five blocks.

Bilas called Kentucky a “resilient” team despite being a freshman-dominated squad.

“There is not much panic in this group,” Bilas said.

No, there’s not and hopefully UK fans won’t panic either. Kentucky was not the only ranked team to lose a road game this year. It likely will not be UK’s last loss.

Bilas noted the “ceiling for this Kentucky team is really high” and another ESPN analyst, Seth Greenberg, emphasized again that he thought UK would be as good as any team in the country in March.

This was a missed opportunity for UK to get a huge road win and take control of the SEC race. However, this is not a devastating loss.

“This is something we will learn from and grow up from,” Sheppard said on the UK Radio Network after the game. “Once you get that lead you have got to maintain it. In this league, every game is a tough game and on the road, it is even harder. We will learn from it and keep getting better.”