RECAP & TAKEAWAYS: Kentucky Overcomes First Half Deficit to beat Texas A&M Commerce 81-61

It wasn’t pretty, but the ‘Cats (eventually) took the lead to down the Texas A&M Commerce Lions 81-61 to move on to 2-0 on the young season. Eight minutes into the game, Kentucky was down 21-8, but they went on a 17-3 run to take a one point lead with 7:16 to go in the first half. From there, it was all good guys.

Antonio Reeves leads the way (again)

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, Antonio Reeves led Kentucky in scoring to help the ‘Cats get to their victory against Texas A&M Commerce. Reeves went 8-14 (57.1%) from the field overall while shooting a tremendous 5-8 (62.5%) from deep.

However, it wasn’t just shooting the ball where Reeves made an impact. He also finished with a solid six rebounds and two assists to add to his stat line. In addition, in 29 minutes of play, Reeves did not commit a single turnover.

Overall, Antonio Reeves proved again why he has the potential to do big things this season. The Preseason 1st Team All-SEC selection is making a very strong case as to why he could very well win SEC Player of the Year. We’ll see if his game against Kansas helps or hurts that narrative.

Kentucky starts off slow

As stated in the intro, Texas A&M Commerce came out of the gates swinging, getting out to a 21-8 lead less than ten minutes into the game. Kalen Williams scored a team-high 19 points, and the majority of those came in the first half.

However, after a timeout at the 11:51 mark, Calipari rallied his troops and the ‘Cats would go on a 21-8 run over the course of the next five minutes of action. Adou Thiero was out of the game due to concussion protocol, and you could tell UK missed his physical presence inside.

Did Kentucky look forward to Kansas? Who knows? Considering Calipari mentioned that he had not looked at Kansas film, I would say he didn’t for certain. The players on the other hand? Well, that’s a question left up for all of us to decide.

DJ Wagner struggles on defense

Coming into the game, the Lions had only made nine three-pointers on the season. Against Kentucky, Texas A&M Commerce scored 30 points from deep, going 10-27 (37%) from beyond the arch.

Perhaps one of the more major concerns moving forward is Kentucky’s on-ball defense, specifically DJ Wagner’s. Wagner fell victim to really any sort of deceptive dribble move that Commerce’s guards made.

Then, Coach Jaret von Rosenburg started using pick-and-roll action to expose Wagner, and it worked for a decent amount of time before Calipari made an adjustment defensively. Against Kansas, Wagner will be tasked with guarding much better players around the perimeter. It’ll be interesting to see if he can improve from Friday night’s game.

Next, Kentucky will make their way to the United Center in Chicago to take on the No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks in the Champions Classic. It will be a big-time game for sure, but if John Calipari and his team have any chance of pulling off the upset, they must tighten up on both ends of the floor come Tuesday night. You can view the final box score from the game here.