COLLEGE STATION, Texas _ Kentucky's pattern of slow starts continued Saturday. So did the recent good fortune of righting itself and not allowing an up-and-down performance prevent victory.
After falling behind by double digits inside the first seven minutes, Kentucky defeated Texas A&M, 71-63. That extended UK's winning streak to a season-best eight games.
A winning streak masked a something less than dominance. A&M helped Kentucky by missing a lot of free throws. And the intended "Rock Reed" promotion was a dud. As hostile environments go, this was a sunny church social.
Kentucky improved to 26-5 overall and 16-2 in the Southeastern Conference.
De'Aaron Fox led UK with 19 points. Bam Adebayo added 13 points and eight rebounds. Derek Willis scored 11.
Texas A&M fell to 16-14 overall and 8-10 in the SEC. Admon Gilder led the Aggies with 22 points. Freshman Robert Williams scored 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.
Kentucky led 32-28 at halftime. That marked the largest lead in a first half that held little promise of UK ever being ahead.
All the talk about trying to avoid a slow start made no difference. Instead of playing like desperadoes, as Fox advised, the Cats seemed to have just awakened from a siesta.
It appeared Kentucky wanted to break the record it set against Vanderbilt Tuesday for largest comeback to a victory in coach John Calipari's eight seasons as coach.
Four days after rallying from 19 points down to beat Vandy, Kentucky found itself in comeback mode again. UK missed its first seven shots, made only one of its first 11 and two of its first 15.
These misfires enabled A&M to build a 19-4 lead before the second television timeout.
Once more Malik Monk started slowly. When Monk missed a 3-pointer with UK down 23-17, Calipari's body language seemed telling. He slumped back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest.
Monk, who failed to reach double-digit points for the first time this season, made only one of five shots in a first half that bore no resemblance to the opening 20 minutes when the teams played in Rupp Arena in early January. He finished with 2-for-10 shooting.
UK rolled up a 50-27 halftime lead that night en route to a 100-58 laugher.
When it appeared there might be a complete reversal of fortune, A&M took its turn missing shots. The Aggies made only 1 of 10 in a stretch of nine-plus minutes. In that time, Kentucky chipped away at the deficit.
UK took its first with 3:08 left when Willis made a 3-pointer. It put the Cats ahead, 24-23.
Briscoe set the half time score with a driving layup at the buzzer. That ended a half that saw A&M made two shots in the final 12:08.
In the first 99 seconds of the second half, Fox hit two 3-point shots. Those shots equaled his career high in a game and extended Kentucky's lead to 38-30.
A Willis 3-pointer with 14:04 left gave UK its first double-digit lead: 47-35. That marked the first of three times the UK lead crested at 12 points.
A&M got as close at 55-51with more than six minutes left.
Then Briscoe drove and floated in a shot. On the next possession, Willis flipped up a 3-point shot from the top of the key. It barely reached the front of the rim, bounced high in the air and fell through.
It was fitting punctuation for Kentucky's afternoon of good fortune.
