LEXINGTON, Ky. _ After getting "manhandled by men" in a loss at Tennessee on Saturday, Kentucky manned up against Texas A&M on Tuesday night in Rupp Arena. And the Cats needed plenty of resolve to defeat the Aggies, 74-73.
The absence of point guard Quade Green, who was sidelined by a back ailment, was one more obstacle for Kentucky to overcome.
Another was A&M, which breathed life into Tennessee coach Rick Barnes' warning not to write off the Aggies despite their 0-3 start in the Southeastern Conference.
"Too many people get too concerned early in the year with the way things start off in conference play," he said on Monday. "I still think they'll be there when it's all said and done."
A&M, which was ranked No. 5 in The Associated Press top 25 on Christmas, looked the part.
UK coach John Calipari, who questioned his players' toughness at Tennessee, expected A&M to try to outmuscle his Cats.
"That's how A&M plays anyway," he said. "They play a physical game."
A game that came down to the final possession required mental as much as physical toughness.
Kentucky (13-3, 3-1 SEC) got in position by making six of six free-throw attempts. Hamidou Diallo, Sacha Killeya-Jones and Kevin Knox each made two.
When PJ Washington drove for layup, the Cats led 72-67 with 56.9 seconds left. That was almost too small a lead.
With UK making only two of six free throws thereafter, A&M closed to within 74-73 on Robert Williams' tip-in with 4.5 seconds left.
But after Washington missed two free throws, Admon Gilder's long pass for Tyler Davis sailed out of bounds at the buzzer.
Diallo led UK with 18 points. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who started in Green's place, added 16. Washington also scored 16 while Kevin Knox had 15.
A&M (11-5, 0-4 SEC) got a game-high 21 points from Davis. Gilder added 14 and Williams 12.
Kentucky led 37-34 at halftime thanks to Knox hitting a 3-pointer with seven seconds left. The shot came after UK called timeout with 16.9 to go.
Neither team led by more than six points in the first half.
A&M came into the game still searching for chemistry. A mix of injuries, suspensions and illness led to disjointed play.
But with Gilder (knee injury) and Williams (flu) back in the rotation, the Aggies played smoothly in the early going. A&M made eight of its first 10 shots and did not commit a turnover in the first nine-plus minutes.
Kentucky fell behind by as much as 16-11. Then the Cats switched to a zone and the game changed.
A&M went more than five minutes without a basket. In that time, UK went on a 12-2 run to take its largest first-half lead: 26-20.
The switch to a zone might have gotten a nod of approval of LSU coach Will Wade. During Monday's SEC coaches' teleconference, he recommended sagging a defense in the lane against Texas A&M.
"That was our main goal: just pack the paint in," Wade said of LSU's strategy last weekend. "If they were going to barrage us with a bunch of threes, we weren't going to win anyway. Force them to take some threes."
A&M made four of 11 3-point shots in the first half, which helped keep UK from breaking away.
Although the fans booed several of the referees' decisions, fouls helped Kentucky lead at halftime.
A&M, which came into the game averaging 16.1 fouls (No. 39 in the country), got whistled for 12 fouls in the first half. Kentucky made 11 of 14 free throws.
Gilgeous-Alexander, who played all but one minute of the first half, led Kentucky in the half with 12 points. He also had three of UK's four assists.
A&M got off to the better start in the second half. Gilder's 3-pointer put the Aggies ahead 44-39 with 17:27 left. That matched the Aggies' largest lead to that point and prompted a UK timeout with Wenyen Gabriel entering the game.
With A&M turning the ball over twice against UK, which had switched back to the zone, the Cats scored five straight points to tie it at 44-44.
Neither team pulled away. Williams, one of the media's picks for preseason SEC Player of the Year, scored his first basket with 14:06 left. A minute later, he posted up Gabriel for a basket.
Williams was not done. He scored twice more in the next five minutes.
A driving layup by DJ Hogg put A&M ahead 59-53 with 8:41 left. That was UK's largest deficit to that point.
UK did not wilt. Two fast-break baskets helped the Cats close within 63-61 at the fourth and final TV timeout of the second half (3:57 left).
That set the stage for the dramatic finish.
