COLLEGE STATION, Texas _ Though trending in opposite directions, sliding Kentucky and surging Texas A&M shared one trait: Unpredictability.
"We haven't had consistent play, really, out of any player," UK coach John Calipari said Friday.
A&M coach Billy Kennedy said much the same thing after his team built a sizable lead at Auburn on Wednesday and ended up winning by one point.
"Thriving and surviving." Kennedy called it. "This team is unique. You never know what you're going to get from them."
Their game Saturday lived up and down to expectations. When the basketball tilt-a-whirl came to a stop, Kentucky lost 85-74. That marked UK's third straight defeat, a first for the program since Texan Billy Gillispie was coach in 2008-09.
A week after Missouri defeated Kentucky for the first time ever, A&M achieved a bit of history by scoring its highest point total against UK.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led UK with 19 points. Kevin Knox added 18 and Hamidou Diallo 13.
Kentucky, which ranked ninth nationally in field-goal defense (opponents shooting 39.3 percent), stifled A&M in the first half. It appeared Calipari might celebrate his 59th birthday with a victory.
The Aggies followed this famine with a feast. A&M made 18 of its first 24 shots in the second half. That blitz included the first six 3-point shots, and seven of the first half.
Kentucky trailed by as much as 23 points before its determination to keep competing made the final margin respectable.
Kentucky fell to 17-8 overall and 6-6 in the Southeastern Conference. The latter left UK tied for sixth place with Mississippi State and A&M.
A&M, which lost its first five SEC games, continued an upswing. The Aggies improved to 17-8 overall and 6-6 in the SEC.
During an SEC game telecast earlier in the day, commentator Jimmy Dykes suggested the league might have a team do what South Carolina did last season: Go from unranked to the Final Four.
"Keep an eye on the Aggies," Dykes said.
For the first time in five games, Kentucky did not trail at halftime. The 30-26 lead marked the Cats' largest cushion at intermission since leading 36-27 at Vanderbilt on Jan. 13.
A staple of Kentucky games _ poor shooting _ contributed mightily to the halftime score. Only this time it appeared UK's habit of misfiring was contagious.
Kentucky did not exactly torch the nets, making only 36.4 percent of its shots. But UK all but abandoned the 3-point shot by taking only seven of its 33 first-half shots from beyond the arc.
With UK shifting to a zone midway through the half, A&M made only 30.6 percent of its shots (11 of 36). The many misses created fast-break opportunities. Kentucky cashed in with six fast-break points in the half. That exceeded UK's average of 5.5 fast-break points in SEC play.
Kentucky's lead was the product of a 9-0 run in the final 2:19 of the first half. In that time, UK made three straight shots. That included 3-pointers by Gilgeous-Alexander and Quade Green.
Meanwhile, A&M did not make a shot other than a dunk or layup in the final 12:28 of the half, and made only four from outside the paint overall.
Kentucky's halftime lead disappeared in 47 seconds. And after Robert Williams dunked on a break to give A&M a 34-32, Kentucky called time with 18:01 left.
Wenyen Gabriel, Jarred Vanderbilt and Green entered the game. It didn't help.
A&M made three straight 3-pointers to extend the lead to 43-32. This prompted another UK timeout, this one coming one minute and 45 seconds after the first. To this point, the Aggies made seven of their first eight shots of the second half.
No matter the need to stem A&M's momentum, Calipari declined to call his final timeout.
A&M looked free and frisky, now. Williams rose high over the rim for a one-handed dunk.
Any question about the dire circumstances facing Kentucky disappeared when Admon Gilder beat the shot clock by banking a 3-pointer from the top of the key. That put the Aggies ahead 52-36 with less than 13 minutes left.
That shot enabled A&M to match its 11 first-half baskets inside seven minutes.
