The Kentucky Wildcats (10-4, 1-0) face off with the Texas A&M Aggies (11-4, 1-0) in Rupp Arena on the SEC Network at 4pm today.
The announcers for today’s game are Clay Matvick and Joe Dean Jr.
Kentucky is favored by 15 points.
Here is the background on today’s SEC matchup:
The Aggies captured a 69-51 win over Arkansas in its first-ever Southeastern Conference game on Wednesday. The Aggies are led by second-year coach Billy Kennedy.
The series with Texas A&M has the Wildcats leading by a 2-1 margin with the most recent meeting coming in the form of an Aggie triumph on Dec. 22, 1978. Prior to that meeting the squads met twice in the 1940s, with the Blue and White capturing wins in both of those games.
UK is 67-11 in SEC home-openers and has won its last six conference home-openers, including all three under the direction of head coach John Calipari.
Texas A&M is coming off it’s most impressive rebounding performance of the season during Wednesday’s SEC opening victory over Arkansas … The Aggies held a 51-27 edge on the glass leading to a 21-8 advantage in points off turnovers.
UK coach John Calipari is 1-0 all-time against the Aggies.
The last time the Aggies faced the defending National Champion was during the 2008-09 season when they fell to Kansas 73-53 at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan.
Texas A&M has logged an 11-3 mark to begin the season and has a trio of players scoring in double-figures. Elston Turner leads the way with 15.5 points per game, while Ray Turner logs 11.8 points and a team-high 6.7 rebounds per outing.
With UK’s 60-58 win over Vanderbilt, Kentucky became the first school to reach the 2,100-win plateau in the country.
PROJECTED STARTERS*
Kentucky Wildcats
P # Name Pts. Rebs. Assts
F 3 Nerlens Noel 10.5 9.1 3.5^
• Named ESPN’s Defensive Player of the Month (Dec.)
G 10 Archie Goodwin 15.6 5.1 3.8
• Scored in double-figures in all but two games
G 12 Ryan Harrow 9.7 2.4 3.5
• Has dbl-flgure scoring in five-straight games
F 15 Willie Cauley-Stein 7.7 6.1 2.2^
• SEC Freshman of the Week (1/7)
F 22 Alex Poythress 13.5 6.3 0.6^
• Has six or more rebounds in seven of last eight
Texas A&M Aggies
P # Name Pts. Rebs. Assts
G 11 J’Mychal Reese 7.6 2.8 2.7
• Second on the team in assists per game
G 12 Fabyon Harris 10.2 1.8 1.3
• Team-high 17 points vs. Arkansas
G 31 Elston Turner 15.5 3.6 2.8
• Posted 15 points and 8 rebounds vs. Arkansas
F 32 Kourtney Roberson 6.2 6.2 0.7^
• Notched a double-double vs. Arkansas
F 35 Ray Turner 11.8 6.7 0.4^
• Team’s leading rebounder
*-Based on previous game’s starters; ^-blocks; ~-steals
