No. 14 Kentucky Wildcats vs. Texas A&M Aggies: Game Notes

The Texas A&M Aggies (12-5, 3-1) make the cold trip north to Lexington to take on the No. 14 Kentucky Wildcats (13-4, 3-1) in a Super Tuesday late game matchup.

Texas A&M

• Aggies' head coach Billy Kennedy is 44-38 in two-plus years at A&M.
• Kennedy's other head coaching stops have been at Centenary, Southeastern Louisiana and Murray State.
  
• Kennedy was 54-14 in his last two years at Murray State (.794 winning percentage).
• He was named the Southland Conference Coach of the Year in 2004 while at Southeastern Louisiana, and while at Murray State Kennedy won the OVC Coach of the Year award in both 2010 and 2011.
• Kennedy's overall head coaching record is 265-217 (.550 winning percentage).
• Former UK assistant coach Glynn Cyprien is the Aggies associate head coach.
• Don't fret UK fans, Elston Turner, who lit up UK last year with an incredible 40 point Rupp Arena performance, is now playing in the NBA with the Houston Rockets.
• Texas A&M is led in scoring by 6-8 forward Jamal Jones at 12.3 points per game. Jones exploded for 20 points in the second half of A&M's win at Tennessee.
• Six-five sophomore guard Alex Caruso is one of the SEC's top assist men, averaging 5.2 dimes per game.
• Caruso dished 11 assists versus Arkansas, the first Aggie to reach double-figures in assists since Acie Law in 2007. He also boasts 98 career steals.
• Davonte Fitzgerald, a 6-7 freshman forward, is averaging 7.7 points per game, but led the Aggies in scoring with 17 points in win over Arkansas.
• A&M's best two wins of the year have come against Arkansas, 69-53, and at Tennessee, 57-56.
• The Aggies held Arkansas to 39.2 percent field goal shooting and UT to only 40.9 percent, while limiting the Vols to only 44 shots for the game.
• Kourtney Roberson, a 6-9 junior forward, averages 9.9 points and a team-high 7.3 rebounds per game, while shooting 59.6 percent from the floor (65-109).
• Six-five junior guard Jordan Green is making 51.7 percent of his shots from the floor (46-89).
• Texas A&M takes an average of 17.6 3-pointers per game.
• Although a 33.1 percent 3-point shooting team on the season (99-299), the Aggies have connected on 30-of-68 from distance over the last four game (44.1 percent).
• A&M has recorded 227 assists on 409 made baskets on the year, an assist rate of 55.5 percent.
• The Aggies made 10 treys in back-to-back games this season against Houston and McNeese State.
• For the season, Texas A&M has made only 65.7 percent of its free throws (261-397).
• Texas A&M has an enrollment of 58,809 students.
• When shooting better than 40.0 percent, the Aggies are 12-2.
• When holding opponents under 70 points, A&M is 12-3.

Kentucky

• Kentucky is 3-2 all-time when playing Texas A&M; John Calipari is 2-1 when facing A&M.
  
• Last year, the Aggies and Elston Turner gave Calipari only his second loss in Rupp Arena.
• UK is averaging 17.0 second chance points on the strength of 15.2 offensive rebounds per game.
• Andrew Harrison joined his brother Aaron as Andrew became the second Wildcat to make 10-10 free throws in a game this season. The last Wildcat to make 10 consecutive free throws in a game was Michael Kidd-Gilchrist when he nailed 10 straight against Indiana in UK 's Sweet 16 victory over the Hoosiers in 2012.
• Both UK and A&M are allowing opponents to shoot only 29.9 percent from beyond the arc.
• Kentucky is 27th in the nation in field goal percentage defense, allowing the opposition to make only 39.0 percent of their shots.
• UK is seventh in the country in blocked shots with 6.7 swats per game.
• Julius Randle is 10th in the nation in rebounding, pulling down 10.5 boards per contest.
• Willie Cauley-Stein is eighth in the country in blocked shots, recording 3.4 per game.
• In his last 42 minutes of action, covering four games, Dakari Johnson has scored 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting, grabbed 10 rebounds, and committed eight fouls while turning the ball over once.
• UK is 1-1 when making more than eight 3-point shots.
• The Wildcats are 12-3 when making fewer than seven treys.
• On the ESPN family of networks this season, UK is 3-4.
• On Tuesday, UK is 2-2.
• The 'Cats have won 19 straight games at Rupp Arena and 10 consecutive SEC home games.
• Kentucky is 12-1 when outscoring its opponents in the paint.
• When shooting 50.0 percent or higher, the Wildcats are 5-0.
• When scoring less than 80 points, UK is 6-3.
• Since Southeastern Conference play began in the 1933 season, UK is 914-257, for a winning percentage of .781.
• Kentucky is 0-4 in games decided by five or fewer points this season.
• All-time top five college basketball teams in terms of wins: UK 2,124 wins, Kansas 2,114, North Carolina 2,102, Duke 2,014, Syracuse 1,892.

Thanks for reading and Go 'Cats!