15th-ranked UK Hoops just had a major scare at the worst possible time, but ultimately came away with a big win at 11th-ranked Texas A&M.
With the SEC Tournament set to open this week, UK was playing a critical game at A&M in hopes of boosting their NCAA Tournament resume. They've already clinched the No. 5 seed in the conference tournament and will open play on Thursday, and they should have Makayla Epps after it looked like a potentially serious injury may sideline her.
The junior guard suffered a scary knee injury during the fourth quarter of their clash with the Aggies. she banged knees with an Aggie before hitting the court and holding that knee in clear pain. She got up after about a minute, but had to be helped off the court as she barely put any pressure on it.
After going to the sideline, Epps eventually was able to slowly jog it off and eventually re-entered the game. She left with her team up 60-49 and 4:48 left, but the Cats managed to build their lead to 66-51 and led 66-54 when she returned with 2:15 to play.
UK would cruise to the finish line and score a 71-58 win, easily one of their best wins of the season. Epps finished with 14 points on 6-of-18 shooting with four assists and four boards.
The Cats are now scheduled to play Thursday at noon against the winner of Alabama vs LSU in the second round of the SEC Tournament.