COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Immanuel Quickley had a career-high 30 points and made eight 3-pointers, also a career-best, to lead No. 8 Kentucky to its seventh straight win, 69-60, over Texas A&M on Tuesday night.
Quickley is the first Kentucky player with consecutive games with at least 25 points since Malik Monk in 2017. The sophomore scored 26 in a win over Florida on Saturday.
Kentucky (23-5, 13-2 Southeastern Conference) was up by 13 and the Aggies hadn’t made a field goal in more than eight minutes when Quenton Jackson ended the drought with a dunk with about 6 minutes to go. That was the start of a 8-2 run by Texas A&M that cut the lead to 57-50 with about 4 minutes left.
Quickley ended the run with a jump shot and hit another 3-pointer after a free throw from Josh Nebo to make it 62-51 with about 90 seconds left to secure the victory.
Wendell Mitchell had 18 points for Texas A&M (14-13, 8-7), which had a three-game winning streak snapped. The Aggies have lost nine straight games to ranked opponents, with their last win against a team in the Top 25 coming on March 18, 2018, when they beat No. 10 North Carolina.
The Wildcats were up by 14 after a 3-point play by Ashton Hagans early in the second half. Texas A&M scored the next eight points, with five from Nebo, to cut the lead to 44-38 with about 14 minutes remaining.
It was Quickley who got the Wildcats going again, making 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to extend the lead to 50-38 about a minute later. Texas A&M’s offense went cold after that and the Aggies managed just four free throws until Jackson’s dunk with six minutes left.
Quickley, who was named the Southeastern Conference player of the week for his work last week, continued his surge Tuesday by outdoing his previous career high of the five 3-pointers he made against Alabama on Jan. 11. It’s his third straight game with 20 points or more and his 17th in a row with at least 10.
BIG PICTURE
Kentucky: Quickley seems to get better every game and is peaking at the right time as conference play winds down and the league tournament approaches. His ability to knock down 3-pointers with ease makes it difficult to slow him and the Wildcats down.
Texas A&M: The Aggies had discovered some offense during their winning streak but had trouble scoring Tuesday when they went long stretches without points in their worst offensive performance of the season. They’ll need to figure out how to be more effective on offense if they hope to close out the season strong.
UP NEXT
Kentucky: Hosts Auburn on Saturday after losing to the Tigers 75-66 on Feb. 1.
Texas A&M: Visits LSU on Saturday. The Aggies lost to the Tigers 89-85 in overtime in their first meeting this season.
