Three takeaways from No. 8 Kentucky basketball’s SEC win against No. 11 Texas A&M

Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s 81-69 win against Texas A&M on Tuesday night at Rupp Arena:

1. Kentucky is excelling at résumé building

You wouldn’t exactly call Mark Pope’s Wildcats giant-killers, but no one can claim the Cats can’t beat good teams. Ranked No. 11 in the latest AP Top 25, Texas A&M is the fifth top-15 outfit that Kentucky has beaten this season. UK’s record against top-15 opponents: 5-0.

Here’s the body count: Kentucky beat Cooper Flagg and then-No. 6 Duke 77-72 in the Champions Classic in Atlanta on Nov. 12. Kentucky rallied from 16 points down to beat then-No. 7 Gonzaga 90-89 in overtime in Seattle on Dec. 7. Kentucky outgunned then-No. 6 Florida 106-100 at Rupp on Jan. 4. Kentucky beat then-No. 14 Mississippi State 95-90 last Saturday in Starkville. Taking down the Aggies ran the number to five.

Kentucky is now 5-3 in Quad 1 games according to the NCAA NET rankings. (The win over Texas A&M qualified as a Quad 1 because the Aggies were ranked No. 17 in the NET.) Heading into Tuesday night’s play, Auburn led the nation with seven Quad 1 wins. Duke and Marquette were next with five. Texas A&M was among several teams with four.

We are a long way from NCAA Tournament seeding, of course. It’s not even mid-January. Kentucky has 14 conference games remaining in the most ridiculous conference maybe in the history of college basketball. Anything can happen. But, so far, the Cats are building quite a résumé.

2. Kentucky stuck to its guns

This has been said and written before, but bears repeating. A vocal proponent of the 3-point shot, Pope was asked early on about what he would tell his team on a night the 3-pointers weren’t falling. Simple, Kentucky’s new coach said. Keep shooting.

The Cats opened Tuesday night by making exactly one of its first 11 attempts from beyond the arc. That figures out to roughly 8%. What did the Cats do? They kept firing. Of course. Soon enough, the shots started falling. Of course.

By night’s end, Kentucky was 9-for-27 from 3-point land for a respectable 33.3%. That means that after the cold open, the Cats were 8-for-16 for 50% shooting what the lovable Hubie Brown calls the 3-ball. Not bad.

Take Jaxson Robinson. After making seven of 10 shots from 3 during a stellar 27-point performance at Mississippi State, the BYU transfer missed his first three from downtown Tuesday. Instead of hanging his head, or turning down more long-ball opportunities, Robinson kept launching. He made five of his next 10 to end the night 5-for-13 shooting from 3. He was the game’s leading scorer with 22 points.

Said Pope, “He’s been consistently trying to grow his game on the toughness end.”

Mental toughness, too.

3. Alabama will be angry Saturday

Before Tuesday night’s results, Saturday’s Kentucky-Alabama clash at Rupp set up as an old-fashioned shootout between two of the best practitioners of so-called modern basketball in the nation. Not to mention two of the best teams in the country.

Then Alabama went out and lost 74-64 at home to Chris Beard and Ole Miss on Tuesday. The Crimson Tide missed 15 of its 20 shots from 3-point range. It turned the basketball over 21 teams, while forcing only seven Ole Miss errors. It, according to coach Nate Oats, “sleepwalked” is way to its first SEC loss and third overall, compared to 14 wins.

So you can expect Bama to be in redeem mode come noon Saturday. A Final Four team last year, Bama lost 117-95 to John Calipari’s Cats last season at Rupp. It remembers, no doubt. Bottom line: Bama will have a point or two to prove.

On the flip side, Alabama is ranked No. 4, so Saturday will be Kentucky’s chance at a sixth Quad 1 win.

SEC college basketball final: Kentucky Wildcats 81, Texas A&M Aggies 69

Jaxson Robinson strikes again. UK basketball defeats Texas A&M for another top-15 win.

Five things you need to know from No. 8 Kentucky’s 81-69 win over No. 11 Texas A&M

Box score from No. 8 Kentucky basketball’s 81-69 SEC win over No. 11 Texas A&M