Wildcats, Aggies add victories in SEC men’s seeding race

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Kentucky men’s basketball team has followed a four-game slide with four consecutive wins featuring some of its best play this season, along with the poise that was missing during the slump.

The No. 23 Wildcats had all of those aspects come together late to beat Ole Miss in a game coach John Calipari suggested his young team had to win.

Kevin Knox scored 22 points and Quade Green added 18, including eight during a 15-5 second-half run that helped Kentucky pull away from the Rebels for a 96-78 victory Wednesday night.

“It was a win we had to have, and I told them after the game,” said Calipari, adding that telling them before the game might have made them nervous. “I didn’t want to tell them that this was like the biggest game of the year for us. This was it.”

Former Hamilton Heights standout Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 17 points, a career-high 10 assists and seven rebounds, while Wenyen Gabriel added 15 points and P.J. Washington 10 as the Wildcats (21-9, 10-7 Southeastern Conference) won their home finale. Green had two 3-pointers and a layup during the run that provided an 82-69 lead with 6:40 remaining. › Texas A&M 61, Georgia 60 ATHENS, Ga. — T.J. Starks scored 15 points and hit the go-ahead basket with 58 seconds remaining to help Texas A&M eke out the road win.

Tyler Davis added 13 points and Admon Gilder and D.J. Hogg each scored 11 for the Aggies (19-11, 8-9).

Yante Maten finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds for Georgia (16-13, 7-10). The Bulldogs led by five with 2:28 remaining but missed their last five shots from the field and did not score again.

It was an ugly ending for Georgia. Starks missed a free throw with 12 seconds remaining and Maten grabbed the rebound. For some reason, the Bulldogs did not call timeout, and Juwan Parker took a wild 3-point attempt from the right side that sailed far from the rim as the buzzer sounded.