Hot shooting Dominguez, Griffen burn Kentucky

COLLEGE STATION — With 8:05 to go in the first half Tuesday night, Kentucky center Malachi Moreno scored an easy layup to put the Wildcats up 30-18 and it looked like Texas A&M was going to be run out of Reed Arena. Then something changed everything.

Dominguez, who had been ice cold for a month, hit another. And another. Then a fourth. And the Aggies (20-11, 10-7), like Dominguez, heated up.
It almost didn’t happen. After a clearly gun-shy Dominguez passed up a couple of open 3-pointers, coach Bucky McMillan gave him a very direct message.

“He came out there and passed up on some 3’s, and I pulled him aside. ‘If you don’t get out there and get four or five threes off this half, you’re not going back in the game again,’” McMillan recounted after the game.

In one of the most remarkable reversals of fortune in recent memory, A&M closed the first half on a 27-3 run and led by as many as 21 points as they beat Kentucky (19-12, 10-7 SEC) 96-85 to likely clinch a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

The game started off as poorly as it could for the Aggies, as they trailed basically from the opening tipoff and saw a 22-18 deficit expand to 30-18 with two short baskets, a layup and a dunk. Kentucky was shooting 71% from the field at that point, while the Aggies were 2 of 11 from 3-point range.

Then Dominguez (17 points) hit his first three, followed by Pop Isaacs making a driving layup. Then Dominguez hit fadeaway jumper, a second 3, and, after another defensive stop, he hit his third 3 in a row, a good five feet behind the 3-point stripe. Suddenly the Aggies were up 31-30 and Reed Arena was roaring.

Kentucky guard Denzel Aberdeen (9 points) scored at the other end to put Kentucky up 1, but that would be the last lead they would have. Dominguez hit his fourth 3 in a row on A&M’s next possession, followed by a 3 from Rylan Griffen (team-high 21 points).

Dominguez’s hot streak was duly noted by his teammates.

“There was a play when (Dominguez) passed up a shot I was like, ‘Shoot it. Feddy (Frederiko Federiko) will get the rebound. Just shoot it. Whenever he’s playing like that, we’re pretty hard to beat.”

The Aggies closed the half with another basket by Griffen, a driving layup by Ali Dibba (8 points) and 4 points from Rashaun Agee (14 points, team-high 8 rebounds) while Kentucky managed 1 free throw make right before the half.

The Wildcats made one basket from the field in the final 8:05 of the half and ended up shooting 45% from the field, but just 2 of 11 from 3-point range.

“We went through a stretch where we just lost our minds and we lost our intensity,” Kentucky coach Mark Pope said. “And not only did that change the score, but it actually let them start to feel good. And when they feel good… they’re tough to play.”

The Aggies, on the other hand, made five of their last six.

“That’s what busted the game open when Ruben and Rylan got loose in the first half,” McMillan said.

The Aggies went into the locker room up 45-33 and didn’t lose the hot hand after intermission. Forward Zach Clemence (13 points) fended off a Kentucky run on his own with a pair of 3-pointers and a block underneath the A&M basket, then hit another 3 out of the corner off a pass from Isaacs (12 points, 8 assists) to stop another 4-0 Kentucky run.

“Everybody pretty much knows each other at this point … and we’re looking for the hot hand,” Dominguez said.

Then it was Griffen’s turn to take over, take a steal coast to coast for a layup, then, after a pretty contested layup by point guard Josh Holloway (5 points), Griffen had a personal 11-0 run. He made two free throws, was fouled on a layup for a 3-point play, then drilled two straight 3’s to give the Aggies a 73-52 lead with 10:37 left in the game.

“That is what you like about how Rylan played, especially in the second half. He played aggressive. He played like he had something to prove,” McMillan said. “He played not to, you know, not to just be out there and stay on the floor, but be an impact in the game.”

Some sloppy play and questionable officiating allowed Kentucky to cut the lead to as little as 7 points with 1:10 left, but the Aggies were able to make their foul shots to finish off a critical win.

Having already reached the 20-win plateau — something few gave them a chance of reaching before the season began — the Aggies now have a chance to equal the 2024-25 team with an 11-7 conference record with a win at LSU Saturday.

“If we could get these last two and we can go to to LSU and we come away with 11 SEC wins in this tough League, that would be a heck of an accomplishment, and that would kind of keep carrying on what some of these teams have done before we got here,” McMillan said.