The Kentucky Wildcats have to get much better defensively

The Kentucky Wildcats need to be better on defense to make a run in March.

The Kentucky Wildcats just lost their first game in SEC play to the Texas A&M Aggies 97-92 in overtime. The young Cats scratched and clawed to get this game into overtime but couldn't buy a basket during the extra five minutes. 

The Texas A&M Aggies scored eight points in overtime, while the Cats were only able to score three. The Cats will play in a bunch of tight games in SEC play and the NCAA Tournament, so you have to find a way to win these games, especially in tough environments. 

What gave the Cats issues in this game was the defense, as it has been time and time again this season. Heading into this ball game, Texas A&M was struggling to score, only putting up 66 and 53 points in their first two SEC games. 

Some might be quick to say that the reason they played so well offensively, scoring 89 points prior to overtime, was thanks to Kentucky being in town, which is partly true. The crowd was clearly pumped up for this one, but at some point, you might have to look at this team and say the issue isn't teams playing well because they are playing Kentucky. Perhaps the problem is the defense. 

Tyrece Radford scored 28 points in this game as, time and time again, he got to the rim and scored. He is a straight-line driving player, and the Cats were letting him put his head down and get to the rim. Some of it had to do with screens, but Radford was getting to the rim with ease. 

At the end of the day, there is no reason to be upset about a loss like this in the grand scheme of things other than losing isn't fun, but it won't hurt seeding all that much. 

The issue for this team is the defense, and it needs to be fixed, or the Cats could get bounced early from the NCAA Tournament. This team can be elite, but changes need to be made defensively when it comes to effort and intensity. 

Three things we learned from Kentucky's overtime loss to Texas A&M