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Alex Poythress continues his hot streak as No. 14 Kentucky outlasts Texas A&M

Texas A&M v Kentucky

of the Kentucky Wildcats during the game against the Texas A&M Aggies at Rupp Arena on January 21, 2014 in Lexington, Kentucky.

Andy Lyons

It wasn’t always pretty and it wasn’t always exciting, but No. 14 Kentucky did the job they were supposed to do against Texas A&M on a snowy Tuesday night, dispatching the Aggies, 68-51.

Billy Kennedy entered the night with a game-plan: to play the game at a snail’s pace, trying to keep the score in the 50s or 60s. He succeeded, too, which is why it’s tough to take too much out of this game.

There were a couple of noteworthy performances, however.

Alex Poythress looks like he might finally be figuring it out. On Tuesday night, he had a season-high 16 points, 14 of which came in the second half, while adding five boards and getting to the free throw line nine times. In his last five games, 10.6 points, 4.4 boards and 2.0 blocks in just under 24 minutes per game. He’s making hustle plays, getting to the offensive glass, playing defense. We’ve been saying it for a long time that the Wildcats need a glue-guy, someone to do the dirty work. Poythress looks like he could end up being that guy.

On the other hand, Willie Cauley-Stein was a no-show for the third straight game. He’s scored three points and has more fouls (11) than rebounds (10). He’s blocked two shots, which doubles the number of field goals that he’s made during that time. The good news? Dakari Johnson has played well in Cauley-Stein’s, well, absence. On Tuesday, he finished with six points, seven boards and three blocks.

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