Year after year, there are huge expectations for the Kentucky Wildcats basketball program helmed by John Calipari. With Selection Sunday on the horizon, the last thing Kentucky wanted was to crash out of the SEC Tournament in unceremonious fashion. But that's exactly what happened to the Wildcats on Friday as they suffered a 97-87 loss to the Texas A&M Aggies in the quarterfinals of the competition.

There were many factors that plagued Kentucky in their defeat; they were outrebounded by Texas A&M, 46-35, and to make matters worse, the Wildcats turned the ball over nine more times than the Aggies did (14-5). But according to Reed Sheppard and Tre Mitchell, the Wildcats did not help matters at all for themselves as they neglected to move the basketball in the face of adversity.

“They [Texas A&M] hit shots and we got selfish,” Sheppard said, per Tristan Pharis of A Sea of Blue. Added Mitchell, “We’re a completely different team when we don’t move the basketball.”

Head coach John Calipari echoed Reed Sheppard and Tre Mitchell's assessment that Kentucky wasn't able to move the ball as much as they would have liked.

“Just wasn't one of our better games. I told them after, ‘We didn't pass the ball like we've been doing. When the ball stops, we're not the same team,'” Calipari said in his postgame presser, per Tres Terrell of Cats Coverage.

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Still, that might have been the diagnosis they had of what ailed them against the Aggies, but Kentucky still finished the game with seven more assists than the opposition. They simply were not at their best on the defensive end, allowing Texas A&M to get whatever they wanted on the offensive end, and John Calipari wanted to give their opponents credit for taking advantage.

“Give A&M credit. They did a great job. They played a physical game. Defensively, they made it hard,” Calipari added.

Nevertheless, the number two ranked Kentucky, at the very least, will know what facet of the game they must improve upon with March Madness set to begin with the selection of the 68 teams that will be competing for the national title.