COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Texas A&M got clutch plays from freshman Tyler Davis and senior Danuel House in the final seconds lifting the Aggies to a 79-77 Southeastern Conference basketball overtime victory over No. 14 Kentucky on Saturday.
House made two critical free throws with 9.4 seconds remaining and Davis scored a put-back layup just before the buzzer to give the Aggies the victory.
A controversial call that left Kentucky coach John Calipari frustrated and flummoxed overshadowed a spectacular game that featured 12 ties and 29 lead changes.
Leading 76-75, Kentucky appeared to have the game in hand when Aggies guard Anthony Collins' drove to the basket and was rejected by forward Isaac Humphries with 10 seconds remaining. Humphries was fouled after rebounding Collins miss, but was assessed a technical foul -- his fifth foul -- for slamming the basketball to the floor.
"He was celebrating," Calipari said. "He was so happy. There was no disrespect to anybody. If that's what they choose to call, what are you going to do? I'm not going to be mad at anybody. He's a great kid."
Humphries teammates weren't mad at him either.
"Isaac got that big block. He was a big reason why we were up at the end," said guard Tyler Ulis, who led Kentucky with 22 points. "He rebounded the ball and blocked the shot. He was so excited. He started to throw it. It came out of his hands. He was saying sorry and stuff, but he really had nothing to be sorry about."
The Aggies capitalized on the second chances.
First, House, who struggled through a two of 13 shooting performance, lobbied coach Billy Kennedy to let him take the free throws from the technical.
"I was leaning toward [Collins] because he's our best free-throw shooter," Kennedy said. "House said to me, "Coach, I've got these.' He shoots a bunch of free throws in practice, so I let him."
House calmly sank both free throws to put the Aggies up, 77-76.
Then, Kentucky forward Skal Labissiere, who picked to shoot free throws on the other end in place of Humphries tied the score, but missed the second free throw.
The Aggies called timeout to set up a play for House. He took an inbounds pass and weaved into the lane to create a shot, but misfired. Davis followed for the rebound and put-back just before time expired.
Replays confirmed he just beat the clock.
"Once Danuel got the ball I knew he was either going to shoot it or drive it," Davis said. "He was getting to the basket he just wasn't getting some calls. I kept my guy on my backside and once (House) got the shot up I was able to get on the board and put it back in.
"I just tried to put it up as quick as possible. I had no idea how much time was on the clock."
Davis had a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds for A&M (20-7, 9-5), which was led by Jalen Jones with 24 points. D.J. Hogg added 10 for the Aggies and House had nine.
Texas A&M got 20 offensive boards en route to outrebounding Kentucky, 41-36. They turned those offensive boards into 22 second-chance points.
Kentucky (20-7, 10-4) was led by Ulis, who had 11 assists, and Jamal Murray who finished with 21 points.
It was the third straight meeting between the Wildcats and Aggies at Reed Arena to go into overtime. Kentucky won the previous two.
Both teams missed opportunities to settle the issue in regulation.
Kentucky's Marcus Lee, who scored a dunk off an alley-oop pass from Ulis to forge a 68-68 tie, missed the front end of a one-and-one with 31 seconds to play.
The Aggies called timeout with 22.6 seconds left to set up a final shot, but House's 15-foot jumper came up short.
NOTES: Kentucky entered the game against Texas A&M having made at least 10 3-point goals in each of the past four games. ... Wildcats senior F Alex Poythress missed a third straight game because of a right knee injury. ... Freshman G Jamal Murray's 19.2-point scoring average is Kentucky's highest of the John Calipari era. Murray had scored in double figures in each of the previous 24 games and scored at least 21 points in the previous five games. ... Texas A&M entered the game against No. 14 Kentucky with a 3-1 record against ranked opponents. ... Texas A&M was 1-3 vs. Kentucky as an SEC member, but had lost in overtime (in 2013) and double overtime (in 2015) at College Station. ... Senior G Alex Caruso already is the Aggies' career leader in steals and entered the game needing 12 assists to set a school record in that category.. ... Texas A&M's athletic administration distributed more than 12,000 T-shirts to fans for a "White Out" event. ... The Aggies are 13-1 on their home court. ... Denver Broncos LB and Super Bowl MVP Von Miller, who played collegiately at Texas A&M, was among the sellout crowd.
