Georgia deals Cats damaging loss to postseason hopes
Already saddled with one of the worst losses among the nation's NCAA Tournament hopefuls, Kentucky suffered another damaging setback on Saturday at Georgia.
The Bulldogs, who entered the matchup having lost six of their last seven games and listed 129 in the ever-scrutinized NET rankings, pulled away late in the second half for a 75-68 win over the Wildcats.
The loss has knocked UK out of the NCAA Tournament Field of 68 projections, according to most of the major bracket analysts, with six regular-season games remaining. The Cats are in serious danger of missing the tourney for the second time in the last three years and for the third time during John Calipari's time in Lexington.
No UK head coach has ever missed the tournament three times during his career since the field expanded in 1985.
"The good news is, we've got a schedule that gives us a chance to do what we want to do," said Calipari, whose team still has high-profile games against Tennessee, Auburn, and Arkansas remaining.
Georgia (15-10, 5-7 SEC) got 21 points from junior guard Kario Oquendo, including 20 in the first half to build a 10-point lead, and made 25 of its 29 free throws to highlight the upset victory.
Justin Hill and Braelen Bridges added 15 and 12 points, respectively, for the Bulldogs. Ten of Bridges' points came during a key stretch midway through the second half after Kentucky had surged to the lead.
"Physically, just threw us around," Calipari said of Georgia. "C'mon. We're better than that."
Kentucky (16-9, 7-5 SEC) got 20 points and 14 rebounds from junior center Oscar Tshiebwe and 20 points from senior guard Antonio Reeves, but saw freshman guard Cason Wallace struggle through one of his worst games of the season. He went 2-for-8 from the field and did not score until tallying five points in the final 52 seconds of play.
And, as solid as Tshiebwe's line may appear, it was well below his 37-point, 24-rebound effort in the first meeting with Georgia last month at Rupp Arena.
The Cats also played without injured guards CJ Fredrick (ribs) and Sahvir Wheeler (ankle), a pair of seniors who combine to average 15 points and seven assists per game. Without them, UK shot 39% from the field and committed nine turnovers leading to 17 Georgia points.
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In this "Rapid Recap" feature, we touch on some quick-hitters from the UK loss...
KEY MOMENT:
Trailing 52-48 with just under 12 minutes remaining, Georgia countered a 14-2 run by UK with a 13-6 spurt of its own to regain control of the game. The Cats had five consecutive scoreless possessions with the lead. Meanwhile, UGA's Braelen Bridges scored 10 of his 12 points during the decisive stretch attacking four-foul ridden Oscar Tshiebwe in the paint.
GAME BALL:
Kario Oquendo, Georgia -- The Bulldogs' swaggy wing finished the job he wasn't able to do last month in a loss at Rupp Arena. He was just 5-of-15 from the field but took advantage of UK's poor defense to get himself to the free-throw line 12 times, where he hit 10.
BY THE NUMBERS:
0 - Points by Kentucky freshman guard Cason Wallace in the game's first 39:08. He entered the game averaging 12.3 points per game and had scored 44 in his last two games.
+1 - The Cats' advantage on the glass after dominating that stat column 44-31 in Lexington.
4th - Win by the Bulldogs in 25 games against UK during the John Calipari era.
10-3 - Fast-break points advantage for Georgia.
10-12 - Kentucky record in its last 22 SEC road games.
1989-90 - The last time UGA had back to back wins over UK at Stegeman Coliseum.
QUOTABLE:
"I can't get that will to win out of them that (Georgia's) guys had. That's on me." -- UK head coach John Calipari
UP NEXT:
Kentucky returns to action on Wednesday at Mississippi State in an 8:30 p.m. ET tipoff on the SEC Network. The Bulldogs (16-8, 4-7 SEC) are playing later tonight at Arkansas.
