Kentucky Basketball turned in a solid effort to beat the Georgia Bulldogs Friday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. Here are a few observations from what turned out to be the easiest of their three wins over UGA this season.
A Bad Habit Ended
One big plus right from tip: Kentucky Basketball avoided their recent habit of slow starts. They jumped out to an early 10-2 lead and stretched the advantage to as much as 13, going up 27-14 with 5:56 left before the half. De’Aaron Fox led the Cats with eight first half points. But when Fox went to the bench with his second foul at the 6:09 mark, Georgia went on a mini-run to cut the lead to 28-22. Isaiah Briscoe then stepped up to score Kentucky’s last four points of the half. His jumper at the buzzer gave the Cats a 32-25 as the teams headed to the locker room.
Good Habits Continued
Poor defense was the biggest factor in the Kentucky Basketball’s slump during the middle of the season. Turning that trend around is a big reason they have now won nine straight. Today the Cats held Georgia to 33% shooting from the field. That’s five straight opponents the UK has held under 50%, with four of those at 40% or less. The Bulldogs JJ Frazier has been a thorn in Kentucky’s side during his career, especially this season. Today he needed 17 shots to score 15 points, only connecting on four from the field.
Derek Willis keeps on stuffing the stat sheet. He led the Cats with 11 rebounds, had seven points and a whopping FOUR blocked shots. If he keeps that up he will have to break out the Dikembe Mutombo finger wag.
Isaiah Briscoe and Bam Adebayo continued their recent stretch of strong play. Briscoe tied Fox for scoring honors with 20 points. He had six rebounds, only two turnovers and played his usual tough defense. Bam added notched another double/double with 13 points and 10 boards.
A Trend That Needs to End
Kentucky got the win despite a season-low two point performance from Malik Monk. That’s two straight single-digit games for the newly minted Associated Press SEC Player of the Year. Monk’s previous season low was six points in the regular season finale at Texas A&M. Today he was only one of seven from the floor. Given how explosive the league’s leading scorer was during most of the season, don’t be surprised if turns it around with another net-scorcher before he leaves Music City.
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Next for Kentucky Basketball
The Cats will face Alabama in the semi-finals on Saturday at 1:00 ET. The Tide got there by defeating South Carolina 64-53 this afternoon. In their only regular season matchup, Kentucky prevailed 67-58 in Tuscaloosa. A win would make it 10 straight for the Cats and earn them a slot in the championship game on Sunday.