Game recap: Kentucky basketball survives scare from Georgia
By Drew Koch
The Kentucky basketball team struggled early against Georgia, but outlasted the Bulldogs 66-61. Kentucky took a total of 38 free throw attempts in the game.
The Kentucky basketball team survived a scare from Georgia, but but hung on for the 66-61 win. The Wildcats went to the charity stripe 38 times. Shai Gilgeious-Alexander led the Wildcats in scoring again with 21 points.
First Half
Georgia got off to a hot start and led the Kentucky Wildcats 6-0 early before Hamidou Diallo put back an offensive rebound for UK’s first points of the game. Nick Richards and PJ Wasington picked up two early fouls causing John Calipari to quickly sub in Wenyen Gabriel, Shai-Gilgeous Alexander and Sacha Killeya-Jones. The Cats used a 12-4 run to take their first lead of the game at 12-10.
The remainder of the first half saw the Kentucky basketball team take several questionable shots. The Cats also failed to box out well on the defensive glass. The Bulldogs grabbed 9 offensive rebounds in the first half.
Georgia was up by seven late, but Kentucky scored the final six points of the half. All the Wildcats’ points came at the free throw line and the Bulldogs led 27-26 at halftime. Quade Green was the Cats’ leading scorer in the first half with 13 points.
Second Half
Wenyen Gabriel got the start in the second half over Nick Richards. The Bulldogs increased their lead to 8 early in the second half before Gabriel knocked down a three-pointer. Gabriel was then called for a ridiculous offensive foul and Georgia converted a three-point play the old fashioned way on the other end. Georgia led by 8 again.
The Kentucky basketball team then increased their defensive intensity. Washington converted a turnaround layup and Diallo turned a Georgia mistake into two points at the charity stripe. Kentucky smothered the Bulldogs on the following possession and forced a shot clock violation.
The game was back and forth in the second half. With less than 5 minutes left Gilgeous-Alexander knocked down a three-pointer and a Knox layup up put the Kentucky basketball team up by 3. Washington fouled out with 3:10 left in the game. Yante Maten made 1-of-2 free throws and cut the lead to one.
Gabriel hit a dagger three-pointer with just over a minute left and the Wildcats made their free throws down the stretch. Maten led the Bulldogs with 17 points.