KENTUCKY MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES
KENTUCKY at GEORGIA
STEGEMAN COLISEUM
JAN. 20, 2021
ATTENDANCE: 1,638
Final Score: Georgia 63, Kentucky 62
Team Records and Series Notes
- Kentucky falls to 4-9 overall, 3-3 in the Southeastern Conference, and has now lost three straight games.
- It’s the second streak of three or more consecutive losses this season.
- Georgia moves to 9-4 on the season, 2-4 in league play.
- Kentucky still leads the series 129-27. UK leads 44-18 in games played in Athens.
- The loss snapped a 14-game winning streak vs. Georgia, which was Kentucky’s second-longest active SEC winning streak entering Wednesday.
- Next up for the Wildcats: Kentucky hosts LSU at Rupp Arena on Saturday. The game is set for a 6 p.m. tip on ESPN.
Player Notes
- Brandon Boston Jr., coming off the bench for the first time in his college career, played arguably his best all-around game as a Wildcat with 18 points and seven rebounds.
- He was 9 of 17 from the floor, the first time since the season opener that he made at least 50% of his shots.
- Olivier Sarr grabbed a season-high 13 rebounds.
- Keion Brooks Jr. tied his season high with 12 points, all of them coming in the second half because of first-half foul trouble.
- He’s scored in double figures in three of four games since missing the first nine games of the season with a leg injury.
- Isaiah Jackson scored 12 points on a perfect 4-of-4 night from the floor and blocked four shots.
- The SEC leader in blocked shots has totaled four or more swats in five games this season.
Coach John Calipari
- Calipari is now 334-86 at UK.
- Calipari has a 779-226 all-time on-court record.
- UK is 271-51 under Calipari against teams unranked in the Associated Press Top 25.
- Calipari is 19-3 in his career vs. Georgia.
Team Notes
- Kentucky outshot Georgia, 42.1% to 38.8%, but lost for the third time this season (in six total opportunities) and second in a row when shooting better than the opposition.
- UK entered this season 202-19 under Calipari when holding the opposition to 40% or less from the field but is just 3-3 this season when that happens.
- Turnovers, as they often have been for the Wildcats this season, were largely the story in this one. UK committed 17 turnovers that led to 25 points for Georgia.
- Kentucky has turned the ball over 17 or more times in six games this season, including three straight. UK has lost five of those six games.
- UK blocked six shots and has six or more in eight outings this season.
- The Wildcats have swatted six or more in six consecutive games.
- Kentucky only made 1 of 13 from 3-point range.
- UK has made four or less 3-pointers in six games this season. The Wildcats have lost all six.
- UK was held to 62 points, the seventh time this season Kentucky has been held to 63 points or fewer. The Wildcats are 0-7 in those games.
In the First Half
- The starting lineup consisted of Devin Askew, Davion Mintz, Dontaie Allen, Lance Ware and Olivier Sarr for the first time this season.
- It’s the seventh different starting lineup UK has used in 2020-21.
- Keion Brooks Jr. was the first sub of the game for UK, checking in at the 17:14mark for Ware, but quickly went back out with two fouls and played just one minute in the first half.
- Kentucky started 0 for 5 from the floor before Mintz raced ahead and threw down a one-handed slam at the 16:52 mark.
- Georgia struck with the first run of the game, a 10-0 stretch, to take a 26-17 lead with 5:37 left in the first half. Brandon Boston Jr. ended the run with a jumper.
- Kentucky responded with an 8-0 run of its own with six points from Boston.
- Boston, in his first game out of the starting lineup, provided a lift off the bench with 12 first-half points on 6-of-10 shooting to go along with three rebounds.
- His 12 points tied his most in a half this season. He also netted 12 vs. Richmond and North Carolina in each of those opening halves.
- UK only made 37.9% in the first half and was 0 for 9 from 3, but the Wildcats also held Georgia to 37.1% on the defensive end.
- The Wildcats trailed 30-27 at halftime. UK is now 2-5 this season when down at intermission.
In the Second Half
- Kentucky opened the second half with Askew, Allen, Boston, Isaiah Jackson and Sarr.
- The Wildcats open strong with four quick points but Georgia came right back with six straight to take a 36-31 lead.
- UK turned it over four times by the first media timeout of the second half (15:53).
- After playing just a minute in the first half due to foul trouble and with his team down 41-35, Brooks scored five straight, including UK’s only 3-pointer after the Wildcats had missed their first nine long-range attempts.
- Brooks scored all 12 of his points in the second half.
- Down 49-46, Kentucky went on what then appeared to be the game-defining run, a 10-0 spurt, to take a 56-49 lead with 7:13 left.
- UK held Georgia scoreless for nearly four minutes and without a field goal for more than five minutes.
- Kentucky was clinging to a 62-56 lead with 2:02left but Georgia would not go away. The Bulldogs would not allow UK to score another point.
- After Kentucky missed the front end of a one-and-one with 23 seconds left, Georgia had several cracks at it to win the game in the closing seconds. The Bulldogs converted with the game-winning basketball when Sahvir Wheeler found P.J. Horne underneath the basket for the game-deciding layup with just a second left.
