Georgia Basketball Game Notes
Georgia (11-6, 1-3 SEC) vs. Kentucky (13-4, 4-1 SEC)
Tuesday, January 21 at 7:00 p.m. ET
Rupp Arena (20,500) in Lexington, Ky.
Watch: ESPN (Karl Ravech, play-by-play; Jimmy Dykes, analyst; Marty Smith)
Listen: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network Flagship: WSB AM 750 Atlanta. XM: 381; Internet: 971. (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Adam Gillespie, producer)
The Starting Five
• Anthony Edwards is the nation’s top-scoring freshman at 19.1 ppg…and the only first-year player currently ranked among the top-50 scorers in Division I hoops.
• Over the last 11 games, Toumani Camara is UGA’s second leading rebounder (5.4 rpg) and third on the team in scoring (7.4 ppg) and minutes played (26.6 mpg).
• UGA’s win at No. 9 Memphis was just its second road victory ever over a ranked, non-conference foe…and the first since Dec. 28, 1977 at No. 7 Louisville.
• Six of nine SEC games at Stegeman Coliseum are now sellouts – Kentucky, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Alabama, Arkansas and Florida.
• Georgia’s celebrated freshman class – ranked among the top-10 groups nationally by every recruiting service – features five of the nation’s top-100 prospects.
The Opening Tip
Georgia will face Kentucky for the second time in two weeks on Tuesday. On Jan. 7 in a sold-out Stegeman Coliseum, the Bulldogs built a nine-point lead late in the first half and led for nearly 23 minutes of the game before the No. 14-ranked Wildcats rallied for a 78-69 victory.
Tuesday’s contest at Rupp Arena is the second half of a challenging back-to-back, Saturday-Tuesday road portion of the Bulldogs’ schedule. Georgia lost at Mississippi State on Saturday. Roughly 71 hours later, the Bulldogs will face the Wildcats, who were ranked No. 10 and No. 12 in the AP and coaches polls last week, respectively.
The outings versus MSU and UK are the fourth and fifth in Georgia’s grueling stretch to open SEC play. The Bulldogs will face six straight teams that earned NCAA Tournament bids last spring – Kentucky, Auburn, Tennessee, Mississippi State, Kentucky (again) and Ole Miss.
Georgia is 11-6 overall and 1-3 in SEC play. Last Wednesday, the Bulldogs matched their overall win total from a year ago with an impressive 80-63 victory over Tennessee.
Anthony Edwards, a pre- and mid-season All-American and leading National Freshman of the Year candidate, is the nation’s top-scoring freshman at 19.1 ppg. Edwards is the only freshman ranked among the top-50 scorers in the country at No. 47. Rayshaun Hammonds is the SEC’s fourth-leading rebounder (8.2 rpg) and also ranks No. 14 in scoring (13.8 ppg).
Keeping An Eye On . . . Entering Today’s Game
Among UGA’s Freshman Leaders
Anthony Edwards is…
• 5 points from No. 10 Eric Marbury
• 29 points from No. 9 Trey Thompkins
Among UGA’s career Leaders
Tyree Crump is…
• 16 3FGs from No. 10 Jody Patton
• 26 3 FGAs from No. 8 G.G. Smith
Series History
Kentucky owns a 128-26 advantage in the all-time series between the Bulldogs and the Wildcats, including a 61-5 edge in Lexington.
In Georgia’s most recent trip to Rupp Arena on New Year’s Eve 2017, No. 16 Kentucky rallied for a 66-61 win over Georgia.
The Wildcats trailed by as many as eight points multiple times during the second half before surging ahead in the waning moments.
Georgia held Kentucky to a season-low 31.5 percent shooting from the floor. The Wildcats scored 40 percent of their points from the line, connecting on 27-of-38 trips to the stripe.
Yante Maten had 17 points and 12 boards, his sixth double-double this season, to lead Georgia.
The Bulldogs and Wildcats also met two weeks ago in Athens on Jan. 7. Anthony Edwards’ game-high 23 points was not enough to overcome No. 14 Kentucky in a 78-69 setback at a sold-out Stegeman Coliseum.
The Bulldogs led for 22:49 of the game, nearly 10 minutes more than the Wildcats.
Georgia used an 8-0 surge to gain its largest lead at 39-31 late in the half before Ashton Hagans’ 3-pointer at the buzzer trimmed that margin to six. A 13-2 run by Kentucky turned a 55-50 lead into a 63-57 deficit for Georgia and put the Wildcats on top for good.
Scouting The Cats
Kentucky also is 13-4 overall and 4-1 in the SEC. The Wildcats’ lone league setback was on a buzzer-beater to South Carolina.
Kentucky’s win count includes victories over No. 1 Michigan State in the season opener and No. 3 Louisville.
Tyrese Maxey and Immanuel Quickly, who both are averaging 13.7 ppg, lead an incredibly balanced offense for UK that features a quartet averaging between 13.1-13.7 ppg.
Last Time Out…
Mississippi State shot 61.7 percent from the field – the best effort of the season against Georgia – en route to a 91-59 win over the Bulldogs last Saturday in Starkville.
Freshman Toumani Camara scored eight of his 10 points of the evening in the opening 7:08 of the contest to help Georgia grab a 15-14 advantage. State took the lead for good moments later on a Reggie Perry jumper at the 10:27 mark of the first half.