With or without Hagans, UK will likely need a defensive stopper at Georgia
First “true” road game against a team unbeaten at home. Facing an opponent blessed with the highest rated prospect in the history of the program. Playing against a Kentucky player’s home state school, a scenario that has brought out the best in UK’s point guard/floor leader.
It would be nice if that player, Ashton Hagans, could play in Kentucky’s game at Georgia on Tuesday night. But that was not a sure thing after a sprained an ankle late in Saturday’s game against Missouri.
UK assistant coach Joel Justus, who substituted for John Calipari at Monday’s news conference, could not say if Hagans will play against Georgia.
“It’s day-to-day,” Justus said of Hagans’ status.
Citing UK players’ eagerness to participate, Justus said he expected Hagans on the floor for Monday’s practice. But even practice was not a certainty as Justus added that UK’s medical staff might advise that the sophomore guard remain on the sideline.
“I think Ashton, you know, is a guy who starts our defense …,” Justus said when asked to describe Hagans’ role. “I think he gives other guys confidence. He is a player who gives us defensive identity.”
When asked about the what-if hanging over this game, teammate Immanuel Quickley said, “It’d definitely be a big position for us to fill. What he gives our team, what he brings, is energy, leadership, his defensive ability, his toughness. All stuff that is hard to replace.”
Hagans has contributed those things in abundance when Kentucky has played Georgia or Georgia Tech. Hagans, who is from Cartersville, Ga., flirted with a triple-double when UK defeated Tech earlier this season: 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
In UK’s victory at Georgia last season, Hagans scored a season-high 23 points.
Edwards a challenge
All that production from a player also named the Southeastern Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Year last season might come in handy against Anthony Edwards, a 6-foot-5 freshman from Atlanta. He is the aforementioned highest rated recruiting prospect in Georgia basketball history.
The recruiting service 247Sports ranked Edwards as the No. 1 prospect in the country. Rivals had him third and ESPN fourth.
Edwards, whose vertical leap has been measured at 42 inches, is Georgia’s leading scorer. His scoring average of 18.4 points is tied for the second highest among freshmen in the nation and behind only Isaiah Stewart of Washington (19.6 per game).
When asked on a Southeastern Conference teleconference last week about Edwards’ play so far this season, Georgia Coach Tom Crean said:
“He’s improving in really all aspects of learning. What we’re trying to get him to understand (and it applies to) a lot of young players, they pre-determine what they want to do rather than reading what the defense is doing. Learning a lot about moving without the ball. … playing with his eyes up, not pre-determine. And let the game come to him.”
Though still learning, Edwards scored 37 points against Michigan State in the Maui Invitational. No Georgia freshman had scored that many points since Jacky Dorsey had 41 against LSU on Jan. 20, 1975. And it was the most points for any Georgia player since J.J. Frazier had 37 against Mississippi State on Jan. 24, 2015.
UK freshman Keion Brooks said he has played against Edwards since the two were in the third or fourth grade.
“He’s ultra-skilled,” Brooks said. “He can score from all three levels on the floor (three-point distance, mid-range and driving to the basket).”
Quickley a stopper?
Quickley, who led the defense that held Louisville’s Jordan Nwora to eight points (his first game under 20 this season), smiled when told he seemed to be a defensive stopper.
“I appreciate that,” he said.
Quickley, listed at 6-foot-3, said having a wingspan that would suit a player 6-9 or 6-10 made him effective in making deflections and disrupting.
UK’s plan against Nwora was to try to make him go to his left. Containing Edwards might not be that simple.
“What he’s unique at (is) he can go both ways with the ball,” Crean said of Edwards. “Very rarely does somebody that age so equally well right or left with the ball.”
Crean called Hagans “one of the best lead guards in the country.”
If Hagans does not play, Brooks suggested the UK lead guard can contribute through his absence being a motivation.
In that scenario, “we’re going to use go out and play hard for him,” Brooks said.
Tuesday
No. 14 Kentucky at Georgia
When: 9 p.m.
Records: UK 10-3, 1-0 SEC; Georgia 10-3, 0-0 SEC
Series: UK leads 127-26
Last meeting: UK won 69-49 on Jan. 15 in Athens, Ga.
TV: ESPN
Radio: WLAP-AM 630; WBUL-FM 98.1
