Five things you need to know from Kentucky’s 92-77 win over Georgia
Five things you need to know from the Kentucky Wildcats’ 92-77 win over the Georgia Bulldogs in SEC men’s basketball at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center:
1. No Wheeler, big lineup for Cats. With starting point guard Sahvir Wheeler sidelined by a neck injury that resulted when he blindly ran full-speed into an LSU pick in UK’s 65-60 loss in Baton Rouge on Tuesday, John Calipari went big with his adjusted starting lineup.
Rather than its normal three-guard look, Kentucky started forwards Keion Brooks and Jacob Toppin as well as post man Oscar Tshiebwe with back-court players TyTy Washington and Kellan Grady.
Such big lineups frustrate that faction of UK fans who want to see Kentucky fully embrace Golden State Warriors-style “modern basketball” with its emphasis on three-point shooting and perimeter play.
The bigger lineup did not even make it to the under-16 timeout of the first half. Guard Davion Mintz replaced Toppin with 16:20 remaining in the first half and Kentucky trailing 7-4.
Mintz scored eight quick points, before picking up two fouls and going to the bench.
To start the second half, Calipari reverted to a three-guard attack by starting Mintz, Grady and Washington with Brooks and Tshiebwe.
UK responded by opening the final half on a 14-8 spurt that built a three-point halftime lead to nine by the under-16 timeout.
2. TyTy takes a star turn. With Wheeler sidelined, the freshman from Phoenix got to run the point.
To say he looked comfortable would be a massive understatement.
The 6-foot-3, 197-pound Washington was involved directly in 24 of Kentucky’s 39 made field goals. Washington made eight of 13 shots and had a whopping 17 assists — versus only two turnovers.
The 17 assists are a UK record, breaking John Wall’s mark of 16 set against Hartford in 2009-10.
Kentucky is obviously a better, deeper team with Wheeler on the court.
But UK will benefit moving forward from the confidence Washington gains from so adeptly playing “quarterback.”
3. Just another day at the office for Oscar. UK post player Oscar Tshiebwe dominated Georgia in the paint to the tune of 29 points and 17 rebounds.
That would be the game of the season for many, but it is just business as usual this season for the 6-9, 255-pound Tshiebwe.
This was the 11th points-rebounds double-double for the native of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Amazingly, 17 rebounds were only the fifth-highest total for Tshiebwe in a game this season.
The 29 points were a season high, however.
4. Say thanks for Mintz. Before the game, Kentucky’s Calipari presented Davion Mintz with a basketball to recognize the Creighton transfer having become a 1,000-points career scorer during the loss at LSU.
Mintz entered the game with 1,014 career points, 637 scored at Creighton and 377 at Kentucky.
After the Georgia game, Mintz is now a 1,033-points career scorer.
The 6-3, 195-pound super-senior was terrific for Kentucky on Saturday night, hitting seven of 10 shots, five of seven treys to score 19 points.
For adherents of the plus/minus stat, Mintz was UK’s leader at plus-20.
It’s hard to over-estimate how much Mintz, a Charlotte, N.C., product, has meant to the Wildcats since signing on with UK as a graduate transfer before last season.
5. All-time wins race. Kentucky began the 2021-22 season with a four-victory edge (2,327-2,323) over Kansas in the battle to be men’s college basketball’s all-time winningest program.
Going into Saturday’s games, Bill Self’s Jayhawks (12-1) had shaved one game off the Wildcats’ (11-3) advantage.
However, on Saturday, UK gained that game back on KU.
No. 6 Kansas lost 75-67 at No. 25 Texas Tech.
So the up-to-the-minute all-time college hoops wins race stands: 1. Kentucky 2,339; 2. Kansas 2,335.
Of course, UK and KU will play Jan. 29 in Allen Fieldhouse.
This story was originally published January 8, 2022 at 8:09 PM.
