Five things you need to know from Kentucky’s 105-76 win over Georgia State
READ MORE
Game day: No. 8 Kentucky 105, Georgia State 76
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Friday night’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and Georgia State in Rupp Arena.
Expand All
Five things you need to know from No. 8 Kentucky’s 105-76 win over Georgia State in men’s NCAA college basketball at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center on Friday night:
1. Kentucky puts its super power on display. UK obviously does not have the number of high-level NBA prospects that it generally did in each season of the previous coaching regime. What the Wildcats do have, however, is a roster stocked with really good college basketball players.
That was on vivid display Friday night. In dispatching a gritty Georgia State team, Kentucky had seven players score in double figures and eight players finish with between nine (Kerr Kriisa) and 19 points (Jaxson Robinson).
Making UK’s display of balance even more impressive is that it came on a night when the Cats were without a key contributor. Backup center Brandon Garrison missed the game due to what Kentucky said was “soreness.”
2. A lost week of 3-point shooting. Kentucky put 105 points on the scoreboard on a night when the Wildcats were ice cold from behind the 3-point arc.
The Cats finished 7-of-26 on treys, and needed a late flurry to get to 3-of-15 in the second half.
Combined with Kentucky’s 8-of-29 3-point shooting in Tuesday night’s 87-68 win over Western Kentucky, UK went 15-of-55 on 3-pointers this week (27.3%).
There are two ways to look at that.
It’s hard to believe UK won’t need to shoot better from distance to beat the best teams it will face.
Nevertheless, on a night when the 3-pointers were not falling, UK made a sizzling 80.5 percent (33 of 41) of its 2-point shots vs. Georgia State.
The Cats, who entered the game leading the nation in scoring at 95.3 points a game, went 10 points above that without making treys vs. the Panthers.
3. Lucky “seven” for the Cats. With the victory over Georgia State, Kentucky has started Mark Pope’s debut season as UK head man with a 7-0 record.
It is the first time a UK men’s basketball team won its first seven games of a season since Bam Adebayo, De’Aaron Fox, Malik Monk and Co. won their first seven games in 2016-17.
Those 2016-17 Wildcats lost their eighth game 97-92 to UCLA in Rupp Arena.
The current Cats are about to face a week with two significant tests ahead.
4. Mark Pope’s late-night show. Speaking of games where one suspects Kentucky will need to make 3-point shots, in the coming week Kentucky will play at Clemson (7-1) in the SEC/ACC Challenge on Tuesday night at 9:30 EST.
On Saturday night, the Wildcats will tip off at 10 p.m. EST vs. No. 3 Gonzaga (6-1 entering Friday’s game vs. Davidson) on a neutral court in Seattle.
Facing two challenging opponents away from Rupp Arena will tell us much about the 2024-25 Wildcats.
5. Cats vs. the Sun Belt. With its victory over Georgia State, Kentucky is now 21-1 against teams that are currently in the Sun Belt Conference.
The only loss came in the finals of the 1989-90 UKIT, when Louisiana at Lafayette — then known as the University of Southwestern Louisiana — defeated Rick Pitino’s “Bombinos” 116-113 in a shootout.
Of the 14 current Sun Belt members, UK has only played seven. The Wildcats are 1-0 vs. Appalachian State, Arkansas State and Troy; UK is 2-0 vs. Old Dominion; 3-0 against Georgia State and 13-0 vs. Marshall.
The Cats are 0-1 vs. Louisiana.
Kentucky has yet to play Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, James Madison, South Alabama, Southern Mississippi, Texas State and ULM (Lousiana at Monroe) in men’s hoops.
This story was originally published November 29, 2024 at 9:18 PM.
