Three takeaways as Kentucky basketball grinds out a road win at Georgia
Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s 78-69 win at Georgia on Tuesday:
1. Kentucky’s veterans get it done on the road
After trailing 37-31 at halftime, UK coach John Calipari mixed things up. Senior grad transfer Nate Sestina started the second half in place of EJ Montgomery. Sophomore guard Immanuel Quickley started the second half.
And presto: The Wildcats outscored the Bulldogs 47-32 in the second half to win their first true road game of the season and go 2-0 in the conference.
“They were playing well,” Calipari said afterward. “So I rode them.”
They certainly responded. Along with freshman guard Tyrese Maxey, the Cats shot 58.6 percent the second half. They made four of six three-point shots and they out rebounded the Bulldogs 23-12 over the final 20 minutes.
“We’ve been through it before,” said Quickley, who was a perfect 3-for-3 from three-point range on the way to 15 points in 34 minutes.
Sestina contributed eight points and seven rebounds in the second half. Junior center Nick Richards scored 13 points in the second half and finished with 17 for the game after sitting the final 12 minutes of the first half because of foul trouble.
And then there was …
2. This might have been Tyrese Maxey’s most complete game
Yes, the freshman guard scored 26 points in the Cats’ 69-62 win over Michigan State in the Champions Classic. And yes, Maxey scored a career-high 27 points in UK’s 78-70 overtime win over archrival Louisville. But Tuesday night in Athens, he contributed in just about every area.
Maxey ended up with 17 points, seven rebounds, eight assists and four blocked shots in the victory. That’s right, the 6-foot-3 guard blocked four shots even though at one point Georgia star freshman Anthony Edwards, and Maxey’s friend, seemed to mock Maxey for being too small.
“I’m going to call him as a soon as I get off the plane,” said Maxey afterward.
On the night, the Garland, Texas, native was seven of 15 from the floor, including one of three from three-point land. Instead of relying on the three-point shot, he made creative drives to the rim, and even fed teammates off those drives. Prime example, a lob to Richards for a perfect flush and a 70-64 lead with 1:42 left.
“And we were getting on him for not passing the ball,” said Calipari after reading the stat sheet.
“Coach told me if I didn’t rebound he was going to take me out,” said Maxey of his seven boards. “I was just trying to win the game.”
3. It took some grit for the Cats to pull it out in Athens
Stegeman Coliseum was packed. Back in school, Georgia students were loud and proud. Tom Crean’s team was fresh off a 65-62 win at No. 9 Memphis on Saturday, its first win over a top-10 team since it beat Kentucky in the 2010-2011 campaign. Plus, Georgia led at halftime over a UK team that was 0-3 this season when behind after 20 minutes.
And, oh yeah, this was Kentucky’s first true road game of the season.
None of that mattered, as it turned out. It didn’t even matter that the Cats, who came into the game shooting a sparkling 80 percent from the foul line, made just 10 of 20 free throws for 50 percent on the night. Or that Georgia shot 23 three throws compared to Kentucky’s 20. Nor did it matter that Richards missed that chunk of the first half after picking up his second foul.
Somehow, Kentucky found a way to win the game in front of a hostile crowd. “Any time you win on the road in this league it’s big,” Calipari said afterward.
Kentucky did a large part of it on the defensive end. Georgia shot just 40.7 percent the second half, including just two-of-12 from three-point range. Edwards finished with 23 points, but he was just three of nine from three-point range and did not score a point from the 13:45 mark until there were just two minutes remaining. During that time, UK turned a 49-44 deficit into a 68-62 lead.
“I’m proud of these guys,” said Calipari, and he had reason to be.
This story was originally published January 8, 2020 at 12:44 AM.
