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SEC college basketball final: Georgia 82, No. 6 Kentucky 69

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Game day: Georgia 82, No. 6 Kentucky 69

Click below for more of the Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Tuesday’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and Georgia in Athens, Georgia.

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Fresh off that 106-100 win over the Florida Gators at Rupp Arena on Saturday, the No. 6-ranked Kentucky Wildcats travel to Stegeman Coliseum to face the Georgia Bulldogs in their first SEC road game of the season.

Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday on the SEC Network.

Cameron Drummond and myself will be in Athens for the game. Ben Roberts and Mark Story will be monitoring the action from Lexington. You can follow Ben on Bluesky at @benrobertshl. You can follow the rest of us on X/Twitter at @markcstory, @cdrummond97 and @johnclayiv.

Follow a dedicated Kentucky men’s basketball X/Twitter list featuring updates from various sources.

Kentucky head coach Mark Pope reacts during his team’s game against Florida at Rupp Arena on Jan. 4.
Kentucky head coach Mark Pope reacts during his team’s game against Florida at Rupp Arena on Jan. 4. Ryan C. Hermens rhermens@herald-leader.com

Scouting report: Georgia

Coach Mike White’s Bulldogs dropped to 12-2 with a 63-51 loss at Ole Miss in the Bulldogs’ SEC opener last Saturday. Going into Monday night’s action, Georgia was ranked No. 50 by KenPom. The Bulldogs were ranked 72nd in adjusted offensive efficiency and 28th in adjusted defensive efficiency.

Asa Newell is Georgia’s player to watch. The 6-foot-11 freshman from Destin, Florida, was ranked as the 19th-best prospect in the class of 2024 by 247Sports. He’s averaging 15.4 points and 6.9 rebounds so far for the Bulldogs. Newell posted a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds in Georgia’s loss at Ole Miss.

As a college head coach, White is 7-12 against UK. He was 4-10 vs. the Wildcats during his seven years as the head coach at Florida. He was 1-2 vs. Kentucky in his first two years at Georgia, a program that is looking for its first NCAA Tournament bid since 2015. Current Kentucky assistant coach Mark Fox was the Georgia head coach that season.

Georgia men’s basketball roster

Georgia men’s basketball schedule

Scouting report: Kentucky

Coach Mark Pope’s Wildcats improved to 12-2 on the season with that thrilling win over Florida in the SEC opener last Saturday at Rupp Arena. Heading into Monday’s play, UK was ranked 19th by KenPom. The Cats are fifth in adjusted offensive efficiency and 91st in adjusted defensive efficiency.

Six Wildcats scored in double figures in the win over Florida. Koby Brea lead the way with 23 points. The Dayton transfer set a career-high with seven made 3-pointers. Lamont Butler scored 19 points and dished eight assists. Otega Oweh scored 16 points and Amari Williams added 15 points and eight rebounds. Andrew Carr and Jaxson Robinson each scored 14 points.

Kentucky is 17-2 in its last 19 games against Georgia. Both of those losses came on its last two trips to Athens. UK lost 63-62 to Tom Crean’s Bulldogs on Jan. 20, 2021. The Cats lost 75-68 to Mike White’s Bulldogs on Feb. 11, 2023.

Kentucky men’s basketball roster

Kentucky men’s basketball schedule

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This story was originally published January 7, 2025 at 6:00 PM.

John Clay
Lexington Herald-Leader
John Clay is a sports columnist for the Lexington Herald-Leader. A native of Central Kentucky, he covered UK football from 1987 until being named sports columnist in 2000. He has covered 20 Final Fours and 42 consecutive Kentucky Derbys. Support my work with a digital subscription
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Game day: Georgia 82, No. 6 Kentucky 69

Click below for more of the Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Tuesday’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and Georgia in Athens, Georgia.