UGA Suffers First Home Loss to No. 8 Kentucky

UGA loses on the road for the first time this season to No.8 Kentucky to fall to 13-5.

Tatum Esparza | Jan 20, 2024

UGA Suffers First Home Loss to No. 8 Kentucky /

Lexington, KY -- The Georgia Bulldogs fall on the road to the No. 8 Kentucky Wildcats despite a small second-half comeback. The Dawgs end their undefeated road record and are now 13-5 and 3-2 in SEC play, while Kentucky advances to 14-3 and 4-1 in the SEC.

UGA struck first with a three-point jumper made by Jabri Abdur-Rahim and assisted by Russell Tchewa. The Dawgs would lead for the first four minutes of the game but struggled for the rest of the half, especially after Kentucky went on an 11-0 run in less than two minutes to go up 19-10. The Wildcats would outscore the Dawgs 35 to 25 for the remainder of the period and would end the half up 54-35, peaking at 20 points with 20 seconds left.

Senior guard Antonito Reeves led Kentucky in points, putting up 14, and had the second most assists for the Wildcats with 3. Freshman forward Zvonimir Ivisic had a big overall first period, putting up 11 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, and 2 steals. The NCAA cleared Ivisic to play for the rest of the season earlier today (after waiting three months) and opened up his first-period shooting perfectly, going 100% from within 3-point range and 100% in shooting field goals (he had no free throw attempts).

Senior guard Jabri Abdur-Rahim put up 11 points for the Dawgs, and junior R.J. Melendez had 6. The Dawgs had a somber first period when it came to shooting, going 37.9% from field goal range, 27.3% from behind the arc, and 71.4% from behind the line. This is in deep contrast to the Wildcats’ explosive first period. Kentucky went 64.5% from field goal range (on 31 attempts), 56.3% from the top of the arc (on 12 attempts), and 87.5% from behind the line. The Wildcats also slightly outperformed Georgia defensively; they had 17 rebounds to UGA’s 14, 7 steals to UGA’s 5, and 4 blocks to UGA’s 1.

Despite a UGA going on a quick 6-0 run to cut the UK lead to 9 points with 27.1 seconds left, the Wildcats capitalized off their big first-half lead and came out on top 105-96. Two Bulldogs put up career points; freshman Silas Demary Jr. had 22 total. Abdur-Rahim had 34 points. Tchewa also had his second-highest amount of rebounds as a Bulldog (9, tonight. All three men were critical to UGA’s second-half surge, where the Dawgs outscored the Wildcats 61-5. For the Wildcats, senior forward Tre Mitchell was the leading scorer with 23 points, and Reeves followed closely with 21 points. There were also three other Wildcats with over 10 points (D.J. Wagner with 18, Ivisic with 13, and Reed Sheppard with 12). Both Mitchell and Reeves were part of four Wildcats who had 5 rebounds each and contributed to Kentuky’s 31 total. By the end of the game, UGA was able to improve upon their field goal shooting, which increased to 50%. However, Kentucky continued to dominate the Dawgs in all other categories, especially assists (27 to UGA’s 16).

Their performance tonight displays Georgia’s incredible drive; they were not willing to back down even in the face of a 20-point deficit. The Dawgs return home to play LSU at 6:30 PM this Wednesday and should be even more motivated to pull out the win.

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Published Jan 20, 2024

TATUM ESPARZA