Kentucky suffered an extremely disappointing 86-78 loss to Georgia at Rupp Arena last night.
It was Georgia’s first win in Lexington since 2009 when Billy Gillispie was coaching the Wildcats.
Otega Oweh had 28 points for Kentucky (17-9, 8-5 SEC). Collin Chandler finished with 18 points. Denzel Aberdeen chipped in 14.
Here’s a look at all the postgame notes from the disappointing loss:
KENTUCKY MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES
RUPP ARENA AT CENTRAL BANK CENTER | LEXINGTON, KY.
FEBRUARY 17, 2026
ATTENDANCE: 19,780
Final Score: Georgia 86, (RV) Kentucky 78
Team Records and Series Notes
Kentucky is 17-9 overall, 8-5 in the Southeastern Conference
Georgia is 18-8 overall, 6-7 in the SEC.
Kentucky leads the series 132-30, including 65-6 in Lexington.
Kentucky had won the last 12 matchups in Lexington, dating back to a Georgia win in 2009.
Next for Kentucky: The Wildcats travel to Auburn for a Saturday matchup vs. the Tigers. Game time is 8:30 p.m. Eastern (7:30 p.m. Central time in Auburn) and it will be televised on ESPN or ESPN2.
Team Notes
Kentucky won the rebounding, 43-36. The Wildcats are 13-3 are outrebounding the opponent
Kentucky is 5-8 this season when trailing at halftime.
Player Notes
Otega Oweh tied his career high of 28 points (also last season at Oklahoma).
Among his 28 points were three 3-pointers, tying his career best in that category.
It is his 12th 20-point game of the season, all coming in the last 17 games.
He has tallied at least 20 points in 10 of UK’s 13 SEC games.
He has 18 games of at least 20 points against SEC opponents, ranking second among Wildcats since 1996-97. Antonio Reeves did so 19 times.
He has scored in double figures in all 26 games this season, one of only nine Division I players to do so this season.
He has a total streak of double-figure 29 games dating back to last season, the longest such streak of his career. He ranks third in Division I for most double-figure games in the last two seasons.
Hitting a career-high six 3-pointers, Collin Chandler tied his career high in scoring with 18 points.
It is his fourth time this season with 18 points, including three times in the last four games.
It was his second game in a row to have a career high in 3-pointers, as he sank five long shots Saturday at Florida.
It was his 16th game this season – including nine of the last 10 – with multiple made 3s.
Denzel Aberdeen had 14 points and tied for the team high in assists with four.
It is his 18th double-figure game of the season and ninth in the last 11 games.
Mouhamed Dioubate led all rebounders tonight with nine.
Kentucky is currently missing Jayden Quaintance, Kam Williams and Jaland Lowe because of injury. Lowe is out for the season.
By the time Kentucky reaches the end of the regular season, during his two years at UK, Coach Mark Pope will have played only five of 52 games against high-major opponents (9.6%) with a full roster.
In the First Half
Kentucky started the combination of Denzel Aberdeen, Collin Chandler, Otega Oweh, Andrija Jelavic and Malachi Moreno for the seventh consecutive game.
UK’s first substitutions were Brandon Garrison and Mo Dioubate at 15:39.
Georgia missed its first six field goal attempts as Kentucky jumped out to a 7-2 lead.
Kentucky led 29-22 when Georgia closed the half on a 17-5 run, taking a 39-34 lead into halftime.
Oweh led the Wildcats in the first half with 12 points.
In the Second Half
Kentucky opened with the starters.
Georgia led the entire second half.
Kentucky rallied within one point on three occasions, the last at 56-55, when Georgia went on a 10-0 run for a 66-55 lead.
Georgia took its largest lead of 12 points at 69-57.
Trailing 81-72, Kentucky went on a 6-0 run to pull within 81-78 but got no closer as Georgia scored the final five points.
