Back on top of the rankings and back on the road. The Kentucky Wildcats traveled to Athens to take on the Georgia Bulldogs. Starting 5 for UK; Teague, Lamb, Kidd-Gilchrist, Jones, and Davis.
Once again, the first two offensive possessions went to Terrence Jones. In an improvement from last week, Jones scored on the first trip before turning it over on the second…baby steps, people.
Jones finished the half with 4 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist.
Georgia, a guard dominated team, was trying to slow down the pace of the game from the beginning with deliberate ball movement and perimeter play, while Kentucky was driving to the hole every time.
That is, until Doron Lamb responded to Georgia’s taking of the lead with pretty trey. These would be Doron’s only points of the half.
Like clockwork, Georgia, a team which shoots 31% from 3, saw back to back triples from Nemanja Djurisic.
Kentucky was plagued by early turnovers, with 5 in the first 6 minutes of the game. Georgia had none up to that point.
Approaching the 10 minute mark, Georgia began to cool off and Kentucky settled in. Darius Miller hit back to back 3’s of his own to give Kentucky a 5 point lead.
The next trip down Terrence Jones decided it was time for that wonderful point guard impression he does, bringing the ball up himself and dishing it to Kidd-Gilchrist for a strong jam. MKG finished the half with 10 points of his own.
Add Namanja Djurisic to the long list of players who have the night of their lives against Kentucky. He seemed to be able to score from anywhere on the floor and kept Georgia close down the stretch of the half . He finished the first period with 10points to lead Georgia. He averages 6 points per game.
Anthony Davis had another quiet half on offense, with 2 points. He did add 6 rebounds and 2 blocks to keep the Bulldogs honest.
Kentucky did what it has done against teams (especially on the road) all year long, embody immaturity. Every time they would go on a bit of a run they would breakdown on defense and turn it over on offense to give it all back.
Credit Darius Miller though, he had 13 points in the first half to lead the CATS and was [B]perfect[/B] from the field, with three 3 pointers. Add a couple more treys from Kyle Wiltjer, and UK lived by the three and the rebound. (20 to 10 over Ga.) I hope to be able to say this more.
Despite another up and down half, UK headed to the locker room with a 12 point lead, 38-26.
