I watched the Kentucky vs. Georgia men’s basketball game
Wednesday night (January 25th). Kentucky, who returned
to the number one team in the nation after Syracuse lost at Notre Dame, won
their 12th straight game by beating Georgia 57-44. Kentucky is a young team this season,
starting 3 freshman and 2 sophomores, but they have championship talent. The Wildcats suffered their first loss of the
season at Indiana by a buzzer-beater and lost last season at Georgia when they
were the #11 team in the land. So
Wednesday’s game was another big SEC road test for the “Big Blue.” When a young team plays on the road, they
need a veteran leader to step up.
Kentucky senior, Darius Miller led all scorers with 19 points off the
bench. He shot 7-8 from the field and
went 4-4 from behind the three-point arc.
It was Kentucky’s three point shooting (44%) and speed that allowed them
to cruise to their 20th win this season. However, it was their lowest scoring game of
the season.
Georgia came out hot in the first half and contended with
the top team in the SEC. Georgia’s
Nemanja Djurisic’s 10 points help the Bulldogs survive a 10-0 spurt by Kentucky
in the middle of the first half. Only
down one with about six minutes left in the half, Kentucky went on another huge
run. Freshman Kyle Wiltjer knocked down
two 3-pointers and Miller scored seven straight, which helped Kentucky boost
their lead to 38-26 at the half. After watching
the game, it seems the Wildcats rely heavily on the fast-break transition game
and three-pointers. But their fast-break
starts with good defense and rebounding.
A huge part of their defense is the big fella in the middle, Anthony
Davis. Davis, only a freshman, had 11
rebounds and 5 blocks in the game against Georgia. Davis broke the Kentucky single season blocks
record after only 19 games. It is his
6’10’’ frame and 90 inch wingspan that proposes a threat to most scorers
inside.
The second half was a completely different story for both
teams. Kentucky shot 7-23 (30%) and
Georgia went 8-25 (32 %) in the second half.
Georgia started the game 6-10 from the field and ended the game
19-55. Kentucky’s defense was the main
reason for Georgia’s struggles.
Djurisic, who scored 10 in the first half, was held scoreless in the
second half. Georgia’s top player,
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, freshman who averages 14 points a game, was limited
to just 7 points. However, Kentucky did
not look much better, which made John Calipari, Kentucky head coach, just wish
his guys would show how good they really are.
The thing about Kentucky is that they have so many weapons which make
them successful. They have Davis’
presence in the middle, Miller’s leadership and ability to score, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist,
another freshman who had 14 points and 11 rebounds versus Georgia, has such
athleticism, Terrence Jones is another presence inside and knows how to score
in the post, and Marquis Teague, a freshman point guard that pushes the ball in
transition and gets his surrounding players good shots. Kentucky is a team that always seems to have
a shot at the National Championship but they can never quite achieve it. Their youth might make or break them this
season. Their quickness and athleticism
might allow them to make a run in March or it might be the inexperience and big
stage that gets them upset. What does
everyone else think?
I tuned into the Sportscenter broadcast at 11pm on Wednesday
night, right after the game ended. They
didn’t mention the Kentucky vs. Georgia game as the top story but it was in the
early segment of the show. Big reason
for it not being a top story was because Prince Fielder just signed a huge
contract with the Detroit Tigers earlier that day. After showing a few NBA highlights, they
recapped the Kentucky game. It started
by showing a few clips from their run in the first half and how they were
successful against the Georgia 2-3 zone.
It then went to Jimmy Dikes, ESPN college basketball analyst, talking to
Calipari at a practice session about how Kentucky plans on exploiting the 2-3
zone. As Calipari spoke, they showed the
clips of how Davis would set a screen on one of the top guys of the zone and
free open shooters like Miller. After
showing a few highlights of the second half and a few of Davis’ blocks, it
showed the score and then went to a postgame interview with Calipari. Calipari’s main message was that guys weren’t
playing like they should be and that his team just needs to expose their hidden
talents and perform at a higher level.
Finally, an alley-oop from the Georgia side was one of the top 10
plays.
