Kentucky has been off to a strong start to begin the Mark Pope era in Lexington. However, the Wildcats are struggling a bit on the road and now already have a loss in SEC play.
On Tuesday night, Kentucky made the trek to Athens to face Georgia in the 2nd conference game of the season. It was the Wildcats who began the night completely flat, falling behind by 13 points at halftime in a lackluster performance.
Kentucky was unable to cut into that deficit in the 2nd half, eventually falling 82-69 to the unranked Bulldogs. Asa Newell (17 points) and Blue Cain (15 points) led Georgia while Dakota Leffew and DeShayne Montgomery combined for 20 points off the bench.
For the Wildcats, Lamont Butler led the team with 20 points and also had a game-high 4 steals. Unfortunately, Kentucky’s starters combined to go 2-for-13 from 3-point range, and the Wildcats shot a combined 24% (6-for-25) from deep in the loss.
SEC play this season is already shaping up to be a major battle of juggernauts on a regular basis. Be sure to stay tuned into our KY sports betting apps to find your best action on the Wildcats.
What it means moving forward
The win gives a major boost to head coach Mike White as the 10th straight home win for the Bulldogs. It is also the first top-10 win for Georgia in 5 years, and it’s the kind of win Georgia needs if the program wants to seriously compete for an NCAA Tournament bid in the ultra-deep SEC.
On the other side of the equation, it’s a troubling loss for Pope and his Wildcats if they have plans of competing for the league title this season. It is Kentucky’s 3rd loss of the season with 2 of those defeats coming on the road against unranked opponents.
It’s possible this is just life in the SEC this season, but things only get tougher from here for the Wildcats. Kentucky will now face 3 straight teams currently ranked in the top-15 nationally, starting with a weekend road trip to face No. 14 Mississippi State.
Going back to Kentucky’s SEC-opening win over Florida, the Wildcats are in a stretch that includes 5 of 7 games against top-15 opponents. We’ll see how Kentucky tries to weather the storm moving forward.
Kentucky falls to unranked Georgia in marquee win for Bulldogs Saturday Down South.
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