Fresh off an impressive win over fellow top-10 team Florida in its Southeastern Conference opener, No. 6 Kentucky hits the road for the first time in league play on Tuesday when it travels to Athens to take on Georgia.
The Wildcats (12-2, 1-0 SEC) topped the Gators 106-100 at home on Saturday, increasing their scoring mark to 90.2 points per game, second nationally only to No. 5 Alabama’s 91.1. Winner in five of its last six games, Kentucky will look to earn its first victory at Georgia since January 2020.
If there was any question about how first-year head coach Mark Pope would fare following John Calipari’s tenure in Lexington, doubts have been put to bed so far.
The Wildcats’ win over then-No. 6 Florida was their third against a top-seven team, after prior victories over No. 6 Duke in Atlanta and No. 7 Gonzaga in Seattle. There was no shortage of excitement Saturday, as the Wildcats shot 57.8 percent from the field and 48.3 percent (14-for-29) on 3-pointers — including Koby Brea’s 23 points and seven triples.
“If you guys didn’t have fun (Saturday), then you should quit now and find a new job,” Pope told reporters. “That was just an elite-level game. Physically, it was a bloodbath. Just an incredible game. … How fun is this league going to be?”
Without a single contributing player from last year’s roster, a brand-new Kentucky team already has shown the Wildcats won’t shy away from big games.
“The players love the opportunity to compete,” Pope said. “I don’t think they’re scared. I don’t think they spend a ton of time stressing or fretting about the outcome. They’re doing a terrific job of staying in the moment and competing for every possession.”
Otega Oweh’s 15.9 points per game lead the team, followed by Lamont Butler’s 13.8 and Brea’s 12.7. A year after Brea led the country with a 49.8 percent 3-point shooting mark at Dayton, the sharpshooter again is atop the Division I leaderboard at 52.3 percent.
Georgia (12-2, 0-1) lost on Saturday for the first time since Nov. 23, falling at then-No. 24 Ole Miss 63-51 to snap a seven-game winning streak. The Bulldogs had a chance to extend their best start to a season since the 1930-31 campaign but shot just 29.3 percent from the field and connected on only 2 of 18 3-point attempts in the loss.
“2-for-18 from three is not who we are. We’ll shoot it better than that,” Georgia head coach Mike White said.
Asa Newell led the team with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Just a freshman, Newell paces the Bulldogs with 15.4 points per game, followed by De’Shayne Montgomery’s 13.5 (in just four games) and Dakota Leffew’s 12.3.
With plenty of opportunities to add resume-boosting wins in SEC play, White’s group will be eager to return to their home court on Tuesday.
“We expect a big crowd, and our guys will be jacked up to play another really good team,” White said. “How unique is it that we’ll be saying that for 18 straight games. It’s an incredible gauntlet ahead of us, but we’re going to be competitive.”
–Field Level Media
