It’s hard enough to take on Kentucky at Rupp Arena with a full squad at full strength. Do it without two of your best guards, and you’re coming close to attempting an impossible feat.
That was the case Saturday as the Georgia Bulldogs faced the No. 14-ranked Wildcats without starting guard Kenny Gaines or his backup Juwan Parker. Gaines, the team’s second-leading scorer, had to sit out with a badly bruised thigh suffered late in the last game against South Carolina. Parker was sidelined with a pulled hamstring.
The final result was predictable. Kentucky rolled 79-54 before a boisterous crowd of 23,367 that negotiated three inches of snow on the ground to come to game.
“We had no (shooting) guards, not one,” Georgia coach Mark Fox said afterward. “That had an impact on how we had to play, quite frankly. We had to basically play three bigs most of the game, so we couldn’t play man defense. We couldn’t match up there, and it made us a little slow in transition. But that’s part of it. You’ve got to deal with injury.”
Kentucky scored 36 points in the paint, 19 off turnovers and 20 on fast-breaks. Guard Aaron Harrison led the way with 15 points, and forward Julius Randle added 14 and nine rebounds.
The Bulldogs were paced by sophomore forward Brandon Morris, who played most of the game in the backcourt and finished with 15 points, including two 3-pointers. Marcus Thornton added 10 points and nine rebounds. Charles Mann had nine points, but missed eight of his 15 free throws.
The loss drops Georgia to a 10-8 overall and, at 4-2, knocks it out of a second-place tie with Kentucky. The Bulldogs play host to Vanderbilt at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The Commodores (10-8, 2-4) defeated Texas A&M 66-55 on Saturday.
The Wildcats improved to 15-4, 5-1. They’re at LSU on Tuesday.
“Having that guard (Gaines) out really put them in a tough spot,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said of Georgia. “That shows you what a great coach Mark is. He kept them in the game with that guy not in there. He played a lineup he’s never played at Georgia. He had like four centers on the court at one time. They had a chance.”
With Gaines out, the Bulldogs started four forwards, including junior Nemanja Djurisic. Djurisic had eight points and eight rebounds while playing the majority of time on the perimeter. Walk-on guard Taylor Echols played 14 minutes and made one of the Bulldogs’ four 3-pointers.
Actually, Georgia played fairly decently in small spurts to start each half. The Bulldogs led 8-6 six minutes into the game and trailed 37-31 in the first half after trailing by 12 at halftime.
The rest of the game basically was a big blue haze for Georgia. A 26-8 run over a nine-minute stretch in the second half left no doubt about the outcome. The were overwhelmed by the Wildcats’ long, tall defense and committed 20 turnovers.
“We just have to give credit to Kentucky,” said Morris, who committed five turnovers while spending some time running the point. “They’re a great basketball team, and they beat us down the floor. They got a lot of easy ones in transition, and that’s what really took a toll on us. We had guys out there not used to playing certain positions, and that kind of took a toll in our execution. But credit Kentucky’s defense. They made it hard for us.”
There was more attrition after tipoff. Donte’ Williams left the game late in the second half after hitting his head on the floor trying to take a charge. And Morris limped off late in the game after twisting his knee, but returned. Morris said he’s fine.
Fox said he wasn’t certain whether Gaines or Parker would be able to play until pregame walk-throughs. Both players were injured late in the South Carolina game.
The question now is whether the Bulldogs will be back to full strength Wednesday against the Commodores.
“You never know how somebody’s body will respond,” Fox said. “I don’t know when we’ll know about Vanderbilt. Probably on Wednesday.”
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