LEXINGTON, Ky.—Georgia’s hopes of an upset at Kentucky took a hit when senior forward Marcus Thornton was ruled out of Tuesday’s game because he’s still recovering from a concussion.
The Bulldogs’ task became even harder when they started slowly against the top-ranked Wildcats and trailed by as many as 17 points. Georgia rallied within five points in the final two minutes before fading to a 69-58 defeat at Rupp Arena.
Kentucky (22-0, 9-0 SEC) remained the lone undefeated team in the country. After winning five in a row in SEC play Georgia (14-7, 5-4) has lost both games without Thornton, who was hurt during the Jan. 27 victory over Vanderbilt.
Fox said the Bulldogs were “disjointed” without Thornton while losing at South Carolina on Saturday. Georgia also was out of sync early against the Wildcats though Kentucky’s size, talent and depth had a lot to do with that.
The Bulldogs appeared rattled while falling behind 11-1 to start the game and couldn’t complete a spirited comeback in the second half.
Georgia pulled within 24-19 before Kentucky responded with an 18-8 run over the final six minutes of the first half for a 42-27 lead at the break. Two free throws by J.J. Frazier got Georgia within 58-51 with 5:20 left and forward Nemanja Djurisic’s driving three-point play made it 60-54 with 4:09 to play.
Kentucky’s Andrew Harrison scored on a layup and twin Aaron Harrison made a free throw to push the lead back to 63-54 with 3:16 to go. Georgia freshman Yante Maten answered with a short jump shot and Djurisic’s driving baseline score cut the lead to 63-58 with two minutes left.
Kentucky forward Karl-Anthony Towns scored near the basket as Fox chided officials for not calling traveling on the play. The Wildcats closed out the victory with four free throws in the final minute.
About the Author
