Kentucky struggled in its first road game in the Southeastern Conference Tuesday night.
The sixth-ranked Wildcats (12-3, 1-1 SEC) suffered an 82-69 loss to Georgia in Athens, the first of two straight road games this week. The Bulldogs (13-2, 1-1) notched their third consecutive win over Kentucky at Stegman Coliseum, and was Georgia’s first win over a top 10 team in five years.
Coming off a 106-100 win over No. 8 Florida in their conference opener, the Wildcats shot just 38 percent from the field and were outrebounded 43-34 by the Bulldogs. Kentucky managed just six 3-pointers in the double-digit loss and committed 14 turnovers.
The Wildcats trailed 47-34 at the break but narrowed the margin to five at 55-50 with 12 minutes remaining. However, the Bulldogs pushed the margin back to double digits and pulled away down the stretch.
Kentucky was called for 25 fouls, as the Bulldogs made 29 of 38 free throws, compared to 15 on 19 attempts by the Wildcats. Amari Williams, Andrew Carr, Ansley Almonor, and Jaxson Robinson were whistled for four fouls each. All four players combined for 16 points. Williams finished with two, and Robinson had just five for the Wildcats.
Lamont Butler paced Kentucky with 20 points and scored 13 of those in the first half. Butler added four rebounds and dished out three assists. Brandon Garrison followed Butler with 13 points off the bench and added five rebounds. Otega Oweh rounded out three players in double figures with 12 points and seven rebounds.
It marked UK coach Mark Pope’s first return to Georgia, where he served as a director of operations under current Kentucky associate coach Mark Fox during the 2009-10 season. Fox went 163-133 in nine seasons at the helm.
Asa Newell led the Bulldogs with 17 points and tallied 12 of those in the second half. Blue Cain followed with 15 and Silas Demary chipped in with 14 points for the hosts. It was Newell who made a clutch 3-pointer after Kentucky had narrowed the margin to single digits in the second half.
NEXT GAME: Kentucky at Mississippi State, 7:30 p.m., Saturday. TV/Radio: SECN, UK Radio Network SuperTalk 94.3 WKYX, WiLLiE 102.
(AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
