On Tuesday, Feb. 17 the Kentucky Wildcats (17-9, 8-5 SEC) lost to the Georgia Bulldogs (18-8, 6-7 SEC) inside of Rupp Arena by a score of 86-78, despite Otega Oweh matching his career-high in points.
Coming into this matchup, the Wildcats were liking to right their wrongs after losing to Florida on the road, but it wasn’t as much as their fault as the stripes’ fault down in Gainseville.
Georgia, coming off of back-to-back losses to No. 14 Florida and Oklahoma, were looking to steal one against the blue and white with the return of its leading scorer, Jeremiah Wilkinson.
Thankfully, for Mark Pope and his squad, that wouldn’t even be close to the case on Tuesday night. Well, so it seemed.
Jumping out the gates quick, after celebrating Otega Oweh joining the 1,000-point club, Kentucky led 7-2 just several minutes into the game.
The Bulldogs would slowly creep back towards the halfway mark of the first half, but Oweh would continue to score with ease.
Joining in on the fun, Collin Chandler would strap in a pair of threes, making our call from the preview worthwhile and boosting the Big Blue Nation.
Unfortunately for the good mojo in the building, Georgia would go on 12-2 run in just over two minutes of play, taking a three-point lead over the Wildcats.
Whistles began to blow, the Bulldogs continued to walk their way to the bucket (literally) and Kentucky’s ball movement was abysmal, leading to easy turnover buckets.
At the break, Kentucky trailed Georgia 39-34.
After the fans grabbed some more popcorn, it likely was thrown out of their hands with a pop, as Oweh would score 11 points in the first five minutes of the second half, reaching the 20-point mark for the sixth time in the last seven games.
Chandler, with the Wildcats down by four, would spot up for a fastbreak three, his fourth of the night, and would put Kentucky back within one.
Frustrating everyone in the building, Georgia would add five points back on the scoreboard with ease, makings fans wonder if they’ll see another game where the Wildcats can’t quite claw back.
Don’t think Georgia would let up either, as the Bulldogs would proceed to go on a 10-0 run and cause Pope to called a timeout. Kentucky trailed 66-55 with 10:55 remaining at the time of the break.
If you want to talk about late-game drama, Denzel Aberdeen and Chandler would boost an offensive surge with a pair of threes, but as the entire game told, the Bulldogs would hit a three in return, taking the deficit from four back to seven.
All hope would seem lost after Oweh picked up a flagrant after an apparent elbow to the back of Blue Cain’s head, but moments after the freebies, the star guard would zoom down court for a monster dunk and the foul.
Like it hadn’t already happened millions of times this game already, Georgia would hit another three from deep, nearly giving the Bulldogs a double-digit lead.
Aberdeen, with some fight left in the tank, would sink a heavily contested deep ball to put the Wildcats back within six with just over three minutes to play. He would follow that play up with one of two free throws, leading to a free play on the ball, giving the ball right back to the blue and white.
Chandler, insanely hot from deep, would miss from the corner, but an offensive rebound would again lead to Aberdeen shooting free throws. He would go on to make two out of the three.
The Wildcat defense would force a shot clock violation on the next possession and after attempted heroics, a jump ball would favor the home team. Kentucky had yet another chance to tie the game, trailing 81-78.
Oweh, despite the monster scoring performance, would dribble the ball off of his leg, marking what seemed like the last real opportunity for the Wildcats to pull off another comeback.
The Bulldogs would run time off of the clock as fans questioned why the Wildcats weren’t fouling, shot some freebies, and that was that from Lexington.
Up next, the Wildcats will travel to Auburn, Alabama on Saturday, Feb. 21 and take on the Auburn Tigers (14-11, 5-7 SEC) inside of Neville Arena. Tip is set for 8:30 p.m. and will air live on ESPN.
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