NO. 25 KENTUCKY (15-4, 4-1 SEC) - University of Kentucky Athletics

LAST TIME vs. GEORGIA - KENTUCKY 68, GEORGIA 61 (2/15/06)
entucky used a carousel of lineups - including three new
Kstarters - to defeat Georgia 68-61, snapping a three-game losing
streak.
In the battle of long scoring runs for both teams, 11 Wildcats
saw playing time and 10 of them got at least one basket. Rajon
Rondo, who leads the team in points, rebounds, assists and steals,
was among the starters benched and had a season-low four points.
Kentucky was coming off losses to Florida, Tennessee and
Vanderbilt - the first three-game losing streak for the Wildcats in
SEC play since Eddie Sutton's last season in 1988-89.
During practice this week, Kentucky coach Tubby Smith, who
led the Bulldogs for two seasons in the 1990s, declared a "fresh
start" on the struggling season. Every job on the team was open to
competition, Smith said, and those who practiced best would start.
He wasn't kidding.
In were three newcomers - Lukasz Obrzut, Ravi Moss and
Brandon Stockton, who was making his first ever start and hadn't
even played in five of the last seven games. Out was the team's
best guard, Rondo, best center, Randolph Morris, and breakout
sophomore swingman Joe Crawford.
The experiment worked well early as the Wildcats got out to a
5-1 lead, but then turnovers plagued them. Smith called for Morris
five minutes into the game with Kentucky down 10-9, and Crawford
and Rondo followed a minute later.
Lost amid the substitutions, however, was Sheray Thomas, who
entered with the usual starters and scored the game's next six
points on a dunk, layup and long jumper. Thomas led the team with
13 points, making six of eight shots.
His first six points ignited a 13-0 run for the Wildcats, but
Georgia immediately followed with a 15-2 run of its own to regain
the lead.
Although the Bulldogs missed 15 of their first 19 shots to start
the game, it took a Morris dunk and layup in the final seconds to
preserve a 28-25 advantage for Kentucky at halftime.
That was the beginning of an 8-0 Kentucky run, and they'd add
yet another - a 12-2 run - in the second half.
Two bright spots for Georgia were guards Billy Humphrey, who
led the team with 14 points, and freshman Mike Mercer, who added
13 - including consecutive 3-pointers in the first-half that pulled the
Bulldogs within striking distance.
Amid the UK positives, there were some negatives for the
Wildcats. They turned the ball over 26 times, compared to 14 for
Georgia, and made only four of 11 free-throws.
Georgia (14-10, 4-7) FG 3FG FT R F Pts A TO B S M
00 Idrissi f 2-10 0-0 2-4 6 4 6 0 2 1 2 31
44 Bliss c 2-6 0-0 0-1 5 0 4 1 2 1 1 17
02 Gaines g 2-7 1-1 1-2 2 3 6 3 5 1 4 29
14 Stukes g 4-14 1-9 2-2 2 1 11 1 1 0 5 35
33 Mercer g 4-10 2-4 2-2 5 2 12 4 1 0 2 26
03 Brophy 1-2 1-2 0-0 1 2 3 0 0 0 1 6
15 Newman 1-5 0-2 0-0 2 2 2 0 1 0 1 23
25 Toney 1-3 1-3 0-0 0 1 3 0 1 0 0 12
31 Humphrey 5-6 2-3 2-2 2 0 14 2 1 0 0 16
45 Singleton 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5
TEAM 1
Totals............. 22-63 8-24 9-13 26 15 61 11 14 3 16 200
Kentucky (16-9, 6-5) FG 3FG FT R F Pts A TO B S M
13 Perry f 3-6 2-2 0-0 2 2 8 1 3 0 2 18
10 Obrzut c 2-3 0-0 1-2 4 2 5 0 1 0 0 15
01 Stockton g 0-2 0-1 0-2 3 1 0 3 3 0 0 19
02 Moss g 2-6 0-4 1-2 5 2 5 5 2 0 1 21
22 Sparks g 4-9 1-6 2-2 6 1 11 5 7 0 2 32
03 Bradley 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 4
04 Rondo 2-3 0-1 0-2 5 2 4 4 4 0 0 28
23 Thomas 6-8 1-1 0-0 5 0 13 0 2 0 0 18
32 Crawford 3-11 2-4 0-1 6 3 8 1 1 0 1 19
33 Morris 5-8 0-0 0-0 6 2 10 0 1 1 0 22
42 Sims 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 2 0 1 0 0 4
TEAM 2 1
Totals.............. 29-58 6-19 4-11 46 15 68 19 26 1 6 200
1st 2nd Tot FG% 3FG% FT% Paint P-TO 2nd Bnch
Georgia 25 36 61 .349 .333 .692 24 24 8 22
Kentucky 28 40 68 .500 .316 .364 44 18 22 39
Officials: Mike Stuart, Doug Sirmons, J.B. Caldwell; Technical: None.
TEAM COMPARISONS
UK
UGA
Overall Record 15-4 11-6
Conference Record 4-1 3-2
Scoring Offense 72.3 80.5
Scoring Defense 63.0 67.4
Scoring Margin +9.3 +13.1
FG % .479 .491
FG % Defense .372 .422
3FG % .359 .414
3FG % Defense .304 .331
Free Throw % .676 .662
Rebound Average 38.0 39.1
Opp. Rebound Average 34.4 32.1
Rebound Margin +3.6 +7.0
Assists Average 16.4 15.9
TO Average 15.0 17.0
Opponent TO Average 13.2 18.1
TO Margin -1.8 +1.1
Blocks Average 5.5 5.7
Steals Average 5.8 9.7
TEAM LEADERS
UK SCORING UGA
Morris . . . . . . . . . .16.2 Mercer . . . . . . . . . 15.1
Crawford . . . . . . . .14.0 Brown . . . . . . . . . 14.2
UK REBOUNDING UGA
Morris . . . . . . . . . . .8.1 Gaines . . . . . . . . . . 5.6
Bradley . . . . . . . . . .4.4 Brown . . . . . . . . . . 5.3
UK ASSISTS UGA
Bradley . . . . . . . . . .3.8 Gaines . . . . . . . . . . 4.0
Jasper . . . . . . . . . .3.3 Mercer . . . . . . . . . . 2.9
UK BLOCKS UGA
Morris . . . . . . . . . . .2.2 Singleton . . . . . . . . 1.3
Stevenson . . . . . . .1.2 Jackson . . . . . . . . . 0.8
UK STEALS UGA
Bradley . . . . . . . . . .1.5 Gaines . . . . . . . . . . 2.2
Jasper . . . . . . . . . .1.4 Mercer . . . . . . . . . . 1.8
ALL-TIME UK BESTS
VS. GEORGIA
Most Points: 143 in Louisville, Ky., 2/27/56 (W, 143-66)
Largest UK margin of Victory: 77 in Louisville, Ky., 2/27/56 (143-66)
Times scored 100 pts.: 11, Last 2/15/71 in Athens, Ga., (W, 107-95)
Overtime Games: 5-1, Last 1/26/99 (W, 91-83)
Most Points (Individual): 42 by Melvin Turpin, 3/8/84 (W, 92-79)
Most Rebounds (Indiv.): 23 by Mike Phillips, 2/9/76 (L, 86-81)
Most Assists: 10 by Kyle Macy, 2/27/78 (W, 78-67)
10 by Roger Harden, 1/28/84 (W, 64-40)
10 by Dicky Beal, 3/8/84 (W, 92-79)
10 by Roger Harden, 2/24/85 (L, 79-77)
Most Steals: 6 by Reggie Hanson, 2/3/90 (W, 88-77)
6 by Jamal Mashburn, 2/3/91 (W, 96-84)
Most Blocked Shots: 5 by Reggie Hanson, 2/3/91 (W, 96-84)
Most 3-Point FG: 5 by Derrick Miller (5-7), 12/30/86 (L, 69-65)
5 by Tony Delk (5-7), 1/8/94 (L, 94-90)
Most Points by Georgia: 106 in Athens, Ga., 1/3/90 (L, 106-91)
SERIES: UK leads, 106-21
(last 20 years)
Year Score Site
1987: L, 69-65 at Louisville, KY
L, 79-71 at Athens
1988: W, 84-77 at Athens
W, 80-72 at Lexington
W, 62-57 at Baton Rouge, LA (SEC)
1989: W, 76-65 at Lexington
L, 84-72 at Athens
1990: L, 106-91 at Athens
W, 88-77 at Lexington
1991: W, 81-80 at Athens
W, 96-84 at Lexington
1992: W, 78-66 at Lexington
W, 84-73 at Athens
1993: W, 74-59 at Athens
W, 86-70 at Lexington
1994: L, 94-90 OT at Athens
W, 80-59 at Lexington
1995: W, 83-71 at Lexington
W, 97-74 at Athens
1996: W, 82-77 at Athens
W, 86-73 at Lexington
1997: W, 86-65 at Athens
W, 82-57 at Lexington
W, 95-68 at Memphis, TN (SEC)
1998: W, 90-79 at Athens
W, 85-74 at Lexington
1999: W, 91-83 OT at Athens
W, 92-71 at Lexington
2000: W, 75-69 at Athens
W, 70-64 at Lexington
2001: W, 67-63 at Lexington
W, 85-70 at Athens
2002: L, 88-84 at Lexington
L, 78-69 at Athens
2003: W, 87-67 at Lexington
W, 74-66 at Athens
2004: L, 65-57 at Lexington
L, 74-68 at Athens
W, 69-60 at Atlanta, GA (SEC)
2005: W, 76-55 at Athens
W, 60-51 at Lexington
2006: W, 69-55 at Athens
W, 68-61 at Lexington
at Lexington: UK leads, 52-4
at Athens: UK leads, 34-14
at Neutral Sites: UK leads, 18-3
at Atlanta, GA: UK leads, 7-2; at Baton Rouge, LA: UK leads, 1-0;
at Columbus, GA: UK leads, 1-0; at Knoxville, TN: UK leads, 1-0
at Louisville, KY: UK leads, 5-1; at Memphis, TN: UK leads, 1-0
at Nashville, TN: UK leads, 1-0; at Owensboro, KY: UK leads, 1-0