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Kario Oquendo says fighting off Kentucky's run 'shows growth' for Georgia

Chandler Vesselsby:Chandler Vessels•02/12/23•

ChandlerVessels

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Georgia guard Kario Oquendo knows there was a time the Bulldogs easily could have folded Saturday against Kentucky. After entering halftime with a 10-point advantage, Georgia allowed Kentucky to claw its way back and retake the lead in the second half.

After scoring 17 first half points, Oquendo struggled perhaps more than anyone over the final 20 minutes. He attempted just three shots in the second half and missed all of them. But Justin Hill and Braelen Bridges combined for 19 in the second to lead Georgia to a 75-68 victory.

Kentucky opened the half with a 20-6 run to take a 52-48 lead, but Georgia had an answer. Behind Bridges and Hill, the Bulldogs put together an 11-2 run of their own in response and never trailed again.

“I just think is shows growth from us as a team,” Oquendo said postgame. “There was easily a time in the game where we could have let them take control of the game and they could’ve went up by 10. I think it shows a lot that we know to play together in situations where it’s not always in our favor. I was happy when we did that.”

The victory for the Bulldogs snapped a three-game losing streak and improved them to 15-10 (5-7 SEC) on the season. They’ve bounced back in a big way in coach Mike White’s inaugural season after finishing with a 6-26 (1-17 SEC) record in 2021-22, their worst in more than six decades.

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Kario Oquendo has been a major part of that turnaround, as his 13 points per game are second among Georgia players only to Terry Roberts (14.7 points per game). With six games remaining, he’ll hope to keep up that play as Georgia eyes an appearance in the postseason.

At this point, a trip to the NCAA Tournament seems like a longshot, but the Bulldogs still have a very good chance to make the NIT. Given where they finished just a year ago, that would still be a huge sign of growth as the program moves forward under White.

Georgia will look to continue to show off its improvement when it next faces LSU on Valentine’s Day. After that, huge road games against Alabama and Arkansas are next on the schedule.