5 Things To Know About The Georgia Bulldogs

Tonight at 9 p.m., Kentucky (11-6, 2-3 SEC) hosts the Georgia Bulldogs (13-4, 3-1 SEC) at Rupp Arena. For the Cats, it’s a chance to build momentum on a potentially season-saving win at Tennessee; however, let’s keep in mind that just one week ago, Kentucky lost to South Carolina at Rupp. The Cats cannot afford to overlook any opponent, even at home.

So, what do we need to know about the Bulldogs? Brandon Ramsey will have a detailed scouting report for you in just a bit. Until then, here are the Cliffs Notes to get your research started.

1. Mike White’s doing well in his first season

If you didn’t keep up with the SEC coaching carousel, Mike White is on a new sideline this season. White left Florida after seven seasons and took the job at Georgia, replacing Tom Crean. The Bulldogs are almost a completely different team this season, with nine players transferring out and six players transferring in.

Despite all that turnover, Georgia is playing well. At 13-4, 3-1 in the SEC, the Bulldogs have more than doubled their win totals from all of last season. The 3-1 mark in the SEC matches their best start to conference play since 2016-17. Tonight, they’ll be looking to go 4-1 for the first time since 2013-14.

2. Series History

As with most SEC foes, Kentucky dominates the series history vs. Georgia, with a 130-27 edge, 63-5 in Lexington. John Calipari is 20-3 vs. the Bulldogs, while Mike White is 4-10 vs. the Wildcats, all previous contests coming during his tenure at Florida. Kentucky has won 15 of the last 16 meetings, with the Bulldogs pulling off the upset in Athens back in January 2021. Georgia’s last win in Rupp Arena was in March 2009, the final days of the Billy Gillispie era.

3. Backcourt duo of Terry Roberts and Kario Oquendo

Terry Roberts, who transferred in from Bradley, leads the Bulldogs with 15.6 points per game, to go along with 4.2 assists. He’s the SEC’s leading scorer in conference action, averaging 20.3 points in four games thus far. Second on the team in scoring is one of the rare returning Bulldogs, junior guard Kario Oquendo. Oquendo led Georgia in scoring last season and is averaging 13.1 PPG this year. He had 22 points and seven rebounds in the Bulldogs’ 92-77 loss to Kentucky in Rupp last season.

Roberts and Oquendo combine for 28.7 points per game – roughly 40 percent of the Bulldogs’ scoring totals (70.5 PPG). They’ll be a good test for a Kentucky backcourt that may be without Sahvir Wheeler, who is questionable with a shoulder injury. Yesterday, both John Calipari and CJ Fredrick said containing Georgia’s guards has been a big focus in practice this week.

“They’re a really good team,” Fredrick said of Georgia. “They have good guards, good bigs, they run a good offense, so we’re going to have to do a good job today of locking in and understanding the gameplan in preparation for tomorrow.”

4. Impressive SEC wins

Georgia has won six of its last seven games, the lone loss being at Florida (82-75) on Jan. 7. In the SEC, the Bulldogs beat then-No. 22 Auburn (76-64) and Mississippi State (58-50) in Athens and are coming off a 62-58 road win at Ole Miss. It was Georgia’s first true road win. Oquendo scored a team-high 15 points, all in the second half, and the Bulldogs closed the game on a 12-4 run. That said, Mike White knows the challenge that awaits Georgia in Lexington tonight is much greater.

“We’ve won some close ones, but winning at Kentucky is a whole different deal,” White said. “They’re coming off probably the best win of the season in college basketball this year at Tennessee, who has a chance to win the whole thing. This is a Kentucky team coming off a big-time performance, especially defensively. Every point is going to be difficult to come by, but if we play really well, who knows? I think our guys feel like we’ll have a chance to be competitive. A couple of months ago, I’m not sure that would have been the collective thought.” 

5. Georgia’s strength: Defense

Kentucky got a win vs. the nation’s top defense on Saturday. Georgia’s defense is not nearly as elite as Tennessee’s, but the Bulldogs are on the cusp of the Top 50 nationally in KenPom’s defensive efficiency ratings. Georgia is holding its opponents to 63.9 points per game (No. 41 nationally) on 40.9% shooting from the field (No. 49), and 27.7% from the outside (No. 8). Pretty impressive numbers. They’ve limited their last two opponents, Mississippi State and Ole Miss, to 50 and 58 points, respectively.

Kentucky got some things going Saturday, specifically with the lineup of Cason Wallace, Antonio Reeves, CJ Fredrick, Jacob Toppin, and Oscar Tshiebwe. We’ll see how much run that group gets with Sahvir Wheeler potentially returning from a shoulder injury; regardless, Georgia’s defense should provide another good test, especially on the perimeter.