BOX SCORE: Georgia's free throw rate buries Kentucky

by:Adam Luckett•about 24 hours•

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Blue cain Georgia — Jan 7, 2025; Athens, Georgia, USA; Georgia Bulldogs guard Blue Cain (0) shoots against Kentucky Wildcats guard Jaxson Robinson (2) during the first half at Stegeman Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Georgia wanted to stay away from a track meet against Kentucky. Everyone knew that going into the latest SEC battle between the Bulldogs and the Wildcats Stegeman Coliseum. Styles make fights.

UGA won the style battle on Tuesday night.

The game was played at 70-plus possession pace, but Kentucky squeezed off only 24 three-point field goal attempts and were held to a dozen fast break points. Mike White’s squad played this game in the half court and played downhill.

That led to a bunch of free throw attempts.

Georgia shot 38 free throws in 73 possessions and that led to 29 points. Star big man Asa Newell led the team with 17 points on nine field goal attempts and a team-high eight free throw attempts. The Dawgs were also plus-seven (41-34) on the glass, shot 51.6 percent from two-point range, and added in 26 points in the paint.

Kentucky did not get blistered with second chance points again on defense, but the Wildcats could not keep Georgia off the free throw line and that led to an efficient offensive performance (1.12 points per possessions) for White’s squad.

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In a game that last that lasted closer to three hours than two, Georgia imposed its style of play on Kentucky and part of that led to 45 total fouls called.

On the other end, Georgia’s top-20 defense made life tough on the Kentucky offense. The Wildcats scored only 0.96 points per possession in the loss. Two-point shooting (48.7%), three-point shooting (24%), and turnover percentage (19.4%) were all issues in the loss. Mark Pope‘s offense only got 24 three-point field goal attempts off and were 2-of-12 from deep after the halftime break. UK was just 10-of-19 on lay-up attempts while Koby Brea, Otega Oweh, and Jaxson Robinson shot a combined 6-of-28 (21.4%) from the floor and 3-of-17 (17.6%) from three. Kentucky’s top scoring weapons were extremely inefficient in the loss.

For the third time this season, Kentucky has lost to an unranked foe away from home. For the second time, the loss was by double-digits.