Top-ranked Kentucky remained undefeated and improved to 30-0 after fending off a gritty Georgia team Tuesday night.
The Wildcats prevailed 72-64 before a hostile crowd at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Georgia.
Freshman Karl-Anthony Towns scored 17 of his season-high-tying 19 points in the second half and added seven rebounds. Aaron Harrison scored 16 points and Andrew Harrison had 12.
According to ESPN, Kentucky became the 13th team in Division I history to win its first 30 games in a season, and the third since 1990 (1990-91 UNLV, 2013-14 Wichita St).
“I like the fact that Aaron attacked, Andrew made plays, all of them, they did a good job,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said on ESPN. “Karl, we just kept going to him and he kept scoring. It was a good finish to a good game. Georgia’s good by the way, really good.”
Nemanja Jurisic went for 18 points and five rebounds for Georgia, while Marcus Thornton had 14 and seven.
“Their fours and fives had 28 of their 32 points at halftime, and that’s not on my kids, that’s on me,” Calipari said.
Kentucky trailed 56-47 at the 9:12 mark but used a 23-6 run to go ahead 70-62.
“I always go into these games with one thought, how we gonna win,” Calipari said. “I wanted to get down 10, I said I hope we get down 10 so we can figure out what we are. But this team is a resilient team, we’re the fifth-youngest team in the country but they play, they ball.”
Georgia (19-7, 10-7) dropped to 0-16 against teams ranked No. 1, including an 0-10 mark against Kentucky.
During the game, Charles Barkley credited Calipari on ESPN.
“The biggest advantage Kentucky has is that guy on the sideline because he does not get enough credit or respect for the way he coaches,” Barkley said.
Kentucky will try to finish the SEC season at 18-0 when they face Florida on Saturday at Rupp Arena before the SEC Tournament begins March 13.
ESPN’s BPI predicts Kentucky has an 86.3 percent chance of finishing the regular season undefeated, a 73.5 percent chance of doing so through the SEC Tournament and a 31.9 percent chance through the NCAA Tournament.
“We’re getting better, it’s just a step at a time,” Calipari said.
Photo: USA Today Sports
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