Kentucky 70, Georgia 58
March 15, 2014
Georgia Dome – Atlanta, Ga.
Kentucky improves to 24-9 overall on the year, while Georgia falls to 19-13.
Kentucky now leads the series 117-26 including 9-1 in the SEC Tournament and 2-0 in semifinal contests.
The Wildcats are 121-24 all-time in the SEC Tournament and 24-7 when it’s held in Atlanta.
Kentucky is 38-2 all-time in the SEC Semifinal contest.
UK advances to its 38th SEC Tournament Championship game where it will meet top-seeded and No. 1 ranked Florida at 3:15 p.m. ET on Sunday on a nationally televised game airing on ESPN.
Team Facts
Kentucky’s starting lineup consisted of five freshmen in Aaron Harrison, Andrew Harrison, Dakari Johnson, Julius Randle and James Young. That lineup improves to 8-3 on the season. Alex Poythress was the first sub off the bench for UK. He’s been the first substitution in a team-leading 19th time this season.
Young hit a 3-pointer at the 17:32 mark of the opening half to extend UK’s 3-point streak to 893 consecutive games. It is the third largest streak in the country.
Kentucky led 36-32 at the break and is 20-2 this season when holding a halftime advantage.
John Calipari coached teams are 124-37 in the months of March and April.
First Half Facts
Kentucky opened the half on a 12-2 run to take a commanding lead. The burst was highlighted by a pair of Young 3-pointers. A 3-pointer by Georgia cut the Wildcat advantage to just four at 19-15 with 9:16 remaining in the half.
The Bulldogs trimmed the lead once against to four at 31-27 with 2:32 remaining in the half before Jarrod Polson knocked down a 3-pointer from the corner to give UK a two-possession lead once again.
Georgia kept the pressure on and was able to make the halftime lead just four in favor of the Wildcats with a 36-32 advantage.
Kentucky made 5-of-8 (62.5) shots from behind the arc in the opening half.
UK had assists (6) on half of its made field goals (12) in the half.
Second Half Facts
Georgia opened the second half on a run and was able to get to within a basket at 41-39 with 15:03 remaining. But, the Wildcats responded with five-straight points including a 3-pointer from Aaron Harrison to reclaim the comfortable advantage at 46-39.An Andrew Harrison 3-pointer lifted UK to its largest lead of the game at 60-48 with just a little more than five minutes to play.
Individual Notes
Aaron Harrison finished with a game-high 22 points and hit four 3-pointers.
Scored a team-high 16 points in the opening half. It’s the second-most points in a first half from the freshman guard this season. He had 19 against Robert Morris.
His four 3-pointers matches a career high.
Moved passed Jodie Meeks for seventh place on the freshman 3-point scoring list.
Has scored 454 points this season which now ranks 13th all-time in the freshman record books at UK.
Andrew Harrison narrowly registered a double-double with 12 points and nine assists.
Has four or more assists in seven of UK’s last nine contests including three straight.
The nine assists is a new career best after logging a then career-high eight dimes in yesterday’s win over LSU.
The nine assists are the most for any UK player since Archie Goodwin also had nine against LIU Brooklyn on Nov. 23, 2012.
With 127 assists on the season, he now holds fourth place on the single-season freshman assists record list moving past Dirk Minnefield.
Dakari Johnson notched six points and eight rebounds.
Has pulled down five or more rebounds in four-straight games and had at least eight in back-to-back contests.
Julius Randle charted a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Set the single-season freshman record for made free throws for the season with 177. John Wall previously held the record with 175. That free throw mark is also good for sixth in a single-year for any UK player.
Is the first player since Jim Andrews during the 1971-72 season to have 10-consecutive games with 10 or more rebounds. He is the first freshman in program history to achieve the feat.
Tied the single-season freshman record with 20 double-doubles on the season. He’s had six-straight double-doubles and eight in his last nine outings.
His 351 total rebounds for the season ranks 13th in program history in a single year.
James Young poured in 14 points and hit a pair of 3-pointers.
Has connected for at least one long ball in 11-consecutive games. That’s the longest stretch of games for any UK player since Julius Mays sunk one in 15-straight during the 2012-13 season.
With 481 points on the season he now ranks seventh in the single-season freshman scoring records at UK. He moved past Doron Lamb and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.
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