ATHENS, Ga. _ On Monday, Georgia big man Rayshaun Hammonds aptly put a label on the upcoming game against Kentucky.
"It's time to put on your grown-man pants now," he said of Georgia's opener in Southeastern Conference play. "It's big games from now on."
Kentucky answered the call, defeating Georgia, 78-69.
UK's victory, which featured Ashton Hagans seemingly fully recovered from the left ankle sprain he sustained Saturday against Missouri, came in the team's first "true" road game.
The charged atmosphere included a sellout crowd no doubt still juiced by Georgia's victory at No. 9 Memphis on Saturday. That was only the second time in Georgia's 115-year basketball history that the Bulldogs won on the road against a ranked non-conference opponent.
Kentucky (11-3) executed better than Georgia down the stretch.
Georgia (10-4) scored only two baskets in the game's final six minutes.
UK had a balanced scoring attack. Tyrese Maxey and Nick Richards led the way with 17 points each. Immanuel Quickley added 15 and Hagans 13.
Star freshman Anthony Edwards led Georgia with 23 points.
Kentucky trailed 37-31 at halftime. That marked the largest halftime deficit of the season for UK. And the Cats could have been grateful not to be further behind.
Foul trouble limited Richards to less than eight minutes. Nate Sestina picked up two fouls in 51 seconds.
Maxey and Hagans kept Kentucky competitive. Hagans, whose availability was unknown prior to the game because of his injury, showed immediately he was all right. He took first two shots, and four of the first six.
Although he made only 3 of 10 shots, the third seemed big. Georgia led 37-28, the largest lead either team enjoyed in the first half. Then Hagans hit a 3-pointer in the final seconds to set the halftime score.
The half's final 2:09 were a wave of momentum for Georgia. In that span, the Bulldogs scored eight straight points. Quickley, a 95.8-percent free-throw shooter who hadn't missed a foul shot since the Lamar game on Nov. 24, missed the front end of a one-and-one with 1:57 left. He had been 23 of 23 from the line in the last seven games.
The final basket of Georgia's 8-0 run was a cruncher. Edwards lost Kahlil Whitney on a backdoor cut and dunked to put the Bulldogs ahead by nine. The move seemed to answer Georgia Coach Tom Crean's call for Edwards to read defenses rather than make a pre-determined move.
Hagans' 3 gave UK a smaller mountain to climb.
As omens go, the halftime deficit seemed ominous. UK game into the game with a 10-0 record when leading going into the second half and 0-3 when trailing.
UK coach John Calipari shuffled the lineup to start the second half. Sestina and Quickley started for Montgomery and Brooks.
A 3-pointer by Sestina tied it at 39-39. Then Edwards answered with a pair of 3s, the first over Hagans (who had not guarded the freshman much in the first half) and the second over Sestina, who took over when Hagans got caught on a screen.
Georgia led by as much as five midway through the second half. With the help of questionable Georgia shot selection, UK rallied.
A corner 3-pointer by Quickley with 8:04 left put Kentucky ahead, 58-57. That marked UK's first lead since 8:02 remained in the first half.
Georgia called time. The Bulldogs went inside, but missed two shots in the lane.
Maxey drove in transition and scored while being fouled.
Kentucky's lead reached its zenith on a pretty fast-break pass from Montgomery to Richards that netted a layup and free throw to put the Cats ahead, 63-57.
Back-to-back Georgia baskets reduced the lead to two and set up a possession-by-possession struggle to the finish.
