In need of a feel-good victory, Kentucky played an opponent that has been reliable for providing relief.
Kentucky rallied in the second half, but Georgia won, 63-62, on a P.J. Horne layup with 1.3 seconds left Wednesday night. UK had beaten Georgia 14 straight times, and four straight in Athens.
Trailing by as much as nine points in the first half and by five midway through the second half, Kentucky had outplayed Georgia much of the way down the stretch. UK made more than 50% of its shots in the second half, but it still lost and fell to 4-9 overall and 3-3 in the Southeastern Conference.
Georgia improved to 9-4 overall and 2-4 in the SEC.
Brandon Boston, who came off the bench for the first time this season, led Kentucky with 18 points. UK couldn't overcome poor 3-point shooting and too many turnovers.
In putting numbers on UK’s poor start to the season, stats savant Ken Pomeroy has rated Kentucky as the unluckiest team in Division I. That came to mind in the final seconds of another possession-by-possession test of nerves.
UK led 62-56 inside the final two minutes.
After KD Johnson’s 3-pointer tightened the score, Boston missed one of those ill-advised flip shots. Georgia got within 62-61 on a layup with 34.3 seconds left.
Devin Askew missed the front end of a one-and-one with 23.5 seconds to go.
Horne’s winning layup came after three timeouts, two by Georgia and one by Kentucky.
The first half showed Boston had no problem with a reserve role. He looked lively as soon as he entered the game and scored 12 points.
That helped Kentucky stay close in another half that saw many missed shots. The Cats missed all nine of their 3-point shots, most of the no-chance variety. Overall, UK made only 11 of 29 shots.
Georgia did not shoot much better. The Bulldogs made 13 of 35 shots.
Wheeler’s penetrating drives kept Georgia ahead much of the half. His driving layup in transition with 27.8 seconds left gave Georgia a 30-27 halftime lead.
The first half continued Kentucky’s uneven season. As Boston flowed, Dontaie Allen ebbed. In his first college start, Allen had a scoreless first half that consisted of two missed 3-point shots. He finished with three points on 1-of-3 shooting in 23 minutes.
Kentucky scored on its first two possessions of the second half to take a 31-30 lead. Then UK committed turnovers on its next three possessions, and four before the first television timeout to fall behind again.
Kentucky finally made a 3-point shot when Keion Brooks (12 points) made one with 14 minutes left. He had missed his previous five three-point shots this season and UK had missed its first nine in the game.
UK’s 15th turnover helped Georgia take a 47-42 lead with 11:39 left. Georgia cashed in with a fast-break layup. That increased Georgia’s point total off turnovers to 25.
Two calls helped Kentucky rally.
Jacob Toppin cashed in a flagrant-one foul on Georgia by making two free throws.
A technical foul on Andrew Garcia contributed to a three-point trip down court that tied the score at 49 with 9:42 left.
Boston’s shot from the elbow, which bounced off the rim and backboard before going in, completed a 14-2 run that put Kentucky ahead 56-49.
