ATHENS, Ga. _ Kentucky's game at Georgia on Saturday night showed why coach John Calipari said a week ago that he'd take the preliminary three-seed for the NCAA Tournament announced that day and be thankful.
It also showed the wisdom in what ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi said a month earlier that Kentucky was merely "regular-good."
Regular was good enough, barely, as Kentucky defeated Georgia, 82-77.
To win and remain tied for first place in the Southeastern Conference, Kentucky had to overcome two obstacles.
The shooting of its trio of star guards was terribly off-key. De'Aaron Fox, Malik Monk and Isaiah Briscoe combined to make only 11 of 37 shots (1 of 10 from 3-point range).
Kentucky, 22-5 overall and 12-2 in the SEC, also had to overcome Georgia guard J.J. Frazier, who scored a career-high 36 points.
Frazier, who had been compared to former UK All-America Tyler Ulis earlier in the week, needed a big performance. Georgia lost its leading scorer, Yante Maten, to injury barely 90 seconds into the game.
Maten crumpled to the floor with 18:25 left in the first half. A fast-break basket by Isaiah Briscoe preceded Maten's collapse. He left the court trying not to put any weight on his right leg.
Before the first half ended, Maten returned to the bench with a brace on his right knee. Georgia said Maten injured the knee and was doubtful to return.
On Friday, Calipari acknowledged how Maten presented an acute problem for opposing defenses.
"You've got to keep a special eye on him," Calipari said.
After five ties and nine lead changes inside the final nine minutes, Kentucky won it at the foul line. Fox and Monk made 8 of 8 free throws in the last 44.4 seconds.
Halftime was uh-oh time for Kentucky.
Even though Maten went down 95 seconds into the game and Frazier went more than 15 minutes without a basket, Kentucky had not put Georgia away.
Although the opposition's two double-digit scorers either injured (Maten) or oddly subdued (Frazier), Kentucky only led 33-31 at halftime.
Going into the final 90 seconds, Kentucky had matched its largest first-half lead with a 30-25 advantage.
Then Frazier, who went from the 16:26 mark to the final minute without a basket, got hot. After making a catch-and-shoot jumper with 55 seconds left, Frazier set the final score in a play that had to bring back unpleasant memories.
UK's inability to contain the dribbler showed itself as Frazier, arguably the shiftiest guard in the SEC, got Monk on his heels, then hit three-pointer at the buzzer to set the halftime score. It was the only three-pointer Georgia made (in eight attempts) in the first half.
Frazier, who scored Georgia's first five points before going silent, led all first-half scorers with 14.
"That's J.J. Frazier," teammate Juwan Parker said after Frazier scored 17 second-half points at Mississippi State following a scoreless first half. "J.J. goes crazy. He has those little spurts like that of miraculous scoring. That's him."
On Thursday, Georgia Coach Mark Fox spoke of the need to stay close. "When you play Kentucky, you can make it a competitive game," he said.
Georgia did that. By making seven of their first 13 shots of the second half (another unpleasant trend by UK opponents that continued), the Bulldogs tied it at 47-47 going into the final 10-plus minutes.
The game wound to a 61-61 tie with barely five minutes left.
If Kentucky was going to win, the Cats would have to do it without Briscoe. He fouled out with 4:53 left when he lowered a shoulder into a defender before trying for a put-back.
