LEXINGTON, Ky. _ Kentucky got the chance to show the possession-by-possession test of toughness and nerve that John Calipari spoke about the day before.
Kentucky showed enough of those qualities to beat hard-luck Georgia, 90-81, in overtime Tuesday night.
Malik Monk led the way with 37 points, the most the freshman has scored in a game other than the 47-point starburst against North Carolina. He scored all but six of his points in the second half and overtime.
Kentucky had to face this test without point guard De'Aaron Fox. An undisclosed illness sidelined the Southeastern Conference leader in assists (5.7 per game) and a player on pace to threaten Tyler Ulis' program record for assists in a season.
With Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts among those packed in Rupp Arena, the game came down to a final possession in regulation.
Georgia's J.J. Frazier, the SEC's leading free-throw shooter (89.2 percent), made two with 44.4 seconds left to put Kentucky behind 75-73.
Bam Adebayo and William "Turtle" Jackson II each made one of two to leave Georgia ahead 76-74 with 22.2 seconds remaining.
After each team called a timeout with 10.8 seconds left, Isaiah Briscoe inbounded the ball to Monk, who swished a shot from the left side to tie the score.
Each team missed a shot to win it in regulation. Frazier rushed a runner that never had a chance. Then Dominique Hawkins heaved a shot from mid-court at the buzzer that bounced off the rim.
The first Kentucky-Georgia game to go into overtime since the tornado-interrupted 2008 SEC tournament began well for the home team. Monk saw to that. He twice hit 3-pointers with UK holding leads that could be erased in one Georgia possession.
The second put Kentucky ahead 85-81 with 2:48 left.
When Yante Maten threw an errant pass out of a double-team on the low post (a tactic UK used much of the night), victory was secure.
Kentucky improved to 18-4 overall and 8-1 in the SEC. The latter kept the Cats in first place.
Briscoe flirted with another triple-double, finishing with 23 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. Adebayo struggled with fouls all night and finished with 12 points.
Georgia fell to 13-9 overall and 4-5 in the SEC.
The Bulldogs' main men, Frazier and Maten, led the way with 23 and 22 points, respectively.
Kentucky and Georgia were tied at 29 at halftime. Given the game's first six minutes, that had to feel like a 20-point lead for UK.
The game could not have started more poorly for Kentucky. Not only were Fox and Sacha Killeya-Jones sidelined by undisclosed illness, but Georgia made its first six shots and roared to a 19-5 lead in less than six minutes.
Maten scored the game's first seven points, part of a 9-0 run that prompted a Kentucky timeout with 17:31 left.
Less than two minutes later, UK's troubles mounted. Adebayo went to the bench with his second foul at the 15:42 mark.
At that point, Calipari scrapped his big starting lineup and went small. Adebayo and Humphries started the game in an updated version of the twin towers look.
Instead, Calipari went with three guards: Monk, Briscoe and Hawkins. That seemed to steady Kentucky.
With Maten strangely docile (after scoring the game's first seven points, he didn't take another shot for more than 12 minutes), Kentucky slowly chipped away at the deficit.
Switching to a zone defense, something Calipari steadfastly says he abhors, seemed to make a difference. Georgia made 11 of its first 19 shots. The Bulldogs made only one of six shots after UK switched to a zone with five minutes left _ and that shot was a 3 by Frazier that bounced off the rim before curling into the basket.
It was the lowest-scoring half of the season (the previous low was 30 in the first half at Louisville).
Twenty-nine points seemed puny for a UK team that came into the game averaging 46.8 points in first halves.
Then again, it could have been worse than a fresh start in a 20-minute game to decide the winner.
Kentucky took its first lead with 18:16 left when Briscoe banked in a shot. That put UK ahead, 33-31.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Monk _ his first treys of the game _ expanded the lead to 39-33 at the first television timeout of the second half. That dulled any anxiety over Adebayo picking up his third foul with 18:01 left.
Monk hit two more 3s inside the first seven minutes of the half. He made only five (in 19 attempts) in the previous two games.
Monk's fourth trey caused Georgia coach Mark Fox to jab an angry fist into the air. He called timeout with 13:30 left and UK ahead 47-42.
On UK's next possession, Monk hit another 3-pointer.
When Georgia later closed within 59-55, Monk ball-faked and drove the baseline for a layup. As Calipari had advised, Monk showed he wasn't solely dependent on jump shots.
Kentucky led by as much as eight points six times in the second half. But Maten and Frazier kept coming.
Back-to-back fast-break baskets by Frazier _ a pull-up 15-footer and a drive to the basket _ tied it at 70. A UK timeout with 3:47 left ushered in the final dramatics.
