Willie Cauley-Stein – photo by AJ Reynolds | The Athens Banner-Herald
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, leading Georgia to a 72-62 victory Thursday night that dealt another big blow to Kentucky‘s NCAA hopes. The Wildcats (20-10, 11-6 Southeastern Conference) took a second straight road loss and head into the regular-season finale against No. 11 Florida in desperate need of a quality win to bolster their resume.
After Georgia (15-15, 9-8) pushed out to a double-digit lead, Kentucky ripped off a quick 7-0 spurt capped by Kyle Wiltjer‘s 3-pointer. That turned out to be the Wildcats’ last hurrah.
Nemanja Djurisic got inside for a run-stopping basket, Caldwell-Pope knocked down four straight free throws, and another Kentucky miss sparked a Georgia fast break that was capped by Caldwell-Pope’s rim-hanging dunk.
Just like that, the Bulldogs restored a 58-47 lead.
Archie Goodwin scored 20 points to lead Kentucky, but it was a miserable shooting night for the defending national champions.
