Kentucky guard Jarrod Polson (5) and Kentucky guard Julius Mays (34) react as Georgia guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (1) celebrates after a 3-point basket as time expired during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Athens, Ga., Thursday, March 7, 2013. (AP Photo/The Athens Banner-Herald, AJ Reynolds)
PAUL NEWBERRY, AP Sports Writer
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - 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. They were only 23 of 62 from the field (37.1 percent), connected on 6 of 26 from 3-point range, and made just 10 of 18 free throws.
Putting the perfect capper on the night for Georgia, Caldwell-Pope sliced off the wing for another thunderous dunk with a minute to go, finishing off any hopes of a Kentucky comeback. The sophomore posted his fifth double-double of the season.
Goodwin, Alex Poythress and Ryan Harrow all fouled out for Kentucky. The Wildcats, on the other hand, didn’t even get into the second-half bonus until just 7 seconds remained, long after it mattered.
By then, Georgia already had cleared its bench, giving everyone a chance to play in the final home game of the season.
The Bulldogs set an early tone when Goodwin had his driving shot swatted away by Donte Williams, sparking a Georgia fast break that ended with Sherrard Brantley laying it in at the other end.
Georgia raced off the court at halftime with even more momentum, knocking down a couple of 3s in the closing seconds.
After Brantley swished one from beyond the arc, Kentucky ran the clock down and appeared to deliver the final salvo when Wiltjer got inside for a lay-in with 6 seconds left. But the Bulldogs raced down the court and Caldwell-Pope got off a long trey that rattled around the rim, dropping in as the horn sounded for a 31-26 edge.
Willie Cauley-Stein had 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Wildcats. Wiltjer added 12 points, Harrow 11.
Djurisic scored 12 points for Georgia and Williams chipped in with 10.
KENTUCKY (20-10): Cauley-Stein 5-9 0-3 10, Poythress 1-3 2-3 4, Goodwin 7-15 3-6 20, Harrow 4-12 2-2 11, Mays 0-4 0-0 0, Hood 1-1 2-2 4, Polson 0-2 1-2 1, Lanter 0-0 0-0 0, Wiltjer 5-16 0-0 12. Totals 23-62 10-18 62.
GEORGIA (15-15): D. Williams 1-4 8-8 10, Florveus 1-5 0-2 2, Caldwell-Pope 6-19 10-11 24, V. Williams 2-4 3-5 8, Brantley 2-3 0-0 6, Mann 1-4 3-3 5, Dixon 0-0 0-0 0, Echols 0-0 0-0 0, Gaines 0-2 3-4 3, Morris 1-2 0-1 2, Cannon 0-0 0-0 0, Djurisic 5-9 0-0 12. Totals 19-52 27-34 72.
Halftime_Georgia 31-26. 3-Point Goals_Kentucky 6-26 (Goodwin 3-6, Wiltjer 2-11, Harrow 1-4, Poythress 0-1, Mays 0-2, Polson 0-2), Georgia 7-15 (Djurisic 2-3, Brantley 2-3, Caldwell-Pope 2-7, V. Williams 1-1, Gaines 0-1). Fouled Out_Goodwin, Harrow, Poythress. Rebounds_Kentucky 42 (Cauley-Stein 11), Georgia 40 (Caldwell-Pope 10). Assists_Kentucky 8 (Poythress 3), Georgia 13 (Mann 4). Total Fouls_Kentucky 26, Georgia 16. A_10,062.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
17 Responses to Caldwell-Pope, Georgia beat reeling Kentucky 72-62
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A pathetic loss for a team with no heart or effort. There is absolutley nothing you can say this team is even decent at, and there is not a single player since Noel, that you can say they would be hurting without. That is because nome of them do enough to be important cog to the team. With most teams there are at least two maybe 3 players you can say the team would be hurting without, but not on this team. The seem like a team that is tired of being coached and since they already know it all, they don’t need to listen.
They all have one foot and most of their mind in the NBA.
There just doesn’t seem to be any group sense of urgency with these players…team work does not exist–shameful effort!
Turn out the light, the party’s over.
Agree with both comments above.
I am sick of being supportive of a team that clearly doesn’t give a crap about pride and effort. This team is HORRIBLE. They have no heart and no sense of what it takes to win. Losing to all of these teams is unacceptable and ridiculous.
Everyone can call me names and say what a terrible fan I am, but I have stuck with this team through all of this. It has finally reached the point where I can’t be supportive anymore. This team is FAR worse than Bully Clod’s last team. This team doesn’t deserve to be in ANY post-season tourney. They act as if the season is already over and now I feel the same way.
There is NOTHING good that can be said for this team as a group. There are a few individuals who show some pride and hustle and they know who they are. The rest need to go on and enter their names in the draft right now. That is where their minds are anyway.
And I don’t want to hear people making excuses for them and saying we are wrong to speak against them. The entire season, Cal has been telling us that these guys are uncoachable. If these “men” want to act like NBA ready players, act like they know best and dog it at this level, then they are big enough to take the criticism that is leveled against them. They can’t have it both ways. They can’t expect to be babied.
I checked out the latest mock draft. Our freshmen are still right there, along with a whole bunch of freshmen and sophomores. When young players are being told that they are going to be drafted even when they play lousy, imagine what a problem that is for coaches? No wonder Calipari has had a difficult job coaching these kids.
Many of us are putting the entire blame on the players. We have to remember that Calipari is the coach and as such he is ultimately responsible for what the team does and does not do. Understand this: the entire record of work should be used when a coach is judged. Adolph Rupp has some bad years too. So, yes Calipari bears responsibility for this team. Next year when the Cats rebound he will receive equally deserved credit.
I am just ready for this season to be over! Probably three more games and we can throw the dirt on the season.
I agree with Jim…IMO, it would be a shame if this UK “team” made the NCAA tourney – their effort is a disgrace! It’s the same lack of effort EVERY GAME! I wish them LUCK in the NBA…they’ll need it!
Suggest everyone look up the definition of “lazy”. Says all we need to know about this group. Really hate to say that about a team of young men representing our state university but ———————————-.
I usually find that when I think I have all the answers to a situation, then I get embarrassed when all the additional facts I didn’t know existed come to light. I honestly don’t know if certain players ranked highly in the NBA pre draft have concluded that they don’t need to put out the effort anymore since they think they will go high in the draft regardless, however when the season ends, I believe we’ll all have a better picture of what was going on with these individuals. I think when we see who leaves for the NBA, transfers, or stays, the story will become much clearer…till then, I’ll try not to look like a fool!
Wounder if Cal will advise some to go NBA even tho he knows they are not ready ?
I have been a Kentucky fan since 1948. I am sick and tired of Coach Cal — he and his friend (agent) World Wide Wes bring in the absolute best players – but then Cal says he can’t coach them. If he is so damn smart – why did he bring those players in to wear the Blue? Of course, anyone can look up Coach Cal’s record while he was in the NBA and get an idea on how “great” he can coach.
I would not write off Calipari just yet. IMO his best skill is recruiting. His recruiting depends on getting his players gone as soon as possible. This year proves that when the talent is not there or when he has players hard to motivate the coaching suffers. Calipari’s first few seasons at Memphis were not great. When World Wide Wes delivered the Waggoner kid at the same time that the best teams left Conference U.S.A. his team took off. This success led to a reputation of success in feeding talent to the NBA. While it is true that World Wide Wes was a fixture at Memphis and helped Calipari recruit there, I really don’t think that he needs Wes now. IMO as long as the one and dones flock to UK like endless waves to a Florida beach UK basketball will be good. What we have to realize is that not all years will the freshmen be as good as advertised and when that happens the Cats will fall….but then they just may bounce up again. Calipari’ skill is recruiting.
It’s not about Coaching, it’s about WILL… One Play at the start ” says it all ” ! WCS, under our Basket, (TCB, as usual) a Bulldog swats the Ball, its out of WCS’s hands, Willie is fighting for the Ball with two Bulldogs…His Team Mates (OUR Wildcats) frozen and watching, (also, l say they stuck to their guys for defense, in case WCS lost the Battle for the Ball, they would be Defensively ready….benefit of doubt). BUT, when WCS hit the floor and kept fighting, not ONE TEAM MATE ran to help or BE THERE for a pass, WCS actually rolled the Ball 6′ on the floor, before a Bulldog and a Wildcat hit the floor….If Our Players would have went to assist WCS, ” When He HIT THE FLOOR, FIGHTING, Willie could have made an easy pass to a TEAM MATE;(WCS was looking). It did not happen, It does not happen and I’m not surprise at, What’s Happening. They show their age and ” Will ” in those Lack of effort plays, rebounds, hustle, switches, press. As We All Saw, last year, it takes more than a Shooter, ” To Be A Great Basketball Player and Team Mate. I still Love these Young Men, but if I was Coach Cal, I would show that ONE PLAY, everyday at Practice. This Team has the “Talent ” to Beat Florida and win the SEC Tourney, The Question is do they have ” The Will ” to make it happen…WCS, does !
Cal said last night he wanted to look at how he had worked with this team and figure out what went wrong. Since I am not a coach, I will take the liberty to tell him. First, we needed a couple of more decent players; not great, just good solid top 250 ball players that know how to dribble, pass, and shoot. Second, when you allow players to play lazy or just not listening because you don’t have someone else to replace them with or won’t replace them, this is what you get. Hood should have been seeing a lot more playing time early in the season. Heck, I would have played the walkons and took my loses early rather than allow some of these kids to play like they were playing. I would rather lose with players giving effort than get stomped because I was playing kids that thought they didn’t have to listen or try.
Calipari has had great success until this year. This has been a test of this system. What is the system? 1. Recruit the best talent available. 2. Expect them to stay one year, two at most. 3. Give your young stars much playing time. Use the dribble drive to let them display their talent to the NBA scouts. 4. Have a short bench and play about 7 players. Fill the bench with walk ons that won’t play. 5. Schedule soft in the preconference season and let the youngsters mold into a solid team. Count on the SEC to build up wins and storm into the NCAA tournament with a high seed. ————-One can debate whether the one and done system has actually worked. Before this year Calipari had vets who knew what UK basketball was about and could help lead the youngsters. They won. This year’s team had some older kids, but they were not Liggins, Patterson, Harrellson, Stevenson, Harris, or Miller. Next year we start all over again. Success will depend on next year’s super recruits.