2017-2018 Kentucky vs Georgia (Game 13)

six hours until we bring in the new year six hours of closing out 2017. man what a 2017 it was for sec basketball they re-emerged as a national brand and now i get to close it out sec opener in rupp arena kentucky georgia it's a black tie affair and i get to walk to work man for kentucky tonight against georgia they got to be concerned about number one yante matan he used to shoot inside an elevator as a freshman zero three pointers mate that's not the case anymore for yante mayton who leads the scc in points per game and rebounds per game you see the triangle on the floor that's where he can make a shot on the line or inside the triangle and the top of the key three teams have got to be aware of because when he gets it there if you're not closing out he's hit it right in your face it's what makes him so versatile because he's so comfortable in all of these different areas it forces defenses to have to react and play very differently he's a tough matchup especially for these cats it's the first sec game for these young kentucky wildcats now the difference between these cats and last year's cats is you don't know who's gonna lead you in scoring it could be a different guy every single night and it has been that way for the last four games four games ago was pj washington he had 20. knox 21 vs virginia tech diallo he's been on a tear he had 18 against ucla and then shea gilges alexander off the bench against louisville with 24. kevin hold down the fort happy new years buddy i'm on my way and a happy new year to you as well sean farnham get your rear end down here brother we got an sec basketball game on espn december 31st the last night of 2017 and the first night of sec play for the 9 and 2 georgia bulldogs and the 16th ranked kentucky wildcats and down the stairs he comes from the hyatt regency next door to raparita's court side seat for sean farnham we wait for him we take a look at john calipari nearly unblemished in sec career and opening games only the bulldogs got him six years ago and the man of the hour shawn farnham the aforementioned one happy new year happy new year to you too it's great to be here and rob should be a fantastic atmosphere well and you look at georgia and i saw you were talking about coach cowell as i was looking at the monitor but how about mark fox in the last 10 days that he's had not only did they pick up a couple of important wins over georgia tech and temple they've crushed it in the recruiting front there's a lot of momentum building for the georgia bulldogs you want to capitalize on that by trying to get your first ever win inside this building and they nearly had it last year took kentucky to overtime only a malik monk jumper in the final seconds of regulation sent it there wildcats won all three meetings between these teams last year and georgia frankly felt like it could have won the first two john calipari said as much talking to us before the game we got lucky last year to win those two games it is an entirely different kentucky team now as you mentioned five freshman starters for the wildcats tip it up tony green tony henderson ron gruber and here we go the question now is are they going to play with the desperation that they played with against louisville just on friday and that that desperation doesn't mean anything more than valuing every single possession and i think that's the key if you want to see growth in this kentucky team georgia gets the opening two with derrick of bede inside the big junior out of atlanta just 53 hours ago kentucky tipped it off with this starting five green diallo washington knox and richards all freshmen blasted louisville 90-61 after a loss to ucla just six days prior georgia bulldogs at nine and two coming off that big win over temple 84-66 last friday yantai made the star they're going to travel up top against the freshman rayshawn hammonds i think that one was on like betty before even the pass i think he just lost his balance right there first two possessions though here's what i want to see i want to see ante mayton touch the ball he's got a freshman guarding him and yante has had a ton of success against the kentucky wildcats individually he's got to be involved in the game plan and he's got to get touches every single possession mr freshman pj washington hit nothing at a three it will be georgia basketball the bulldogs at nine and two were 19 and 15 last year a season of close calls they brought back nearly their whole roster they lost j.j frazier who was george's leading scorer a big loss maiden has continued to develop this uh his game and this young man william turtle jackson has stepped in nicely at point guard as jackson has fouled taking it across half court cj washington with a personal for kentucky for a lot of fans that maybe haven't seen a lot of georgia basketball i've already called a couple of their games this year here's where they've gotten better all right we've talked about kentucky playing with desperation aggressiveness against louisville and how important that was where georgia's really improved is actually getting back to its roots man-to-man defense and they played a lot of zone a season ago this year they're going back to their man the last two games in particular much better than the first couple wildcats step under the screen and jackson hits along two they're gonna review it though the officials gave the signal to the scorers table to see if it was a three last year in this building georgia got out to a 12-nothing lead bulldogs have the first two buckets on this sunday night up top of three off the mark for the point guard quad a green and a foul underneath against kentucky this start couldn't be any better for the georgia bulldogs a good screen they trail underneath it nobody really puts a hand up and charles jackson able to dial it up and knock it in the execution very precise right now for the georgia bulldogs it is a deep georgia team they will go 10 or 11 deep most games that's another change from a season ago for mark fox his team struggled getting any production off the bench this year they're plus 55 in points off the bench bulldogs looking for their first win in this arena since 2009 the year before either of these coaches joined the teams hammond's way off the market at three and here is claude greene the toughest nails freshman from newman goretti high school in philadelphia offensive foul is called underneath against kentucky and nick richards has just picked up two quick ones veteran experience versus a freshman yante mayton sold it but richard's frustrated because the offensive rebound that he got called on the foul in the previous possession he leaned in extended the arm just enough to allow yante matan to grab the attention of the official so richards quickly to the bench sasha khalia jones the sophomore in to replace him the first non-freshman of the game for kentucky which is in foul trouble in a hurry two on richards and now two against pj washington i in our camera meeting about an hour and a half ago in this building i told our camera crew and our director mike ireland who's back there i said listen yante mate is going to pick up two personal fouls on pj washington in the first five minutes of this game and he did it in less than that and that's where yante mayton can impact the game not just there too because he can do that off the market a three-second chance bucket rayshawn habits for georgia and john calipari infuriated with a quick timeout well he's inferior because there's been no desperation out of his team all that energy all that effort we saw on friday against louisville it's not there right now but it is for georgia and they're out in front 6-000 [Music] two fouls against pj washington two against nick richards when you gabriel has checked in for kentucky as has the freshman shea gilges alexander with the ball now coming off a season high 24 points in the win over louisville friday 90 to 61 the final there the wildcats were terrific particularly in the second half played with great energy all game though and they've given up six in a row to start here kevin knox misses it's up to gabriel to follow though tipped on the rim and put in gabriel was there a hamadoo diallo as well and either way kentucky has his first bucket well just look at that last possession the hustle that you saw from the wildcats three four white jerseys swarming to the basketball playing volleyball above the rim that was announced for gabriel though diallo was in the way a kick out three off the mark from victorian will ridge but another offensive rebound turtle jackson in there the point guard out of athens for georgia this is a kentucky thing is awfully long and athletic gilda's alexander with 6-6 his height an extraordinary wingspan on the ball at first okay though flips it around julia jones and agvette is kind of the guy that i think if george is going to find success in the sec he has to do two things really well rebound the basketball and score deep post position that's all he's going to do he doesn't have to do anything more don't worry about any other aspect of his game that's the ball here he had a very good game against kentucky last year on the 31st of january career high 18 last season mayton to three that's not his spot as i showed you in the open his spot is at the top of the key if you're forcing him to shoot wing threes that's gonna benefit kentucky that is not the strength of dante maiton's game more diverse shooter this year but that's out of that triangle that you visualize to start a foul against georgia sends us to our first immediate timeout the dogs up six [Music] espn's exclusive presentation of college basketball is brought to you by adidas [Music] tony green tony henderson and ron gruber are officiating crew and they are reviewing that long two as it was called to the floor by turtle jackson here's a look at this from up top you be the judge well all you gotta do is look right there and i think they're going to give them the extra point now the review process is new and improved in the sec they're working back with the home offices back in birmingham alabama and all reviews initiated final decisions are made by the game officials but they're being helped by terry moore a longtime official and is now the coordinator of men's basketball replay for the sec kind of like what we see you know going back to new york in the nfl to try to get a little help there and speed up the process anything that's going to keep the flow of the game better is something i'm all in favor of well they did just refuel that play the officials to be a two as it was caught on the floor my eyes aren't as good as terry moore's i guess back in birmingham your new year's resolution is to get glasses that might be i'm excited man you know what there's nothing better than the start of conference play and if you were watching college basketball yesterday and you're a basketball fan and maybe you don't like the college game you're just all into the nba if you weren't watching college basketball i have no idea what's going to excite you it was fantastic basketball from oklahoma tcu tennessee and arkansas villanova losing to butler you had arizona arizona state last night how about all three unbeaten teams in the country go down in the same day knox fouled by heavens on the way up we can't even make it to 2018 with an unbeaten team and the sec had a terrific day of basketball a lot of fun particularly in that arkansas tennessee overtime thriller and alabama it was a short-handed texas a m team no tj hogg no admin gilder but that is a great win for the crimson tide well i'm just going to bring your attention to that arkansas win against tennessee tennessee has played as well as anybody in the conference really in the non-conference schedule they did an outstanding job against multiple acc teams they beat purdue in the battle for atlantis rick barnes has his team playing well macon and barford took it to him they combined for over 60 points between those two players from mike anderson's team the fact that they're not ranked in the top 25 i'd be saying this for a couple weeks they're a top 25 team they should be ranked they will be ranked on monday i'll be shocked if they're not ranked in tomorrow's full but that's a team that's going to be right in the thick of sec conference play all year long maintenance miss tipped in by the freshman nicholas claxton who's coming off a season best 14 and nine against temple last time out everybody's so in love with oklahoma and deservedly so because of what trey young's done only one team in the country is beating him it's arkansas what agreement along two for kentucky nice game on friday for green against louisville the starting point guard is a freshman four state championships in his time at noon goretti out of philadelphia i like the patience right now that george is showing at the offensive end of the floor [Applause] this is juwan parker inside blackstone trying to go to work knocked away those long arms for kentuckian with joches alexander helping out gabriel i like this double guard lineup this was a lineup that was very effective on friday for coach calipari having gilda's alexander and quade green not on the floor at the same time combined for 37 nine assists the two point guards knocks with a fine green to three five and a low for green you've got to close out what a green started the game on friday really aggressive and although his final numbers don't indicate you know his unbelievable performance he was four of six with 13 points as you mentioned five really quick ones right there you've got to close out to him on the three-point line there's the quick double tries to work through it no good gabriel the rebound for kentucky wildcats could take their first lead and green is fouled well quade green all of a sudden said enough of this georgia's got the lead they're taking it to us in our house how can we change things even a little hesitation shot fake gets his feet set underneath him able to knock down the three and then on the last possession just drive right in the teeth of the defense and draw the foul and earn a trip to the free-throw line how about that new year's resolution for young quade green make the world a better place it's a young man who has certainly made his own life as extraordinary as can be a whole lot of folks know the story about him born 80 deaf he did not speak for around a year growing up had implants when he was young and it's just something he doesn't much talk about anymore it's so far removed from quad a green's life he has become an extraordinary player great young man wants to be one of the best guards to ever play at this guard rich school here at the university of kentucky almost a five count georgia did not recognize the pressure that kentucky was throwing at him you've got to be prepared for that foul by the way the second against turtle jackson so he leaves for the dogs with no maiden on the floor right now either tyree crump in the game okay with the turnover first super tuesday the college basketball season just a couple of days away here on espn texas tech had a big win friday over baylor the red raiders get number 11 kansas at allen fieldhouse they have never won there kansas 18-0 against texas tech since the big 12's inception that game live as well on the espn app you start the big 12 season and it starts with kansas right i mean even though tcu only has one loss now after losing to oklahoma yesterday oklahoma has one loss they're playing so well a lot of high expectations it's not just kansas this year but it starts and ends with the jayhawks fran for schiller who does a great job covering the big 12 says it every winter time when we have our meetings back in brisbane goes until somebody beats them i'm buying kansas and that's the way it's going to continue to be there's a reckless drive against derrick ogbeta in an offensive foul drawn by gabriel you know this is an awfully deep conference here in the sec we were talking about a little bit ago that big 12 is right up there though with nine terrific teams it it is a deep conference in the big 12 but i think that the best thing for the sec is that they're being mentioned in the likeness of the big 12 and the acc this year and a lot of that has to do going back to last march and then even moving forward into the early portions of the non-conference play very very early bracketology for joe linardi seven teams are in a couple more considered eight in the top 50 of ken pomeroy's rankings for the sec including this one gil just alexander them as tai lingard way too strong on the follow when you're the redshirt sophomore from new zealand getting his first time in a few games this is the lineup that struggles to score for georgia when yante matan's off the floor all of a sudden things become a little bit more difficult at the offensive end [Applause] mike edwards off the feed from woolwich and the rebound to gabriel has played active minutes early for kentucky that's his sixth rebound gabriel got edwards in the air and missed the two [Music] sloppy start offensively for these teams in the opener of sec play tyree from way off the mark stays on this end okay with the offensive rebound trump did not play in the one over temple nine days ago but he is a dead-eye shooter takes another one misses it bulldogs have got a little cold from the field they missed five in a row a pretty good job showing up the defensive glass the last four possessions for georgia one of mark fox's big keys when we talk to him before the game hold kentucky to one and done that great length and athleticism those long arms down low for the wildcats try the one-handed bouncer that's taken away diano ahead green with a finish that was a lazy pass and then poor defensive transition by will ridge you have to play with a better sense of purpose and energy you're delivering a pass you took a poor angle down to the block and then you don't get back out in front of the defense to challenge mark fox takes a timeout for georgia when we return we take a look at the year that was in the sec [Music] eight in a row for kentucky all from the freshman quad a green the wildcats have their first lead on the final day of 2017 a year that started out with kentucky still the kings of the conference dominated the conference and then they made a name for themselves in the ncaa tournament 11 wins more than any other conference in the country three teams in the elite eight capped off by frank martin's incredible run for the south carolina gamecocks all the way to the final four continuing that they repaired their national imaging with a great non-conference in november and december and it all started with texas a m taking on west virginia on that game on espn and getting that win over in germany and then you look at arkansas over oklahoma tennessee the multiple quality wins that they have kentucky of course picking up their schedule later and getting a good win against virginia tech and against louisville biggest reason for the renewed success of this conference influx of talent i mean more top 100 kids according paul being part he talks about it does a great job with the espn 100 and recruiting nation more top 100 kids last year came into the sec and when you have 26 which is a quarter of the entire top 100 they're not all coming to kentucky they're going elsewhere rayshawn hammons was a top 100 kid and is here at georgia and the freshman is still finding his way through he saw colin sexton john petty yesterday sexton had 16 petty 18 on five threes with a win for alabama over texas a m avery johnson building a program for the crimson tide there's the turnover khalia jones threw it away looking for gilges alexander a look at missouri too jeremiah tillman john tate porter it's not just about michael porter who obviously played two minutes uh before he was injured and hasn't been back out on the floor since it's a good tigers team whole lot of depth there in conzo martin's first season in columbia crump tries another georgia oh for six from three to start they're not necessarily a great three-point shooting team under 35 percent from deep on the year knox with a step back two both teams are off the mark early kentucky just four for 17. georgia five for sixteen that fouled against tomato diallo and one of the things that john calipari talked to kevin knox about is stop thinking at the offensive end of the floor he struggled against louisville just one of seven although i thought his shot selection was actually very good and probably three or four of those shots looked like they were going to go down and then just rimmed out he's thinking a little bit too much about the offensive end needs to focus a little bit more on the other aspects of his game and just let the offensive game come naturally when you have to catch and gather and you think should i shoot this should i not shoot this and you're jabbing for no apparent reason it's in your head too much that's a young young man right there kevin knox yes these are all freshmen but he's about as young as anybody kevin knox turning 18 this year from tampa catholic high school in florida this kentucky team that started five freshmen today i started five freshmen all season long the veterans on this team are the sophomores plus the redshirt freshman diallo who was here for a semester last year practicing still has not scored for georgia he doesn't even have a rebound and this is a guy that is leading the sec in both points and rebounds finally he grabs his first board coming out of the non-conference there is little to no doubt that yante mayton is the conference player of the year for the non-conference portion of the season but he needs to carry that over and continue to try to find success within his team as well he was just named the sec player of the week for his performances against georgia tech and temple that last basket scored by rayshawn hammons the freshman out of the espn 100. for georgia a team that's struggling from the outside you've got to sometimes take advantage and although the temple the game the faster it is the better it probably suits kentucky you've got to be opportunistic and make sure you make the most out of the small window of opportunities to score when kentucky's defense isn't set [Music] georgia is one of the slowest teams in the sec in terms of tempo but the bulldogs had the opportunity to run and frankly i haven't gotten much going in the half court so far when they change up to their zone defense after playing man-to-man a majority of the early portion of this game knox misses a three missed followed by green off to gabriel rejected denied by yante mayton hammons had the last bucket for georgia right into the hands of knox knox trying to blow by jordan harris and he was fouled on the body before the shot still searching for some offense on both sides as we ring in the new year georgia and kentucky rupp [Music] you'll forgive bulldogs fans if their minds might be somewhere else in this new year's eve college football playoff semis tomorrow and georgia gets oklahoma in the rose bowl presented by northwestern mutual five eastern to pacific then clemson alabama three the sugar bowl from new orleans both games streaming on the espn app and on espn deportees well and here's the game plan according to me if georgia wants to find a victory they got to get out and that's a fast start three nothing seven nothing doesn't matter you've got to make oklahoma play from behind continue to dominate in the russian game chunks of yards yard by yard it's a cinch all right so four yards at a time squeeze baker mayfield into the pocket they're not a great team as far as sacks go only two per game with his outstanding defense led by their linebacking group but nevertheless i would expect them to try to keep mayfield's play-making abilities confined to the pocket he's not been feeling 100 we'll see if that helps them in the rose bowl who do you like in the game georgia i think it's gonna be an all-sec national championship well you have to say that no no i don't have to say anything and i won't say it if i don't believe it you gotta believe have some conviction in your life you know what your new year's resolution for 2018 should be to have some conviction and not be afraid yours should be to use the telescope well you're the one touching it putting the dots on there he's trying to clear hands off the telestration georgia is already in the bonus mike edwards will head to the line edwards a pretty good shooter for his size 6-9 225 from westland michigan athletic player who has looked for consistency and his three years in athens [Music] his teams are combined 10 for 39 for the field right now this is george's first free throw of the game and it rattles home edwards he has all the physical attributes and at times he looks outstanding and then other times it feels like the game and maybe the location of the game kind of bothers him a little bit it doesn't bother number one though i promise you that starting to be more involved mayton couple of rebounds a block and assist still has not scored for georgia and mark fox told us that's not necessarily a huge issue he said for them to find success they have to be balanced which means you want yes dante mayton to score the basketball but you need others to elevate around him that was elevated and off the mark from t-shawn hightower georgia 0-4-7 now from three trying to shoot over the kentucky zone here's the takeaway in the speedy height tower on the move happens a chance for a hard-earned three for rayshawn evans what a beautiful job out in transition again get the steal and the turnover defensively number situation kevin knox runs over late a slight swipe of the arm and a great finish by hammonds [Music] this young man has a ton of talent it's like a quarterback you know and as a freshman quarterback sometimes we say the game is too fast i think that's where rayshawn hammonds is right now the game just needs to slow down for him and in moments like that you see flashes of a player that could be huge for georgia another offensive rebound meanwhile off a free-throw miss by mayton [Applause] so georgia has missed its last two free throws and picked up the ball anyway here's that kentucky zone which the wildcats have used more this year hightower tries another three another offensive rebound hammond's too strong and is finally ripped away by knox what a green with eight for kentucky he'll get to the line fouled by italian pacing of this game though is really where georgia wants it to be and look we're now almost 14 minutes in and only 12 points for kentucky and outside of quite a green it has been just about one big nothing burger for the wildcats [Applause] again kentucky since the opening minutes has been without pj washington and without nick richards left and right of your screen both with two fouls cannot understate how much that impacts you as a coach and as a team out on the floor it changes your rotation it changes the position in which players are put in and it also changes the level of aggressiveness [Music] and those two in particular were so active and aggressive on friday in the win over louisville washington 16 and seven richards had six rebounds in a couple of blocks as the wildcats overwhelmed the cardinals [Applause] georgia trying to figure out this kentucky zone they come up for the high post and krupp lazily throws it away green with a left oh what a green offensively for kentucky he has 11 of the cats 15. how does georgia solve this zone well they don't pass it to the team in the white jerseys instead you want to try to get the ball in the middle of paint and then utilize your ability to score for your yante mating from the high post and kick out that previous possession i mean it was just a very poor and telegraph craft pass that allowed shay gilgis alexander to get the steal and throw it ahead to claudette mayton's finally on the board second chance basket for georgia which has eight of its 17 on second chance points knocks way off the mark and i'm going to reach him fouled underneath well the first half for kentucky it's been about one guy and one guy only it's been green what a green just without him on the floor his energy level his explosiveness his ability to score the basketball and actually see it go through the hoop kentucky would be in a world of hurt right now foul is against tight winyard which will send maten to the line and this is an area of yante maiton's game that is much improved from where it was a season ago plus 16 from the free-throw line versus where he was last year [Applause] 65-76 well and part of it too is his rhythm you'll notice his rhythm he takes his left leg back and he actually steps in as if it's a free-throw line jump shot and that's something that he does so well during the course of the game but it's something now he's transitioned and brought to his free-throw attempt become a more diverse shooter from the field this year and a smoother shooter at the line four in a row for mayton the reigning sec player of the week pre-season co-player of the year in the conference and a young man who's certainly putting together a case for an all-america type season hamadou diallo that one was offered to the way up claxton was there mayton grabs it for georgia here is the freshman claxton back to me good decision by yante to turn down that top of the key jump shot that time harris top two out of bounds last touch by claxton [Applause] what is the diagnosis here for kentucky's offense to get somebody other than green a bucket play with some aggressiveness play with some poise right now everything's forced everything's going one-on-one wildcats have one field goal outside of green [Music] offensive foul his second just trying to you're on an island i just said you're going to one-on-one this is a team sport when you're on an island and you're trying to do it all and you're thinking too much those kind of plays happen that is a clear foul and he goes and sits down now and struggling to say the least against louisville he brings those struggles right over here tonight against georgia in the first half and now you've got three players on the bench with two fouls knox fouled out just 17 minutes against louisville on friday really the one player who came out of that game not feeling as well individually the big win for kentucky diana some good on ball defense [Applause] and they're going to get a timeout i think for georgia that looked like it was a health ball to me i thought that was going to be possession arrow going to kentucky even mark fox looked a little confused second time out of the half taken by georgia it will be bulldog ball espn's exclusive presentation of college basketball is brought to you by heineken open your world enjoy responsibly [Music] alfred mayo halftime report right around the corner seth greenberg chris connor back in bristol we're going to show you seth's new year's resolutions we'll also take a quick look back to a great year in 2017 what do you make of this game so far george always plays kentucky tough you know right now kentucky has a hangover wait a second it's not even new year's day yet you know what it's called it's called louisville now you know what yeah they have a hangover they're getting beat the 50 50 balls they can't rebound the ball in the defense and their shot selection's been horrific besides that life is good lexington kevin sean happy new year guys yeah coach so positive back in this other man everything's okay jeez come on coach we can be positive i mean yes okay one team shooting zero percent from three the other one shooting 22 from the field uh and we've talked more about missed shots than we have made shots during the first half but outside of that hey it's new year's eve it's lexington it's a sold out crowd here in rough arena life is good maybe we'll get some uh early resolutions in the next 24 minutes 20 seconds or so dante baton has just one main field goal and yet georgia leads this thing by four final day of 2017. jawad parker didn't hit the rim shot clock violation georgia continues to be over the outside that's ten three-pointers taken and none have dropped and this crowd is kind of buzzing right now and just in anticipation of wanting to see this team be aggressive there's alexander on the drive that's what kentucky needs well in honduras and gilges alexander these are two guys that i think are at their best when they're driving and attacking and gil just obviously has a huge game against louisville but it was set by the tone and demeanor of diallo when he drove baseline on the opening possession and just rattled the rim we haven't seen that explosiveness off the perimeter i think the speed and athleticism is on the side of kentucky if they space out share the ball force the defense to shift side to side just for one possession get one ball reversal you're going to find something good edwards is looking maiden's way well defended by gabriel kentucky doing a nice job in the angles in the post crump hits a deep one that's a two a lot of minutes for tyree crum who again did not play nine days ago in the 18 point win over temple he has his first two yogas alexander again eschewing the screen from wynyard what a green off the mark from deep the rebound secured by mayton that's the seventh board already from dante mayton mate in the trailer george is still over the outside and this is a tie up possession arrow going the way of kentucky [Music] [Applause] wildcats are basically playing a six-man rotation right now with knox richards in washington glued to the bench with two and khalia jones replaces winyard it's not a deep kentucky team right now a couple of injuries have hurt them jared vanderbilt a left foot injury making progress was getting up shots today at the shoot around timetable still unclear and jamal baker who they hope to be their big three-point shooter still recovering from left knee surgery he's fouled against jordan harris his second and kentucky is in the bonus ahmadu diallo to the free-throw line yeah struggled in the off the free-throw line the other day so what do great players do and this is a great lesson for anybody that wants to to play at the division one level you get in the gym and you work he was the first guy at the shoot around today and then after the shoot around was over he stood at the free-throw line and kept working and working and making free throws and seeing the ball and getting the touch off of his fingertips wearing the same shoes that he's wearing right now and part of it is just repetition and feel feeds into that new year's resolution improve every day 64 at the line for diablo who scored 14 or more in six games in a row now mark fox he's chatting with the officials i'll tell you this too and hamadou diallo when i spoke with him at shoot around today what he said was he said listen i've got to bring that kobe mentality and what does the kobe mentality mean for hamadu it just means that he's got to get better every single day he said at the start of the season i thought things were going to come pretty easy for me and i've had to work and get better and better and we've seen that in the last four games averaging almost 19 points per contest whose mentality do you like to bring to the game yours kevin you bring the ground mentality yeah after after the pk 80 experience with you i just i just felt like this is this is the this is the zone that i want to be better zone that or john calipari is 2-3 the 2-3 your zone is kind of shaky at times kevin i'm just being honest your first game here congratulations hey thank you it's always fun that's the best thing about our job we get to go to all these great locations across the country and there's very few that can compare one of the crown jewels of college basketball 23 000 strong in here mayton with a put back in georgia which is not one in this building since 2009 has a lead of three complete breakdown by kentucky how do you not put a body on yante mayton when a shot goes up you have to find him and initiate the contact and intercept greens pass thrown away juwan parker lays it up and in the red shirt senior gives georgia a lead of five [Applause] parker the fifth year senior from tulsa oklahoma feeling good playing athletic basketball again after some achilles issues the last couple of years we are under two in this first half diano not a deep three-point shooter necessarily green will take it off the low catch hammonds took it away from gabriel and kept the pivot foot down and mark fox immediately tells him slow down make sure you get a good look on this possession georgia with some nice non-conference wins got saint mary's of the wooden legacy at marquette home against temple nothing would compare to this parker with a shot fake from that baseline the edge of that triangle you were talking about off the top well all of a sudden we mentioned remember we talked about this like five minutes ago oh yante mate doesn't have a rebound yante mayton hasn't scored well now he has and he's got eight rebounds to go along with eight points off the missed three from diallo we are sub 60 in this first half kentucky has shot it at just 22 percent again rolling around in the rebound for diano greene into a sea of black and red and he does draw the foul deontay mate was in there well yante matan conference player of the year pre-season prediction nobody puts a body on him how do you not find number one that's just a breakdown of assignment and then the ability to stretch and be comfortable we mentioned that triangle the baseline one of his favorite areas to shoot the ball and the foul is the first assessed two maiden sending green to the line where he is excellent on the season [Applause] now [Applause] will check in for diallo who has a foul don't want to pick up another player with two fouls to end this half it's been the q boogie show for kentucky in the first half he has more than half the wildcats points georgia cannot hold for one but it can try to bleed some clock though gilgas alexander is a terrific defender really good defense oh my with the denial god the parker dildos alexander on the step in no loose ball gilgamesh alexander is fouled all started by smart fox fox just got well i'm telling you right now mark fox did not want that technical foul not in this moment not with his team with the lead but what he's upset about is the contact at the other end of the floor as jajuan parker drove in and then opposite in the floor jante mayton goes up he thought he was in the cylinder with his hands straight up when they called the foul on the whistle on them and that's gonna be two quick ones in the final minute of the half against mayton gildes alexander an 85 free throw shooter will head to the line for the [Applause] technical [Applause] then he hits both so now gilgas alexander will shoot the two free throws on the common foul against me a first half that though not aesthetically pleasing was a bright one for georgia has the potential to end in a nightmarish finish more new year's resolution for you as the officials sort something out at the monitor gilda's alexander new year's resolution don't eat candy [Applause] again our officials tony green tony henderson and ron gruber so the technical against mark fox who says bilges alexander hit those two free throws and it will be gilders alexander taking these free throws now the officials signaled 22 which means they may have been looking at who should take these free throws and it was gilda's alexander fowled by mayton well kevin what a hectic finish to this first half in a game that it looked like georgia was building momentum and controlling going to the break now all of a sudden an opportunity at the free throw line to make this potentially a one-point game another team's going to feel superb going into the half but kentucky's going to feel a whole lot better if they can cut this to one keep it there four in a row for shea gilges alexander six in a row for kentucky from the foul line georgia will keep mayton in with the two fouls make sure you don't pick up one offensively here if you're yante maiden as the bulldogs look to hold for one turtle jackson back in the game with two fouls it's krupp from the corner short on a three and that's it for the first half a one point lead for georgia kentucky the final six points at a half all for the foul line [Applause] a defensive struggle and georgia has the lead young teammate eight points eight rebounds but a pivotal second foul picked up to end the half bulldogs lead by one here in wraparita on this new year's eve off to the studio we go for your halftime report thank you kev farney alfa romeo halftime chris cotter and seth greenberg here in studio our old friend chris mullen and st john's taking on c hall as the go on coach miles powell gonna hit the three-pointer here for seton hall and it's an undermanned st john's team hanging in there though saints aren't playing without their back court i really like this seat in all teams angel delgado rebounds to basketball and kadeem carrington moved from the two guard to the point guard playing at a high level look at delgado there with the ball and four point lead though right now for seton hall at home you mentioned ponz is out and lovett is out for saint john's ivory game and saint john seton hall forget about you know who's playing well who can't play gotta win that game all right let me talk about this rivalry here georgia and kentucky because georgie usually does play kentucky well and they're doing it again today but why why when kentucky coming off the big win against louisville you think they got all the momentum coming into the conference just answered the question oh i did okay then we can move on yes they came off the big win against louisville all right and they have a hangover and when you have to turn around and play 48 hours later with a young basketball team you know what happens you're not mentally physically and emotionally ready to play so shot selection suffers you don't make good decisions with the basketball and you don't block out and if you don't block out against this georgia team that's maybe their best offense georgia one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country this kentucky team is like 230 and defensive rebounding percentage so john calpers got to get their attention at halftime they've got to move the ball move people a little bit better shot selection's got to improve efforts got to improve and attention to detail's got to improve yeah green has 13 of their 26 points right now kentucky trailing by one to georgia at the half when we come back coaches new year's resolutions heading into 2018. we'll talk about those next you're watching the alpha romeo halftime report cincinnati hosting memphis coach gary clark is a grown man look at that remember the old grow man team rebounds defends scores too that's something like this this cincinnati team can score trevor moore with a three jerome cumberland can hit three second weekend team they continue to get good point guard play there's cumberland right there just sizing it up saying if you're gonna keep me open evans cumberland clark tough to deal with nicer brooks down low seals the defender nice little one-handed high-low action right there all cincinnati providence and creighton talk about a guy who can score how about marcus foster how about this creighton team this for all five starters and double figures shoot 43 percent of their shots from the three-point line make 40 of it marcus foster in transition wow and finish he can finish and then look at him size up here this is deep rage right here he just says he went all trey that's high praise right there trey young maybe goes marcus foster all on you sometimes all right new year's eve happy new year to everybody out there be safe when you're out tonight uh what we wanted to do is do a couple of things revolving around the holiday first of all before we get to 2018 i want to look back at 2017 it was a special year in college basketball what's your favorite moment of the whole year to me it's gonzaga getting to the final four and the championship game and you think about the journey and the success that mark fews had at gonzaga it's absolutely incredible he's been his elite eights he's been to sweet 16s he's been the number one seed but this was a special group you had shema karnowski up front our favorite guy yep man he is a mountain mountain masquerading as a man they have terrific guard play and nigel william goss this team was really connected and to see mark few get to that point really was satisfying to me now let's spin it forward to 2018 which is where we will be in just a few hours here on the east coast tell me the player of the year the wooden award winner this moment in time just will you please just make a prediction for me in this moment it's got to be trey young 29 points almost 11 assists shoots over 40 from the three but it's how he's done you know to me he's made everyone on the court better it's the energy and the passion and enthusiasm that he plays with it let's face it he shoots from the logo he gets into lane he draws a second defender he's a willing passer and the energy that he's brought to that program yeah it's been incredible he just had 39 and 15 assists in the win on the road yeah previously unbeaten tcu he gets it done wherever he goes all right finally give me your new year's resolutions about the world of college basketball i would like to see the hall of fame honor the historians the people that have made this game what it is and i'd start with lefty gisele lecter gisele belongs in the hall think about this two elite eights at davidson think about midnight madness think about the great game in 74 against nc state even though they lost that game rowley massimino national championship at villanova and the culture he created at villanova lives today through jay wright gene katie he was five time national coach of the year that's incredible terrific coach great ambassador for the game high character jim fallon 49 seasons at mount st mary's 830 wins a division two national championship and then my guy fletcher out union military academy over 400 of his players went on to play college basketball 200 division one they're going to name the floor after medfork union he graduated from there he went to university of virginia went back has never left good stuff coach we shall keep an eye on that i wore the bow tie for you coach phelan because he will win every single time out there on the court at mount st mary's sportscenter comes your way tonight obviously it's extremely important we're talking about the nfl playoff picture regular season wrapping up today who gets in who doesn't boomers back with svp and herbie and tim tebow talk about the college football semifinals involving georgia's football team one of four teams playing tomorrow on new year's day you can see all those games by the way on the espn app if you don't have it it only takes a moment to download it to your mobile device and everything is right there in the palm of your hands this halftime report is presented by alfa romeo [Music] [Applause] [Music] this halftime report is presented by alfa romeo st john's seat in the hall final moments desi rodriguez coach he had 23 and 9 on the day desi rodriguez he's the mariano rivera of seton hall made the game-winner against louisville and he finished off saint john's and set him back to jamaica five-point win for seton hall michigan state was only up six late in the first half you think uh coach izzo gave his team a little tongue lashing at the half they had a little heart to heart and responded the front coat of michigan states absolutely incredible ward bridges gavin schilling really tough all spartans in the second half we're poised to have a good second half here quadi green with half of kentucky's points at the half they are only down one though to georgia second half on the way this has been the alfa romeo halftime report [Music] welcome back to the sec on espn first half of the books georgia 27 16th ranked kentucky 26. from rupp arena kevin brown shawn farnham wishing you once again a happy new year's eve and early happy 2018. it was the first half that was dominated by defense partner kentucky had stopped stop it was dominated by terrible offensive basketball yeah call it what it is but there was a turning point in this game a seven-point lead as you look at kentucky's offense first the difference between the points over 40 minutes versus what we saw in the first half 21 shooting 50 of their 26 points by the way came at the free throw line where they had a plus 10 advantage in free throws attempted the turning point this is what i was talking about the drive in the great block you see mark fox in the back of the screen raise his hands up and say what a foul he didn't get one but he got one at the other end on yante mate and he didn't like that call and he ended up getting a technical foul and then the free throws ensued down the stretch to make it a one-point game at the break i think the big key dante made obviously eight points eight rebounds in the first half three of ten shooting his percentage has got to be better georgia was over 11 from beyond the arc they shot 50 from the field inside the arc so turn down some of those three-point books work inside play to the strengths of your team and that's utilizing your strength underneath and trying to get to the free-throw line in the second half well the big story for kentucky was the foul trouble combined nick richards kevin knox and pj washington combined for just two points and six fouls all three at two richards does not start this half of the floor gabriel is in and matan hits at three george's first from beyond the arc well and coach kyle looking immediately at kevin knox as he came down letting the freshman know that that is just a failure to have carry over from the scouting report good job by dante mayton to find that shot and find that rhythm and his pj washington on the floor once again for kentucky gabriel will take it through that's no good offensive rebound how to do diallo who was poked in the eye and that will stop play claudette green a few games ago got hit the eye against monroe and now it's diallo who gets knocked up top he got poked in the eye really bad in that game against monmouth and end up having to wear the shades for it is that's also a clean play foul this this discussion could carry over into 2018 so let's tell you that quad a green is fouled on the way in two fouls by the way against mayton second one at the end of that first half and turtle jackson has two for georgia as well so a little bit of foul trouble for both teams as we start the second half you mentioned richards knox and washington six fouls only two points between the two of them in a combined 16 minutes of playing top quad a green dominated the first half for kentucky offensively the miss there rebounded by parker georgia with juwan parker on the floor instead of will ridge to begin this second half jackson at three and the bulldogs after an 0 for 11 first half deep or two for two you go under the screen you give the shooter space that's what happened on that long two early in the first half by jackson was ruled of his foot on the line wildcats went under the screen he made him pay the game is difficult right now for kentucky knocks from way out maybe that will get him going is there any flow when you watch them offensively right now are you seeing that really move the ball and find something comfortable he hit an nba three-point shot that's great he can do that only four assists right now for kentucky on seven made baskets with a drive for georgia and then kevin knox comes back down lunges and reaches tries to go for a steal and leaves hammonds wide open and allows him to finish what did we talk about earlier what did john calipari say to knox shoot around today focus on your defense the defense and rebounding you're going to be fine offensively don't worry about it but that's not the case right now greene need to shoot for kentucky washington gets into the lane and he can really operate from there the freshman out of dallas texas grew up in louisville a well-traveled young man who has come here to kentucky as the cat's within four hammond's a freshman against the freshman knox oh bailey in the lane get it to go in the foul for georgia i think deontay mayton got hit in the face and he is hunched over right now in the middle of paint a great pass by hammonds to agbette bete with the toughness underneath to absorb the contact and finish he had a good first half limited opportunities four points on two of two shooting that time clearing out with his off hand and that was friendly fire is that betty that hit nathan but they still a little shaken up foul was the third against pj washington who just scored you think he's going to get going offensively and he is out of the game nick richards back in a fight for the rebound georgia is in on every missed free throw they either seem to get the ball or at least knock it away and this will be kentucky basketball just alexander into the game along with richards ford kentucky wildcats coming off a 29-point drumming of louisville on friday third highest margin of victory in that series history the question coming into the game was how will this young team respond they responded to adversity well after the loss to ucla how do they respond to prosperity well and they haven't responded very well because this has not been a very clean game at all for kentucky and all coach cal kept reiterating to his team is play more think less they're thinking more and they're playing less so far mark fox will keep turtle jackson in the game right now zero in black and red with three fouls [Applause] knox with another three long rebound and here comes parker with the georgia run-out [Music] the missed opportunity he had hammonds and i think that's what he was trying to go for [Applause] what a game for this young man four for four down low [Applause] he has played up the last couple of years when the dogs have played kentucky derek on beta career high 18 last season one of the teams met in athens gabriel going to work on jackson with those three fouls jackson knocks it away well georgia came out of the gate and they hit a couple of threes and then it's been derek bette underneath putting himself in position this one working hard on the offensive glass eight point lead for the dogs [Music] espn's exclusive presentation of college basketball is brought to you by the quicksilver card from capital one earn unlimited 1.5 cash back every purchase everywhere [Music] well folks we hope your new year's eve is half as enjoyable as this young fellas georgia with the lead over kentucky by eight but who cares when you're here at rut you're having a good time and i like this lateral quickness i think he'd be really good defensively right now for kentucky his ability to move side to side and and then to get some food as well i mean that young man's having himself a fun time tonight that's a double threat right there well he doubled quickness and then he double dipped because obviously there was a bite already out of that nugget and you know what his own box of nuggets his own that's allowed yeah that's acceptable it's not a party foul but it could be a party foul for you if you're at a new year's eve party and you go to double dip tonight that's right make sure you're aware of your surroundings a three-pointer for kentucky good range for gabriel who has maybe been the most active cat today green offensively with 13 but gabriel nine rebounds and he's finally got a shot off the bench he did have a basket in the first half that was changed on that early tip in hamadou diallo at the half the basket was reviewed and awarded to him peyton has it knocked away by gabriel and here is dielo here comes kentucky gabriel wave it off offensive foul turns rep arena into big boo nation well i i'll be honest with you it's the most difficult call to make but that was not a charge i mean there is no possible way that you can show me that and you're going to convince me by the letter of the law on the book that that is a charge that is a poor call [Applause] i have no idea what they're going to look at what they're going to go look at and tony green's over there with them what they're going to see is first and foremost that it should have never been called that way now you can't reverse it obviously but there is no foul as far as an offensive foul there that is a foul on juwan parker wenyon gabriel should be at the free-throw line it's a mistake told the review is for any excessive elbow contact there was not and this should be a 39-36 game with one more for gabriel again the sec has this new structure this year with replays a more collaborative structure terry moore the coordinator of men's basketball replay who's on the other end in birmingham and the folks here are getting some assistance from the league office [Applause] [Music] we'll get a quick explanation over here and just as we had already been aware of they were looking to see if there was any contact to the head there was not nor was their charge we can talk about that later so the lead remains at five for georgia high energy from gabriel for kentucky now defensively on jackson [Applause] [Music] okay started this is parker leading in draws the contact by diana and he has a chance for three jawan parker has been in college so long that when he first played in the sec kevin knox who's the youngest player on the kentucky team was 12 years old [Music] and he played a little old man game on that one he got into space elevated up played with the savvy to draw the contact and then touch off the glass jawan parker graduated with his bachelor's degree graduated now with his master's degree is working on his second master's degree and has recently been engaged so if he has a new year's resolution we should all have about six i think i gotta go back to schools working at a second masters right now and financial family planning wants to be an athletic administration we may all be working for juwan parker someday this time's the largest lead right now for georgia knox continues to be cold from the field jackson left alone and an offensive rebound for who else mayton trying to go up and under knox was in the way khalia jones as well and the kentucky lane draws the off two washington playing with three fouls got his own miss and pj washington is here now tonight after our game a special edition of sportscenter with scott van pelt scotland says the nfl playoff picture three wild card spots and the division crowd up and grabs plus chris berman joins the show boomer is back with his take on the nfl postseason kirk herb street tim tebow also dropped by to preview tomorrow's college football playoff semifinals sportscenter earlier at night on espn right after this game that fouled a fourth on turtle jackson for georgia and he will have to leave the game the bulldogs point guard let me talk about new year's resolutions pj washington make free throws it's a good one to have this is a very talented freshman and former mcdonald's all-american he gets you on your hip and defensively if you're caught on his hip he's going to score he's just so strong i don't know if he wants to make all of those like that but i don't think he's really good beggars can't be choosers right happy new year young man who lost around 15 pounds in a two and a half week span before the monmouth game during the season has worked his body in a good shape there's a travel against parker you know what that's actually a good travel for georgia you won't know why because that ball would have been stolen had it the whistle not blown and it would have been a dunk and instead it will allow you to get back and get set in your defense but that's at least twice in this game that georgia has failed to recognize the pressure and has not brought players up to help alleviate that pressure off their guards well now you don't have the point guard jackson probably for a long time with the four fouls parker is out of the game jordan harris is checked in for georgia this advantage washington here over mike edwards mike edwards cannot defend t.j washington tyree krupp well defended by quad diana on the a6 diano has green to his right he'll take it all the way and shoot two barreling into the cheerleaders on his way well as soon as the catch came you knew this wasn't going to be very good for mike edwards pj washington just so strong underneath in particular with his back to the basket and mike edwards tends to play straight up and straight down which means he's out of an elevated because he's in an elevated position not in his stance not able to maintain the positioning that he has on the floor i'ma do diato at the free throw line right now this is a young man who comes out of queens new york played a platinum science academy in connecticut last year and because he came here a semester early redshirted went through the draft process second highest vertical in the history of the nba combine great great dunker and we saw that to open the game on friday against louisville puts in two free throws here and kentucky has a little bit of a surge going trump arena coming alive on this final day of 2017 sec opener for both teams right now the only person that you feel like it's calm when the ball hits his hands offensively is dante mayton everybody else is kind of playing panicked nighttime's got to get it up uh and hamadou diallo had something to say to yante mate and now the officials are having to talk to hamadu diallo [Applause] now mayton is talking with sasha kalia jones we knew this would be physical we knew it would be tight when these two teams play a couple of games last year in the regular season that went down to the wire kentucky snatched away in overtime wood at home and then picked up a late win in athens with some diary fox heroics the wildcats comfortably got george in the sec tournament i'm not sure what reviewing right now [Music] [Applause] alexander knocked away by harris green what a on the spot for kentucky [Applause] [Music] [Applause] didn't have the position no and that is also carryover from the two of them talking on the previous possession though and you let your emotions get the better of you you put yourself in an unfavorable position as he dribbles the ball up the floor watch as he moves he step tries to step right in between them he had no position whatsoever so diana and washington both have three for kentucky and washington stays on the floor but diallo exits [Applause] and then you've got to get the ball in the ante maintenance hands and you've got to allow them make a play this is an unsettled lineup on the floor right now for the georgia bulldogs that's a bailout foul for georgia bulldogs just caught a break there this green is whistled for the foul against harris oh it's chippy it's the start of conference play i love this [Applause] [Music] [Applause] last time the georgia bulldogs won in this building the coaching matchup was pete herman versus billy gillespie march 4th 2009. double double for trey thompkins for the dogs jody meeks had a game by 23 for kentucky but it was the terence woodbury show sean fart 30 points georgia wins it 90 to 85. well you look at this game right now a couple things that kind of jump out to me obviously the hot start for georgia here in the second half when they value the basketball they don't turn the basketball over they are six of nine shooting so far here in the second half that's 67 you see mark fox never got a victory here they need to value the basketball better if they want to get one now if you're kentucky you're looking right now and you're thinking you know he had 42 points in the paint 42 vs louisville they have 12 so far in this game and we're almost 30 minutes in how do you figure that is that mostly what george has done defensively or mostly kentucky's lack of moving the ball around getting good looks well georgia and their zone defense in particular has forced them to play out over the top diante maten 13 and 10 rebounds another double double for him and after a slow start mate has imprinted his stamp on this game julius alexander taking it into albeit a nice strong drive for the freshman out of hamilton ontario again the defense on the back line steps up kevin knox vacates his spot has to help on the dribble penetration and then sasha kalea jones a little bit slow and rotating over allows that space in that lane for yante matin to finish gilda's alexander back of the line where he is six for six and kentucky has 17 points at the line today just 23 for the field alexander 52 for the field 85 percent from the line team leader in assists and steals and he just got another one shane coches harris deflected blocked by washington has led this game for just 99 seconds gilges alexander is fouled coach cal told us he's the only guy that smiles at practice he's the only one that's really having fun and just playing free and he's done it a couple of times tonight defensively and you see the emotion after the finish the dunk and then the passion that's necessary in a game like this you gotta remember all these kids is their first time playing in the conference game it's different conference play is different kevin knox benny with a strong rebound for georgia knox just one of eight from the field one of four from deep inside mayton going to work and yante mayton fouled [Applause] sasha kalia jones picks up his first when in doubt when times get rough when the situation is unsettled you give it to number one if you're georgia at the line today up around 87 on the year a couple of days away from the first super tuesday of the college basketball season on espn january 2 2018. 22nd ranked texas tech number 11 kansas looking to start the climb to get another big 12 championship in allen field house that game tuesday 9 eastern on espn streaming live on the espn app see bring that left foot back in four for four at the line makes it a three-point game and if you're in georgia right now every single possession i want yante having an opportunity to score the basketball play through him he's unselfish he'll pass the ball back out what about if you're kentucky kilgus alexander on the drive and he's fouled again space before and attack get to the free-throw line it's where you're getting all your points tonight you know it has not been the best shooting outing for really anyone out on the floor for kentucky so if you get stop the clock you get to the free-throw line you get them in foul trouble it starts to limit their level of aggressiveness and that's the team perfect i mean this is not a three-point shooting team today but it's not a three-point shooting team this season they have attempted the fewest threes of john calipari's nine kentucky teams well i think be who you are what are you good at do you want to continue to work on the things that you're not good at yes you want to improve your practice you want to find yourself in a rhythm will it be games where this team makes eight seven three-pointers sure but when you look at the difference from where it was a season ago to where it is now it's distinctly different this was going into today's game kentucky three of 13 today so that percentage has gone down wildcats have not shot well but they trail by only one six in a row for gilgis alexander turtle jackson is back into the game now midway through this half four fouls for georgia zero in red and black jackson well defended by dialogue and there's a travel against harris 13th turnover for mark fox's club and that's again a possession where dante mayton didn't touch the ball and six turnovers here in the second half are far too many there are some that are created shea gilders alexander creates one finishes with a dunk then there's those that are unforced and that was an unforced error that time kentucky can take its first lead of his second half giljas alexander has been the man he misses strong and harris has the georgia rebound [Applause] see i would have brought that ball back if i'm turtle jackson to yante nate mayton into the teeth of the kentucky defense he's the last to touch him now mayton comes and sets the on ball screen everything else the defense is loaded up on the other side of the floor as four other guys three other guys on your team are standing over there as you bring that ball back swing it back and let yanta matan attack one on one i like that advantage for kentucky [Applause] washington a good pass here just give it a gabriel kevin knox still trying to get going gabriel fighting for the loose ball with jackson gabriel steals it away gabriel knocks with the effort that john calipari wants to see and knox is fouled hammons on the reach around kevin knox will go to the line with a chance to give kentucky the lead third foul raise shawn ammons wenyon gabriel probably doesn't get the credit that he deserves for his role on this team and in particular the energy in which he plays with it's infectious you know basketball is not a sport where you've got to have six guys you know that are all screaming on the bench that you know that's that's good but you need one guy certainly on the floor that can be the catalyst of energy and it's when you and gabriel number 32 and what different guy than last year john calipari has said 10 rebounds tonight and that one led to free throws but knox missed the front end of the one at one but the potential free throws only ended up being a single nice distributor harris misses a three another chance for kentucky to take the lead opener of sec play for both teams and the young wild cats are down in front hamadou diana off the feed from knox it will be georgia basketball when we return first lead since the 10 25 mark of the first half for kentucky [Music] happy new year to everybody out there watching happy new year to this young lady first cats game and a message for coach cal who is at least a tiny bit happier right now nowhere near satisfied his kentucky team in the lead for the first time since midway through the first half most of the scoring has come for the point guards quade green with all 13 of the first half and shea gilges alexander is really taking over here in the second half partner nine for nine for gilda's alexander from the foul line well and 20 of 24 as a team for kentucky compare that to just six of nine from the free-throw line for georgia georgia's shooting just two for 17 from three in the game kentucky three of 14 from deep and that's been the wildcats biggest advantage getting to the line and finishing there 13-4 kentucky run over the last six minutes and change shooting 26 percent but leading here in the sec opener for both teams maiden off the tough feat from jackson hammons takes it in on khalia jones [Applause] picks up his second foul the funny thing was hamadou diallo he's running back looking at the official going i didn't foul him the he's like yeah no i didn't call it on you ray shaw hammond's 37th ranked prospect according to espn 100 last year the highest ranked commit for the bulldogs since kcp caldwell pope back in 2011. had a great open to a season with 17 points seven rebounds he's got to just continue to become more and more aggressive as a player he's the first freshman to start the opener for georgia since caldwell pope now flying his trade with the los angeles lakers [Applause] could be a good finish here in the sec opener for georgia and kentucky teams have played two regular season games down to the wire last year kentucky won them both in the third in the sec tournament this is the only meeting scheduled between the two this year turtle jackson nice find the maintenance side and a blocking foul against julia jones his third slid over just a little bit too late secondary defensive player as you watch him slide over now i will tell you this first of all inside the halo the restricted area underneath so that's his feet are over the line so it doesn't matter all right now the other thing i would say is again that was better position than the charge we saw in the first half go against juwon parker excuse me in the second half right started the second half on the drive by gabriel mayton misses his first free throw of the night julia jones will take a seat with three fouls washington and knox along with gabriel the biggs right now for kentucky the two-point guards green and bilges alexander georgia has lost nine in a row to kentucky which leads to this all-time series 124 26. none of that matters right now gabriel out of control he knew it well and that was caused by the defense of yante matan and this is where you would expect the conference player of the year pre-season pick to assert himself and be the dominating player down the stretch of this game if george is going to find a way to win and you think very early on he's lived up to that non-conference player of the year essentially in the sec you lead the conference in scoring and rebounding there's a lot of things you're doing right for your basketball team kept the pivot foot still some time to operate for georgia maiden inside from jackson are you kidding me what a pass though by yante mayton who used to play at georgia was a great interior passer mayton was a freshman he played the role of jurassic and alberte he played the role of thornton a nice job finishing and drawing the contact [Applause] completes the three-point play 11 points for him five four five from the field [Applause] kevin knox with three fouls is out of the game for kentucky i've barely seen nick richards in the second half whole lot of gabriel for kentucky a lot of washington with the three fouls late in the game where that doesn't matter quite as much here is p.j [Applause] kilgus alexander is there a good decision to settle it down [Applause] nice crossover by guilt as alexander through the contact and he'll get back to the line on the foul by harris kevin i promise you that was a better attempt than what he would have had on that initial when the ball came loose and he caught the ball in his hands if he would have shot that shot it would not have been a good shot he was unsettled the team was unsettled by settling yourself down calming yourself you find a scene you find a gap and then you elevate up and draw the foul a great job and good composure by shea gil just alexander listen he was not their highest rank recruit he was not even a five-star which in kentucky terms almost makes an afterthought he has been as impressive as anybody particularly the last couple of games 24 5 rebounds three steals four assists against louisville and a super second half for gilda's alexander tonight [Applause] he's heard a little pressure georgia breaks into heavens picked up by diallo back into the hands of their junior leader turtle jackson at point guard [Applause] there's mayton that's how the bounds off of washington with 12 to shoot [Applause] kevin knox will return at the next whistle for kentucky jackson draws washington defensively washington will get a piece of that a big watson on the rim and hammond's delivers here are the cats quickly though and a nice move by washington to draw the foul but what about the finish at the opposite end of the floor by hammons the shot clock was winding down betty literally gets an offensive rebound from an air ball three-pointer just throws it up nobody there to put a body on him and hammond's able to finish out of desperation becomes opportunity for hammonds one of the great freshmen in the sec on one side and one of the great freshmen of the conference on the other is washington hits the first [Applause] eight points five rebounds per game or so for the bulldogs [Applause] new year's resolutions looking pretty good for pga two for two at the line this is once again a two-point game georgia try to win in rupp for the first time since 2009 snap a nine-game losing streak to kentucky [Applause] bulldogs team that lost so many close games to good teams last year ended up just shy of the tournament doesn't want to fumble away at shot today as ogbede commits a turnover a missed opportunity that time for georgia and sometimes i bet he's just got to settle it chin it stand strong and find a teammate they brought the double team on him unable to handle it hey georgia goes back to its zone they've been doing a nice job trying to mix it up change things to try to keep kentucky off balance this is where you might need to bring some help go just alexander a three blocked by maintenance the help side defender and how about the play by hammond stepping in front of the pass gabriel takes it back away unsettled on both sides kentucky has its largest lead fouled by washington the energy and the buzz back in rough arena after the freshman make great plays back to back it's shake hill just alexander from the outside and it's knox finishing in transition the cats up by three [Music] we told you from the start the sec this year much improved georgia part of that shake hill just alexander trying to make a statement that he might deserve more attention than some of those five stars that came in rayshawn hammonds and the georgia bulldogs have been fighting all night long here on new year's eve trying to find themselves a victory on the road against kentucky well you and i and the folks watching this conference have a whole lot of fun with the sec this year a lot of teams that have ncaa tournament potential sweet 16 potential final four potential georgia trying to make it back to the tourney and gonna win here in rupp against a kentucky team that has scored seven in a row before the break pj washington picked up his fourth foul he stays in with rayshawna hammons having a fabulous evening at the line now it's 12 points five rebounds the freshman for the bulldogs getting closer and closer offensively to the balance that mark fox wants for this bulldogs team there's the second ogbene fights for the rebound and he was the last to touch it now you look at shea gildr's alexander he is three of eight shooting and has 18 points he's been to the free-throw line 11 times that is putting your thumb down on this game and say i'm gonna leave my mark washington off the feed from gabriel fouled by ogbede and that's his fourth there's gonna be a lot of free throw shot in the final three minutes and 29 seconds of this game both teams in the double bonus kentucky has excelled in the line you mentioned gilda's alexander as a team wildcats are 24 out of 28. not a single wildcat has missed more than two free throws with one exception quade green the rest of the team has only missed one now washington will go there and he'll miss his second free throw of the game but that's how good they've shot from the free-throw line tonight excuse me well they've shot from the free-throw line today i didn't go to syracuse like you thankful for us all washington mr boat [Applause] the lead remains two [Applause] turtle jackson started by giljas alexander 6-6 with a long wingspan inside on washington and it is washington's fifth foul pj washington with 3 10 to go disqualified from this game with seven points and that's excellent execution for georgia and they knew that washington was playing with four fouls he's guarding yante matan you get the ball to number one's hands and you let them go now this is one aspect that they're trying to get rid of in the game the extra time out because a player fouls out you're supposed to have 20 seconds to get that substitution in you're not supposed to allow yourselves to have the coaches with the clipboards out players getting water out on the floor tomorrow 12 30 eastern espn we start the new year with a chick-fil-a peach bowl unbeaten ucf with new nebraska coach scott frost in his final game for the knights against seventh ranked auburn from mercedes-benz stadium in atlanta streaming live in the eu this is far too long this is an extra time out for john calipari i have no idea why the officials are allowing this to happen this is not allowed it was a point of emphasis this year for the ncaa you've got to get if player disdisqualified you've got to get 20 seconds to get a player in you cannot stop the game and have an extra timeout this officiating crew just allowed that to happen there's khalia jones into the game which we figured was going to happen didn't need 70 seconds to sort out as mayton misses the free throw [Applause] maiden now six of eight at the line [Applause] three minutes to play opening day of the sec knox diallo guarded by harris blows by and scores with the left his first step is so lightning quick they're running the exact same play looking for mayton good defense by gabriel mayton has not touched the ball on this possession 20 seconds into the shot clock double high screen harris on the drive got it to go [Applause] first points for jordan harris and they come out of possession where mayton didn't touch it and georgia scores anyway [Music] [Applause] here's gilgas alexander tend to shoot on jackson with the four fouls he scores just too long and athletic timeout georgia shea gildress alexander right now is the best player on kentucky's roster and i would dare anybody to debate me offensively defensively composure and growth it's all there for 22. [Applause] we're standing by as soon as the game is done and rough the last game of the nfl season drastically changes the playoff picture in the afc lewis riddick ryan clark standing by boomer's gonna phone him back to a good finish in rob kevin and sean all right thanks scott happy new year to you look forward to sportscenter after the game with scott some special guests what a night it has been sean for shay gilda's alexander well in just every way shape and form he has made an impact on the game his aggressiveness his defense he hit the big three yes but this is where he excels attacking utilizing his length change of direction change of speed getting to the free throw line and you look at the 20 points tonight 24 versus louisville as you pointed out during the break 31 minutes of game action only one turnover to the three assists so a good job also managing the offense who will manage the offense now for georgia jackson and harris the guards with hammonds of bay day and yante mayton maintenance worked in the back of the zone here kevin knox sasha khalia jones you've got to be paying attention harris lost it got tripped up no foul it is gilges alexander with the basketball [Applause] if you're kentucky you want something going to the basket on this possession you've got a three-point lead you can work the clock down almost to a minute [Applause] gabriel the three gamers that's great execution by kentucky six point game under a minute jackson at three no not close that's a panicked shot by turtle jackson foul here you play it out i played out now i mean you got 20 on the shot clock you want to play good defense you foul that you might as well you should have felt as soon as they got the rebound and it's jackson and that's his fifth [Applause] and once again we'll get essentially a bonus timeout on a foul out shane alexander has done it all tonight he does not score this bucket but he assists it finding gabriel who's had an active knife well the great drag dribble off the screen and then gabriel comes from the weak side and because yante maiton went with the ball agbete who was guarding gabriel slid over to stop the dump down pass for the layup at the rim and that's what opened up things so wide out of the perimeter for gabriel so impressed with shea gilders alexander his growth as a player his maturity in which he's playing with and the new hairdo [Applause] he told me his mom wanted to get the haircut because he wanted she wanted him to look presentable well he's been more than presentable in the last two games for the kentucky wildcats 24 on friday 21 on sunday and kentucky is 35 seconds away from bringing in the new year with a win ugh from crump count the bucket and he's fouled by gabriel with a chance for three that's about the last thing in the world kentucky wanted [Music] what a green will check in now for kentucky for khalia jones knowing that georgia has to foul at this point [Applause] kentucky by the way is not a great free-throw shooting team on the season generally they have bucked the trend though [Applause] 25-32-78 percent of bay day with the miss and a foul with diato collecting the rebound you play the percentages on the season george would feel better but tonight kentucky has scored 25 of its 64 from the line diallo is four for four there and the wildcats have a chance to pull out a hard-earned win in their sec opener [Applause] the door left slightly ajar [Applause] [Music] wow diallo misses both still a two possession game crump along three [Applause] georgia ball with 18.8 still quick two-time here you need a three now you think i i go for the two you gotta go quick trump thought about it three he is denied by gabriel but there's a foul three kentucky players were there and it is gabriel called for the personal his fourth a good decision not to shoot the three was going to be a contested three for crump instead he turns it down and gets the contact and gets to the free-throw line tyree crump 12-15 at the line this year sophomore from bainbridge georgia green will return for kentucky t-shawn hightower in for agbade for georgia trump hits this it's a one-possession game with noting kentucky has all three timeouts in case of a desperate inbound situation trump hits both gabriel will take it out find claudette greene and green is fouled [Applause] if you're georgia you really can't choose who you want to foul in that situation with 12 seconds left to go on the clock as soon as the ball gets inbounded no matter who it goes to you've got to foul immediately [Applause] and kentucky will not send anyone around quade green to try to even get a rebound here green 15 of 17 at the foul line coming into tonight four of six in the game that's a big one two possession game once again wildcats trailed for most of this game george has led it for nearly 30 minutes but kentucky may have the lead that matters this is eerily similar to the contest from a year ago that were so tight one possession two possession games late for georgia [Applause] it was a seasonal heartbreak for georgia at 19 and 15. they'll have some chances for some signature wins in this conference but they're not going to get one today 66-61 diallo was fouled before the final buzzer though john calipari realizes it [Applause] i mean i know we got svp coming up later i don't know what the line was but it could be a bad beat yeah stanford steve i'm sure knows what the what the line is but a foul with what's going to be probably under a second left to go on the clock that has already been decided again the game's over the foul was called before the final buzzer in fairness to the officials the clock operator simply let it run down i mean listen you want to get an early start your new year's eve plans folks have some reservations after the game maybe well let's let's talk about what we what we've seen tonight what we've seen is what we're going to see all of the sec schedule is that it's going to be highly competitive between a lot of these teams on a night and night out basis i mean this conference is so improved with its depth the mississippi states the auburns of the world to go along with the texas a m's missouri who was a non-factor for the last three years all of a sudden a factor for the ncaa tournament there is no easy game this year in the sec and so you're going to see a lot of games similar to this this look like a seven eight-bit league to you yes i know it's early but projecting with what you've seen it is definitely a seven or eight team league and i think it could be eight and i think georgia might be one of those teams bulldogs gonna have some more shots mark fox's team plays john calipari's wildcats tough again but no moral victories here in the sec opener kentucky 66 george is 61. a perfect weekend for the wildcats sean fardam and our crew i'm kevin brown happy new year everyone time for sportscenter with scott vanville

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Id: COK7HjGjK0s

Length: 109min 10sec (6550 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 06 2021