First Scouting Report: Can UK go on the road and earn a season sweep of Georgia?

A look ahead to the Kentucky Wildcats’ next men’s basketball game:

The opponent

Kentucky (16-8, 7-4 SEC) will face Georgia (14-10, 4-7 SEC) on Saturday, Feb. 11, at Stegeman Coliseum (capacity 10,523) on the campus of the University of Georgia in Athens:

The game will tip off at noon (EST) and be telecast by ESPN.

Coach Mike White and the Bulldogs lost to visiting Mississippi 78-74 on Tuesday night.

Series history

Kentucky leads the all-time series with Georgia 131-27 and has won 16 of the past 17 meetings.

As UK head man, John Calipari is 21-3 vs. the Bulldogs.

Georgia Coach Mike White is 4-11 vs. Kentucky — 4-10 as head man at Florida (2015-2022) and 0-1 at Georgia.

Most recent meeting

Oscar Tshiebwe scored 37 points and grabbed 24 rebounds as Kentucky defeated Georgia 85-71 on Jan. 17 at Rupp Arena.

Power rankings

The NCAA NET rankings have Kentucky No. 32, Georgia No. 126.

In the Pomeroy ratings, Kentucky is No. 34, Georgia No. 118.

The Sagarin ratings have Kentucky No. 27, Georgia No. 116.

Know your foe

1. Since falling in Lexington on Jan. 17, Georgia had gone 1-5. The Bulldogs have played close games at home, beating South Carolina 81-78 and taking narrow losses to Vanderbilt, 85-82, and Ole Miss, 78-74. Georgia has gotten bulldozed in its road games since losing to UK; the Bulldogs have been blown out at Tennessee (70-41), at Auburn (94-73) and at Texas A&M (82-57).

2. One surmises that Georgia head man Mike White will deploy a different defensive approach for the rematch with Kentucky than the Bulldogs utilized in Lexington. White had Georgia play Oscar Tshiebwe straight up and emphasized not letting Kentucky’s perimeter shooters get clean looks.

That backfired in spectacular fashion, as Tshiebwe had the game of his life, making 12 of 20 shots and 13 of 18 free throws en route to a 37-point tour de force. The UK big man also had 24 rebounds and three steals.

3. Georgia has not been a good offensive team in 2022-23. The Bulldogs are averaging only 69.7 points and have made only 41.6 percent of their field-goal attempts. At 33 percent on three-point tries, the Dawgs have been reasonably effective from behind the arc.

Guard Terry Roberts, a transfer from Bradley, has been Georgia’s best player. Roberts is averaging a team-high 15 points a game and leads the Bulldogs in assists (89) and steals (35). However, Roberts missed Georgia’s losses at Texas A&M on Saturday and vs. Mississippi on Tuesday while in concussion protocol.

Mike White said after the Texas A&M game that Roberts’ playing status moving forward was “day to day.”

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