Home General
Hey folks - as a member of the DawgNation community, please remember to abide by simple rules of civil engagement with other members:

- Please no inappropriate usernames (remember that there may be youngsters in the room)

- Personal attacks on other community members are unacceptable, practice the good manners your mama taught you when engaging with fellow Dawg fans

- Use common sense and respect personal differences in the community: sexual and other inappropriate language or imagery, political rants and belittling the opinions of others will get your posts deleted and result in warnings and/ or banning from the forum

- 3/17/19 UPDATE -- We've updated the permissions for our "Football" and "Commit to the G" recruiting message boards. We aim to be the best free board out there and that has not changed. We do now ask that all of you good people register as a member of our forum in order to see the sugar that is falling from our skies, so to speak.

Kentucky at Georgia: Updates and analysis

sethemersonsethemerson Posts: 686 ✭✭✭✭ Senior

Greetings from Stegeman Coliseum. Very big game set to tip off here at 6 p.m. Georgia students have been lined up since this morning, and the line was down the block when I pulled up a couple hours before tip-off. There were, as always, the usual blue-clad fans walking towards the arena.

So it's going to be a raucous atmosphere, as it always is when Kentucky visits.

As for the actual basketball part of it, starting lineups haven't been posted yet, but if I had to guess I'd say Georgia goes with the same starting five as last game: E'Torrion Wilrdige at small forward, with Juwan Parker at the 2, and then the usual three of Frazier, Maten and Ogbeide.

As always, I'll have updates and analysis here on the message board. Feel free to chime in.

«1

Comments

  • sethemersonsethemerson Posts: 686 ✭✭✭✭ Senior

    Inside the arena now with 25 minutes till tip-off. There's a lot of blue, as expected, but the vast majority att this point are in the upper sections. There are some in the lower sections too, but it's hard to predict what the percentage will be until the arena is full.

    At minimum, there will be a lot of cheers for Kentucky baskets. The question is how much louder it will be for Georgia baskets.

  • sethemersonsethemerson Posts: 686 ✭✭✭✭ Senior

    Confirmed: E'Torrion Wilridge remains in the starting lineup, starting a second straight game. Georgia sticks with the same five as Tuesday's win over Mississippi State: Frazier, Parker, Wilridge, Maten, Ogbeide.

    Mark Fox has been playing the match-ups lately. He must like Wilridige's length, perhaps he'll be guarding Malik Monk, trying to keep a hand in his face.

  • sethemersonsethemerson Posts: 686 ✭✭✭✭ Senior

    John Calipari isn't wearing a tie.

  • sethemersonsethemerson Posts: 686 ✭✭✭✭ Senior

    I'd say it's about 75-25 in favor of Georgia fans. Almost everybody's here. (Other than a big section that I think is reserved for the football team and recruits. They're taking their time getting here.)

  • sethemersonsethemerson Posts: 686 ✭✭✭✭ Senior

    Final thought before tip-off: There are a lot of factors that point to a Georgia upset - not the least of which is how important this game is for it, while it isn't for Kentucky.

    But ultimately given the inability to pull off this kind of win over a ranked team, as close as Georgia has been, it's hard to predict it until you see it happen.

  • sethemersonsethemerson Posts: 686 ✭✭✭✭ Senior

    Yes, Wilridge is guarding Malik Monk. Wilridge is 6-7 and Monk is listed at 6-3, so that makes sense.

  • sethemersonsethemerson Posts: 686 ✭✭✭✭ Senior

    Yante Maten down, clutching at his knee. Anxious moments here.

  • sethemersonsethemerson Posts: 686 ✭✭✭✭ Senior

    Maten gets up and limps off to the locker room. We'll provide an update as quickly as we can get one.

  • sethemersonsethemerson Posts: 686 ✭✭✭✭ Senior

    J.J. Frazier 6, Kentucky 5, after four minutes.

  • sethemersonsethemerson Posts: 686 ✭✭✭✭ Senior

    Kentucky with back-to-back 3s to go up 13-8, and Mark Fox calls timeouts. Turtle Jackson just missed two 3s from the same spot in the corner.

    No sign of Yante Maten yet either.

  • sethemersonsethemerson Posts: 686 ✭✭✭✭ Senior

    Trainers just came out of the locker room and said something to Maten. No word to the media up here yet.

  • sethemersonsethemerson Posts: 686 ✭✭✭✭ Senior

    Yante Maten has returned to the bench. He's limping noticeably.

  • sethemersonsethemerson Posts: 686 ✭✭✭✭ Senior

    But for what it's worth, the fact Maten has the ability to stand during this timeout is a decent sign about the long-term prognosis.

  • sethemersonsethemerson Posts: 686 ✭✭✭✭ Senior

    Georgia trying to hang in there, and it helps that Kentucky point guard De'Aaron Fox just picked up his second foul with 10:25 left in the first half.

    Kentucky leads 17-16 at the 9:03 mark. Frazier has eight of Georgia's points, the other eight coming on a basket by each of four other players.

  • sethemersonsethemerson Posts: 686 ✭✭✭✭ Senior

    Id be shocked at this point if Maten returned to the game. The question now is how serious a long-term injury this is. I'm not sure what it means that he's back on the bench rather than in the training room, being taken to a hospital, etc. Either way, obviously this changes not only the complexion of the rest of this game but the rest of this season.

  • sethemersonsethemerson Posts: 686 ✭✭✭✭ Senior

    Frazier picks up two quick fouls and leaves with 6:33 left in the half.

  • sethemersonsethemerson Posts: 686 ✭✭✭✭ Senior

    Whatever happens, let the record show that Georgia has rallied to tie it with Maten injured and Frazier out with two fouls.

  • sethemersonsethemerson Posts: 686 ✭✭✭✭ Senior

    Frazier comes back in at the 2:33 mark, with Georgia trailing 28-25. Yeah, there's only so long so you can hang with Kentucky without your two best players.

  • sethemersonsethemerson Posts: 686 ✭✭✭✭ Senior

    J.J. Frazier sinks a long 3 at the buzzer and then turns and runs into the locker room, as the crowd stands and cheers.

    Georgia still trails at halftime, 33-31, but that last shot is quite a lift. Prior to that the difference - besides Maten's injury - was 3-point shooting.

    Kentucky is 4-for-10 beyond the arc. Georgia was 0-for-7 before that Frazier shot.

  • sethemersonsethemerson Posts: 686 ✭✭✭✭ Senior

    Maten is obviously out for the rest of the game - he's not warming up at halftime - but he's fielding rebounds for teammates, walking on his own power.

Sign In or Register to comment.