Georgia looked to "punch (Kentucky) in the mouth right away"

Georgia had an Oscar Tshiebwe-sized problem to take care of in Athens. The Kentucky star center went for a career-high 37 points and 24 rebounds in the first head-to-head battle in Lexington, a 14-point comeback win for the Wildcats.

It wasn’t about shutting him down completely — that’s easier said than done. But it couldn’t be a video game number night for college basketball’s reigning national player of the year. If the Bulldogs could slow him down while doing what they do best elsewhere, they were confident they had a chance in the rematch.

It started with throwing the first punch inside Stegeman Coliseum.

“Just believing. We wanted to go into the game knowing that we could win,” Georgia fifth-year center Braelen Bridges said. “We didn’t want to get down on ourselves and believe in ourselves from the jump. … Being physical from the jump and believing in ourselves. Attacking downhill. Trying to establish ourselves and punch them in the mouth right away.”

Punch thrown. Georgia jumped out to a 13-5 lead before the second TV timeout, then after a quick response from Kentucky, pushed it to ten points at the half.

The Wildcats clawed back to take the lead with 12 minutes to go in the second half, but again, the Bulldogs threw punches right back. That ultimately led to a knockout punch in the form of a 75-68 win in Athens.

“It was cool day for Georgia Basketball,” head coach Mike White said. “Our fans were great, obviously we played really well, this was a big win for us. Kentucky is very good; they are an NCAA tournament team.”

A big part of that win? Slowing down Tshiebwe as hoped — even in a 20-point, 14-rebound effort.

“Oscar (Tshiebwe) is one of the best players in the country, did a better job on him,” White said. “I thought we did a much better job and then I got the box score and saw he had 20-14. That’s how good he is. … Protecting the paint obviously was huge for us. It just gives you a better chance to, in our opinion, slow down Oscar and also slow down their ability on the offensive glass. Just a much better job than we did up there. The guys played really hard.”

“Just making him work. He’s a pretty good player,” Bridges added. “Making him work for everything he gets. Whether that’s post ups, offensive rebounds, anything. Putting him in ball screens. Make him work and wear him down.”

When Kentucky made its second-half run, Georgia had one of two options: fold like it did in Lexington back in January or respond with a statement of its own. The Bulldogs picked the latter.

“We knew at halftime when the coaches came in and talked to us that they were, right after we got out of the half, make a run,” junior guard Kario Oquendo said. “Every team pretty much has a run, or they lay down and lose by 20. We knew they were going to make a run, and we just had to respond to that.”

That led to a much-needed win for a Georgia team that had lost six of its last seven games. It was crucial for Kentucky, too, but the home team wanted it more. And it was rewarded with a victory.

“It’s been a tough stretch for us. The environment at home has been great, our record at home has been good and we have played well at home,” White said. “We had a couple that we didn’t quite take advantage of down the stretch, of course. That’s the SEC, right? That’s what it is, and to bounce back like this at home against a very good team is great for our guys.”