KENTUCKY (19-9, 8-6 SEC)
vs. Georgia (17-10, 8-6 SEC)
Wendesday, February 28 – 8:00 p.m. ET
Rupp Arena (23,000) ? Lexington, Ky.
TV:
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Kentucky returns home for the final time this season as the Cats host Georgia on Senior Night.
The Wildcats, who are 81-5 all-time on Senior Day, look to gain a series split with the Bulldogs after dropping a 78-69 overtime decision in Athens back in January. In that game, the Cats held a 14-point lead with 12:55 left in the game but were unable to hold on for the victory.
Kentucky is still in the hunt for the SEC East?s second seed and a first round bye in next week?s SEC Tournament, but the Cats are in a must-win situation. They enter Wednesday?s game one game behind second place Vanderbilt and in a three-way tie for third with Georgia and Tennessee.
UK owns a 106-22 advantage in the all-time series with Georgia including a 51-4 all-time mark in Lexington. The Cats are also 26-3 against the Bulldogs in Rupp Arena and have won two in a row on their home floor in the series.
The last time the Wildcats were swept by the Bulldogs was in the 2003-04 season.
PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES – FEB. 27
Head Coach Tubby Smith
?We?re always really excited about senior night and the three quality kids that will be playing their last home game at Rupp Arena, Bobby (Perry), Sheray (Thomas) and Lukasz (Obrzut). They have been a large part of our program and helped us win lots of basketball games. So, I am really proud of those three young men. They are going to get their degrees, both Bobby and Sheray are pretty much done, and, Sheray would have been done if he didn?t miss summer school to play with the Canadian national team. There are those special moments and there is nothing like seeing these young men grow up. There are a lot of things to take care of and most importantly being ready for a good Georgia team. They are a team that is playing well. Certainly being 6-4 in their last 10 games and our 4-6 means they are on a real up tick. They are really playing together. We found that out down there because they came back after being down 17, and then they beat a very good Mississippi State team that had beaten Vanderbilt so it?s never easy. I thought after evaluating the game Sunday that we had our chances like we have had in a number of games this year. There are a lot of ways we can analyze it, but you still have to finish the game and you have to play the entire game. We had the breakdown in the second half but we did a lot of good things; we shot 52 percent, we were even on the boards and we shot 82 percent from the free-throw line. Looking at things statistically we have had a fairly good year. If you look at defensive field goal percentage and our offense then we know we need to play better. Georgia is an outstanding rebounding team so we have to do a better job of keeping them off the boards as well as containing all of their perimeter people, because they are really shooting the ball well from the outside. I know Sundiata Gaines and Levi Stukes, even with the loss of Mike Mercer, they are able to pick it up. Takais Brown is a kid who just killed us down there in the post and he will be a challenge as well. We have lost four out of five games and that is tough and there have been tough games on the road and close losses. We have to find a way to win. But, I like the way our team fought and they haven?t given up all year long, that is one thing we need to focus on the positive things. Jodie Meeks is freshman of the week again and I am really happy for him, he is playing extremely well and, he is probably playing as well as anyone on the team right now.?
On what the team can improve on?
?I think we have done some positive things. Obviously, we need to take care of the ball better. There are issues that we have in that regard but I think for the most part our guys have given a good effort and they have played hard and that is all we can ask. We haven?t always been as smart as I would have liked, but I think that the effort has always been there consistently defensively and offensively. I look back at the game Sunday, if we box out and get that rebound on the missed free throw then the game is probably over. They would probably have to foul and we would have made a free throw, but that didn?t happen. Same way at Tennessee, we tie it up two or three times and we are on the road and we had a chance there. Just like Florida, every game has been the same scenario and the same issues as far as being able to put the game away. We play a lot of different people and one of the reasons we play people a lot is because we try to wear people down and we usually do. In the game Sunday, with the mental defensive play the whole second half, those guys were logging a lot of minutes. I was telling some of our players that they need to give me the confidence that they can step up and get the job done, like a Perry Stevenson or a Michael Porter or other freshmen, and they are freshmen and they have to be ready to go into a game for the veteran players and that can be tough.?
On fixing problems before the March tournaments?
?Again I think we are very close if we could just take care of the ball better. We will get back to more ball handling drills and address those issues and hopefully they will understand why we had to go back to some of the basic fundamentals. Certainly people look back at where you end the season compared to where you started. There is a beginning, a middle-point and there has to be an end. I always felt like the regular season is important and my goal is always to win the SEC regular season title and we have come up short there. Now it is a matter of battling to make sure we can finish and get a good seed in the SEC tournament, which last year we finished third and that is a tough road. We have to find a way to get a win tomorrow night and then take it each day at a time. Those things happen and you have to find a way to win those types of games and we haven?t done that yet (this season).?
Kentucky Players
#33 Randolph Morris
On the tough loss at Vanderbilt…
?Obviously we had our chances down the stretch until the last free throw. We?re trying to put that behind us and trying to focus on playing well for our seniors in their last game and trying to send them out in fashion against Georgia.?
On the rest of the season?
?It?s not over. There are two more games in the regular season. You always have a chance in the tournament, the SEC Tournament. The season definitely isn?t over and in our eyes it?s just now picking up.?
#10 Lukasz Obrzut
On the team?s struggles?
?I?m prepared for the better and the worse. You can lose the game but you can?t get discouraged, that?s what somebody told me lately. That?s how I feel and that?s how I know it is, so we just have to keep pushing forward and moving forward and just be excited about the game of basketball.?
On his future?
?There?s no telling what I?m going to do at this point. I?m just trying to focus as much as I can on the next few games. Two weeks before I came to the States, I didn?t know I was going to be here and playing for one of the best schools in this country.?
On Senior Night?
?Tomorrow is the last game of my career as a Wildcat (at Rupp Arena) and that?s what we?re focusing on as a team. I feel relaxed and focused on the game and focused on that the fact that we?ll have to execute the game plan in order to win and step off the court as a winner for the last time in Rupp Arena.
?I?m very excited. I feel like I?ve been working hard and learning a lot for the future. I?ve learned things that will help me to be a successful person in the future and in society.?
#13 Bobby Perry
On the importance of a win?
?We really need this win, not only because it?s Senior Night but for our own well-being as far as seedings go in the tournament and it?s just a very important game.?
On needing positive reinforcement going into the tournament?
?We can get momentum going into post season play by getting some wins under our belt. It?s a huge benefit for us and every one. It gives our fans a good feeling going into the tournament; it gives us a sense of confidence going into the tournament. We need to get these next two wins under our belt first with Georgia and it will be a huge help for us.?
