Just days after an Erik Daniels buzzer-beater lifted Kentucky over Mississippi State to keep its 21-game Southeastern Conference win-streak alive, the Cats face Georgia in Rupp Arena as Tubby Smith goes for this 300th career win.
UK shocked previously undefeated Mississippi State Tuesday night in Starkville with a 67-66 win. Down one with 2.5 seconds remaining, a Cliff Hawkins in-bounds pass was deflected out of State?s Lawrence Roberts? hands to Daniels for the lay-in just before the buzzer. The victory moved UK?s win streak vs. SEC foes to 21 games overall (including postseason), 19 in regular-season contests.
Nearing the midway point of the regular-season, Kentucky has held all 12 of its opponents under the 50% shooting mark and has won all 10 games when scoring 60 or more points. UK has one remaining non-conference game – a Jan. 25 battle with Notre Dame in South Bend.
1984 Final Four Squad Reunites
UK celebrates the 20th anniversary of the 1984 basketball squad?s run to the Final Four this weekend. All 13 members of the team will return to the Bluegrass and take part in a special halftime ceremony.
All-American Melvin Turpin, along with fellow All-SEC honorees Kenny Walker and Sam Bowie, helped guide the Wildcats to a 29-5 record, the SEC Championship and the SEC Tournament title.
The team fell short of its ultimate goal, however, falling to Georgetown in the national semifinal after shooting 3-for-33 from the field in the second half.
The team, along with Coach Joe B. Hall and the support staff, will enjoy a private reception on Friday evening. Fans will have the opportunity to attend an autograph session from 10:30 a.m.-noon at the UK Basketball Museum prior to Saturday?s game.
Smith Looking For 300th Win
Tubby Smith needs just one more win to reach 300 for his career. He will become just the sixth coach to reach the 300-win mark in 13 seasons or less, joining Roy Williams, Everett Case, Denny Crum, Jim Boeheim and Nolan Richardson.
His current record is 299-110 (.731).
The Georgia Bulldogs
Georgia enters the contest with an 8-5 record after a midweek open date. The Bulldogs have lost three of their last four games, but the one win was a double-overtime 83-80 victory over in-state rival and previously undefeated Georgia Tech in Athens.
Rashad Wright, one of four starting seniors, leads four double-figure scorers with 14.2 ppg. Fellow senior Jonas Hayes averages 13.8 ppg and 5.7 rpg, while Damien Wilkins accounts for 13.3 ppg and 5.3 rpg.
Chris Daniels averages a double-double for the Dogs with 10.8 ppg and 10.3 rpg, which ranks third in the league. Wright leads the team in assists, averaging 3.3 per game.
Series History
This is the 121st meeting in the series between Kentucky and Georgia, with UK holding a 101-19 lead over the Dogs. The all-time winningest team in SEC history, UK also owns 100-plus wins over Tennessee (132) and Vanderbilt (127).
Kentucky swept the two regular-season meetings last year after being swept by the Bulldogs in 2002. UK has won 25 of the last 28 meetings, dating back to the 1990 season.
The Wildcats lead the series in Lexington, 51-3. UK earned an 87-67 win in Rupp last year, but lost to the Dogs there in 2002, 88-84. Prior to the loss two years ago, the Cats hadn?t lost a game to UGA at home since 1985.
Kentucky is 72-1 when shooting over 50% from the field during the Tubby Smith era. The only loss? To Georgia in Rupp Arena during the 2002 season. The Wildcats shot 50.7% in defeat.
Cat-Dog Connections
Coach Tubby Smith coached the Bulldogs for two seasons (1995-97) and posted a 45-19 (70.3%) record. He remains the most successful coach (by percentage) in UGA?s modern history. In ?96, he took the Dogs to the Sweet 16 where they lost on a buzzer-beater to eventual NCAA runner-up Syracuse. In ?97, after losing eight lettermen, including all five starters, Georgia won a then-school-record 24 games. It marked the first time that UGA recorded back-to-back 20-win seasons.
Smith?s eldest son, G.G., was the point guard for the Bulldogs from 1996-99. The younger Smith served as a manager for UK from 2001-02 while earning his master?s degree in sports management.
Georgia native Gerald Fitch has started every game for the Wildcats at two-guard this season. Fitch was the Class 4A Player of the Year in 2000 at Macon Westside. He played with UGA?s Chris Daniels in an all-star competition as a senior.
UK?s redshirt point guard Patrick Sparks played for Dennis Felton the past two years at Western Kentucky before both made the move to the SEC this summer. The Hilltoppers made NCAA Tournament appearances in both of Sparks? two seasons, while the Central City, Ky., native earned first-team All-Sun Belt Conference honors as a sophomore. He?ll become eligible for the Cats in 2004-05 with two seasons of eligibility remaining.
Tubby Smith is 10-2 against Georgia since making the move from Athens to Lexington. Dennis Felton owns a 1-0 record against the Cats after his WKU squad handed UK a 64-52 loss in the NABC Classic in Rupp Arena in 2001-02.
