Well, it wasn’t exactly a day to remember for the Big Blue Nation. After the football team lost to Pittsburgh in the BBVA Compass Bowl, the UK men’s basketball team looked to salvage the second half of the doubleheader in their Southeastern Conference opener on the road against the Georgia Bulldogs.The Wildcats fell by a score of 77-70 and were doomed by a crucial 19-6 run that turned a tie game into a 77-64 Georgia lead. The crowd in Stegeman Coliseum was the toughest I can remember UK facing in recent years. The Bulldog faithful was justifiably excited,because Mark Fox’s team looks like it will be a force to be reckoned with throughout SEC play. In fact, look for UGA to be ranked in next week’s polls or at least among the top teams in the “also receiving votes” category.I was not in attendance in Athens, Ga., but here are a few notes and observations from the defeat:- Even though a loss is never fun, it’s hard for me to be too discouraged because this is a game that I think the Cats can learn quite a bit from.  Repeatedly and as recently as after Monday’s game against Penn, John Calipari has warned his team that some of their first-half performances would put them in a hole if repeated against SEC foes. Lo and behold, UK came out flat in the opening half and found itself down 41-30. UK shot poorly, committed seven turnovers and allowed nearly 50 percent shooting on defense.- Even after a very difficult non-conference schedule that I wrote about yesterday, Calipari steadfastly warned of the step up in intensity in conference play. His team got a lesson in exactly what he was talking about.  Georgia came out firing and staked itself to a 7-0 lead. UK responded and was down just 28-26 when Terrence Jones committed his second foul with 6:32 remaining in the first half, at which point Georgia seized control. Trey Thompkins and Travis Leslie combined for 22 points and eight rebounds in the first half, showing exactly why they are shoo-ins for All-SEC honors.Thompkins finished with 25 points and seven rebounds, while Leslie had 15 points, eight rebounds and four assists.  – With that halftime deficit UK faced, its margin for error was almost non-existent in the second half, especially with Jones’ foul trouble. Calipari called Jones’ number early and often in the second half and pleaded with his team to cut out the easy buckets Georgia enjoyed in the first half. UK responded and rallied to tied the game at 47 within the first 7:33 of the first half.After that, it was nip and tuck until Georgia’s clinching run, but in the end, foul trouble and an inability to make shots doomed UK. Darius Miller, Doron Lamb and DeAndre Liggins fouled out, while Jones had foul fouls. Many of those fouls came on calls that were protested by UK.  The Wildcats were unable to improve much on 37.5 percent first-half shooting, managing only 38.5 percent in the second. The normally deadly outside shooters for UK went cold, hitting just 6-of-20 3-pointers, including 3-of-12 in the second half. UK was able to get a number of good looks from deep and around the basket, but converting those looks was another matter. Miller, in particular, missed a number of shots from short range, managing just 2-of-11 shooting for the game.- Terrence Jones finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds for the game in 23 foul-limited minutes, but Calipari was left wondering why his pattern of slow starts continued. Calipari mentioned after the game that bringing him off the bench may be the answer in the future. We’ll keep an eye on that heading into Tuesday’s game against Auburn in Rupp.UK’s leading scorer before Jones’ furious finish was Lamb, who finished with 18 points, but it took him 18 shots to get those points, as he struggled with his touch after a hot start. UK’s other star freshman, Brandon Knight, had his quietest game in a number of weeks, scoring just 10 points and notching three assists.- In the end, this was a game that came down to physicality and experience. Georgia is a deeper team than Kentucky, especially inside, which led to a 41-37 rebounding edge and contributed to many of the shots missed from close. With Georgia’s four juniors and three seniors, UK was unable to find a way to finish a close game.The Wildcats are clearly a work in progress and this was a game that exposed much of what UK needs to improve upon.