Sports

Good Evening from Stegeman Coliseum, I’m Matt Ryan and I’ll be updating you throughout tonights game between the Georgia Bulldogs and the #3 ranked Kentucky Wildcats. The 13-14 Dawgs look to win their last home game of the season and get back to the .500 mark. Kentucky is looking to regain momentum heading into the month of March after losing at Tennessee last Saturday. The Coliseum is packed tonight with lots of fans sporting both red and black, as well as blue and white. Tonight also marks the final home game for seniors Albert Jackson, Ricky McPhee, and Tyler Whatley. On the other side of the court, the Kentucky Wildcats are talented team loaded with NBA potential and are led by John Wall, arguably the biggest name in college basketball. Although, Wall has attracted most of the attention for this game, the front court duo of DeMarcus Cousins and Patrick Patterson is equally important for Kentucky’s game plan and both will pose challenges for the Dawgs tonight in the paint. An interesting match up to watch tonight is the super athletic Travis Leslie against Kentucky’s three guard lineup, which could pose problems for Darius Miller and Eric Bledsoe defensively at times..  Tip off is only moments away. This sold out game will have a football like atmosphere tonight.

Here’s tonights starting lineup

Georgia Bulldogs

F – 1 – Travis Leslie
F – 25 – Tyler Whatley
C – 34 – Albert Jackson
G -10 – Ricky McPhee
G- 3 – Dustin Ware

Kentucky Widlcats

F – 15 – DeMarcus Cousins
F – 54 – Patrick Patterson
G – 1 – Darius Miller
G -11 – John Wall
G – 24 – Eric Bledsoe

Game Overview

It was a disappointing second half for the Dawgs after keeping it within four points after the first 20 minutes.  Jeremy Price had a great game with 19 points and Ricky McPhee scored 4 three pointers in his final game at the Stegeman Coliseum. Trey Thompkins and Travis Leslie shot a combined 8-26, which kept the Dawgs from cutting down the Kentucky lead in the 2nd half that reached as high as 19 during the game. John Wall had another stellar performance for the Wildcats with 24 points and 3 steals to go along Patrick Patterson’s 17 points. Georgia will close out the regular season this Saturday at LSU and the SEC tournament begins next Thursday in Nashville.  I’m Matt Ryan, thank you for following my blog tonight on WUOG.org .

2nd Half

Final Score:  Kentucky 80, UGA 68: Patterson with the miss. Thompkins misses the three. Albert Jackson called for the foul on John Wall. Walls makes both foul shots. Jeremy Price makes both foul shots. Wall with the easy lay up. Price with the easy two points. Thompkins misses the dunk and is fouled by Patterson. Thompkins misses the free throw.

3:22 Kentucky 74, UGA 63: Another celebrity has been spotted tonight at Stegeman. Rocky Balboa just ran up the stairs of the arena to his own theme song during the last time out. Thompkins makes his two free throws. Miller misses the shot. Dustin Ware makes his 2nd three of the game. Ricky McPhee for three. Dawgs are within ten. Darius Miller scores two. Ricky McPhee with another three. Dawgs are within nine and the crowd is roaring. Patrick Patterson scores for the 7th time tonight. Orton with a blocked shot. Miller misses another three point attempt.

7:19 Kentucky 70, UGA 52: Jeremy Price makes his two free throws. Cousins with the mid range jumper. Chris Barnes makes the layup after DeMarcus Cousins launches the ball while  jumping off the court. Ricky McPhee misses from way downtown. John Wall makes another easy layup. Leslie misses the shot, but looks healthy after limping off the court about 10 minutes ago.  Daniel Orton scores for Kentucky. Dustin Ware makes a three pointer to get the Dawgs within 12. DeAndre Liggins scores for the 2nd time tonight and is fouled by Trey Thompkins. Time out. Liggins makes the free throw. Anyaorah misses the shot. Darius Miller scores two. Patterson misses the shot. Patterson scores with a one handed jumper. Cousins with his 4th block tonight. Ricky McPhee for three from downtown. DeMarcus Cousins for two. Thompkins fouled by Perry Stevenson. Time out.

15:14 Kentucky 55, UGA 40: Wall makes a three pointer for the half’s first points. DeMarcus Cousins lays it in. Kentucky scores 5 quick points and has a 9 point lead now. Georgia timeout. Miller blocks Leslie’s shot, and Leslie is called out of bounds. Miller misses a three. Patterson scores two for the Wildcats. Darius Miller is called for his third foul of the night. Wall makes the layup and is fouled by Ricky McPhee. Wall makes his lone shot. Vincent Williams fouls Eric Bledose, its Georgia’s 2nd team foul of the half. Bledose makes the two free throws. Bledose misses the three. Barnes assists Leslie on a monstrous dunk for the teams first of the half. Leslie is hurt and is being carried off to the locker room. Cousins makes one of his two free throws. Jeremy Price scores two off a Vincent Williams pass. Darnell Dodson with the three. Patterson called for the foul. Time out.

Halftime Reaction: Kentucky 40, UGA 36

What an exciting 1st half here at the Stegeman Coliseum. The house is packed with everybody from Sir Charles Barkley to former WWF superstars “Macho Man” Randy Savage and Bret “The Hitman” Hart, all three of whom I have meet tonight. Once again Georgia has played up to their competition and only trail the Wildcats by four points. Jeremy Price has had a monster game thus far with 11 points and has keep the Dawgs in this contest against John Calipari and Kentucky. Thompkins has scored 7 points, but is only shooting 3 for 9. Patterson and Cousins have combined for 21 points, but Kentucky’s lead has been limited by Eric Bledoe’s 1-6 shooting in the first half. John Wall is having a good game so far with 10 points and three assists. Thhe 2nd half is moments away.

1st Half

0:00 Kentucky 40, UGA 36: John Wall assists Perry Stevenson for his first basket of the night. Orton rebounds for the Wildcats and Wall scores on the Kentucky possession. Orton blocks Leslie shot attempt. Travis Leslie scores for the Dawgs after the recovery. Bledsoe misses another three tonight and is not playing good at all so far offensively. Price makes a basket for the Dawgs and is now in double digit scoring for the game. DeAndre Liggins scores the final points of the half.

3:26 Kentucky 34, UGA 32: John Walls steals the ball and drives it down the court for a dunk that has the blue and white going crazy. Bledsoe misses a shot off a turnover, but Orton scores on the rebound. Patrick Patterson scores again for the Wildcats who are on a six point run and have tied the game at 26 a piece.  Patterson has scored 11 points in the games first 13 minutes. Dodson is called for the foul. Thompkins misses his free throw. Dodson gets his first points of the night. Travus Leslie lays it in for the easy two. Bledsoe misses another shot. McPhee rebounds Wall’s missed three point attempt. Price scores for his 4th time tonight. Dodson makes the three for the Kentucky lead. Patterson misses his shot and Ware scores two on the next possession for the Dawgs. Dodson makes a long three attempt for back to back shots from beyond the arc.

8:48 Kentucky 20, UGA 26: Dustin Ware makes the two point jumper. Kentucky turns the ball over and Travis Leslie makes the Wildcats suffer with one of his signature Sportscenter dunks.  Kentucky Timeout.  John Wall makes his 2nd three of the game off a Ramon Harris assist. Eric Bledsoe is called for the foul. Wall steps out of bounds, Dawgs ball. Chris Barnes is fouled by Daniel Orton. Ricky McPhee for three.  Wall misses a three, but Harris scores off the offensive rebound. McPhee misses the three. Ebuka Anyanorah is fouled at the three point line by Darius Miller, Miller’s second. Anyanorah gets three foul attempts, and makes two of the three. Leslie called for the foul. Eric Bledsoe  sinks a three pointer for his 1st points. Patterson blocks the shot from Jackson and scores two on the next Kentucky possession . Jeremy Price is fouled by Cousins after gaining the offensive rebound, but still gets two for the Dawgs. Timeout. Price makes his lone free throw. Bledsoe turns the ball over. Price makes another shot.  Josh Harrellson checks in for Kentucky. Jeremy Price makes his third basket in a row, and the crowd is going wild here. Patrick Patterson makes a three for the Wildcats. Trey Tompkins makes a three pointer to give the Dawgs a six point lead. Bledsoe misses the jumper.

15:35 Kentucky 7, UGA 7: Darius Miller misses a three point attempt. Patrick Patterson lays it in for the games first points.  DeMarcus Cousins rejects back to back shots from Travis Leslie, Leslie also grabs back to offensive rebounds. Thompkins shots a mid range jumper for the Dawgs first points. Dustin Ware called for a foul. Wall makes the easy three. Darius Miller called for a foul, Kentucky’s first. Jackson and Thompkins miss back to back shots. Thompkins called for the foul on Patterson. Patterson makes both shots. Darnell Dodson checks in for the Wildcats and Chris Barnes for Georgia. Cousins is called for the foul as Barnes is fouled on the layup. Barnes makes the shot. Wall comes in for Bledsoe. Dodson misses the three. Thompkins makes the layup and ties the game for the Dawgs. Timeout and The Dance Dawgs are now rocking the floor.