High Fives - Five notes about the win over Kentucky - UGASports: Georgia Bulldogs Football & Basketball Recruiting

Georgia defeated Kentucky 63-62 on a basket by P.J. Horne, with just over one second left. It was only the 27th win by Georgia in the series, compared to Kentucky's 129. It was also the first Bulldog win against the Wildcats since March 7, 2013. The Dawgs are 3-1 this season in games decided by four points or less. Let's look at some of the main stats suggesting why Georgia won, in this edition of High Fives.

1 - Georgia's defense (plus a lack of Kentucky offense) was crucial for Wednesday night's win. The Bulldogs allowed the fewest points and the lowest shooting percentages in all their conference games this season. Check out the win against the Wildcats compared to preceding SEC games this season.

Georgia Defense in SEC Games this season

Date and Opponent	Opponent Pts	Opp FG Pct	Opp 3-pt FG Pct

Dec 30 vs Mississippi State	83	43.9 (29/66)	44.4 (12/27)
Jan 6 at LSU	94	44.3 (31/70)	33.3 (10/30)
Jan 9 at Arkansas	99	52.2 (36/69)	57.1 (12/21)
Jan 13 vs Auburn	95	56.5 (35/62)	25.0 (5/20)
Jan 16 at Ole Miss	74	50.8 (31/61)	31.8 (7/22)
Jan 20 vs Kentucky	62	42.1 (24/57)	7.7 (1/13)

2 - Most fans pay attention to points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks. People also look at shooting from the field, from the free throw line, and from beyond the arc. Here are a couple of intangible stats that most fans pass over, yet were crucial in the big win over the Cats.

Team Stats from Wednesday Night

	Kentucky	Georgia

Turnovers / Points off Turnovers	17 / 11	11 / 25
Points in the Paint	36	44
Fast Break Points	5	20

3 - Individually, Andrew Garcia led the Dawgs with 16 points. The Stony Brook transfer came off the bench to score his second-most points as a Bulldog (he had 22 in the season-opener against Florida A&M). Garcia had been struggling as of late, but Wednesday was a different story, as you can see below.

Andrew Garcia - Last 3 Games

	Wednesday vs. Kentucky	Previous 2 Games Combined

Points	16	8
Field Goals	8 / 12	2 / 7
Rebounds	6	6

4 - Another one of Georgia's star transfers this season has been Justin Kier. Kier didn't score a lot this time, but he made up for it in other ways. He ended up with seven points, five rebounds, and tied a season-high with five steals.

Georgia players with 5+ pts, 5+ reb, 5+ steals since 2008-2009 season

	Opponent	Points	Rebounds	Steals

Travis Leslie	12/22/08 vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	19	8	5
Travis Leslie	11/25/10 vs. Notre Dame	23	9	5
Trey Thompkins	2/19/11 vs. Tennessee	11	9	6
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope	11/9/12 vs. Jacksonville	17	6	5
J.J. Frazier	1/9/16 vs. Ole Miss	9	7	5
J.J. Frazier	2/6/16 vs. Auburn	16	6	5
Justin Kier	12/22/20 vs. Northeastern	7	7	5
Justin Kier	1/20/21 vs. Kentucky	7	5	5

5 - Sahvir Wheeler had ten points and seven assists, but maybe his most impressive stat was a season-low two turnovers. He's known for assists—currently on a season-record pace for most per game by a Georgia Bulldog. The sophomore is currently averaging 7.4 assists per game this season. He's had at least five assists in 12 of 13 games this season. How impressive is that? Check out the SEC leaders in 5-plus-assist games this season.

Most Games this season with 5+ Assists by SEC player

	Team	5+ Assist Games

Sahvir Wheeler	Georgia	12
Jalen Tate	Arkansas	6
Javonte Smart	LSU	6
Scotty Pippen, Jr	Vanderbilt	5
Justin Powell	Auburn	5

Some other quick stats -

- K.D. Johnson had ten points and has scored ten or more in each of the three games he's played this season.

- Toumani Camara had nine rebounds on the night. He's had at least nine rebounds in five of the 12 games he's played this season. Last season, he did it once in 32 games.

- P.J. Horne scored eight points, but once again it was his last basket, with 1.3 seconds remaining, that won the game for the Bulldogs.

(cover photo courtesy of Georgia Sports Communications)

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