Hagans, Wildcats silence Georgia
ATHENS, Ga. — Ashton Hagans silenced a hostile crowd by scoring a season-high 23 points, leading No. 12 Kentucky to a 69-49 victory over Georgia on Tuesday night.
The Wildcats (13-3, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) pulled away in the second half for their third straight victory.
Hagans, a freshman who initially committed to Georgia out of high school but wound up signing with Kentucky, was booed by the sellout crowd at Stegeman Coliseum each time he touched the ball.
It sure didn’t seem to bother him. The point guard reached double figures for the fifth game in a row, eclipsing the 18 points he scored a week ago against Texas A&M. But the youngster’s contribution went much deeper on the stat sheet — he also had five rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Hagans’ performance was especially galling for a Georgia team that could’ve had him running the offense. The Bulldogs’ point guard, senior Turtle Jackson, managed only two points on 1-of-8 shooting.
Georgia (9-7, 1-3) led by five in the opening minutes before going to the locker room down 35-31.
Hagans took control after halftime. He knocked down a 3-pointer just ahead of the shot-clock buzzer, darted into the lane to lay one in, and scored off a steal by Tyler Herro to suddenly push the lead into double figures, 42-31.
Kentucky steadily pulled away from there.
In the closing minutes, as most of the red-clad fans headed for the exits, a sizeable contingent of Wildcat fans chanted, “Go Big Blue!”
Nicolas Claxton led Georgia with 12 points. The Bulldogs shot only 30 percent (17 of 56) from the field. › No. 4 Virginia 81,
No. 9 Virginia Tech 59 CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — De’Andre Hunter scored 21 points and Ty Jerome had 14 and a careerhigh 12 assists as No. 4 Virginia started fast and routed No. 9 Virginia Tech.
Kyle Guy added 15 points for the Cavaliers (16-0, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who never trailed in the first meeting of the programs in which both were ranked in the top 10. Virginia also remained one of two unbeaten teams in the country along with Michigan, which was idle.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 19 points and Ahmed Hill 14 to lead Virginia Tech (14-2, 3-1), which was seeking the first 15-1 start in program history. The Hokies also hoped to repeat last year’s 61-60 overtime victory at John Paul Jones Arena, but they trailed by double figures after 12 minutes and never got within single digits the rest of the way.