Bulldogs, Jackets score big victories
ATHENS, Ga. — Andrew Garcia scored 16 points, P.J. Horne a made a go-ahead layup with 1.3 seconds left, and the Georgia men’s basketball program snapped a 14-game losing streak against Kentucky with a 63-62 victory on Wednesday night.
After a timeout with 3.6 seconds left, Horne got past his defender for an inbounds pass in the lane, bobbled it and curled in a layup. A heave by Keion Brooks Jr. did not hit the rim as time expired in the Southeastern Conference matchup.
It was Georgia’s first win in the series since March 7, 2013, when Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, now with the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers, scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a 72-62 victory.
K.D. Johnson and Sahvir Wheeler added 10 points points each for Georgia (9-4, 2-4). Horne finished with eight points, and his winning shot gave the Bulldogs their first lead since 49-47 with about 10 minutes left. Wheeler had seven of the Bulldogs’ 12 assists.
Brandon Boston Jr. scored 12 of his 18 points in the first half for Kentucky (4-9, 3-3). Brooks and Isaiah Jackson had 12 points apiece.
Georgia, which has one of the nation’s most balanced offenses with seven players averaging 9.5 points, had seven players score at least six against Kentucky.
The Wildcats entered averaging 15.2 turnovers and committed 17 while shooting just 1-of-13 from long range against the Bulldogs. Their 14-game winning streak against Georgia in SEC play was second to a 15-game streak against Mississippi State.
Kentucky, which has lost three straight games, hosts LSU on Saturday, when Georgia hosts Florida.
› Georgia Tech 83, No. 20 Clemson 65
ATLANTA — Georgia Tech men’s basketball coach Josh Pastner wondered how his team would respond after a 17-day layoff. Not to worry.
The Yellow Jackets turned in one of their most impressive showings of the season, routing Clemson as three players scored more than 20 points for Tech in the Atlantic Coast Conference victory. Michael Devoe led the way with 22 points, while Jordan Usher and Moses Wright chipped in 21 apiece.
“We punched them in the mouth,” Usher said.
The Jackets (7-3, 3-1) built a nine-point halftime lead and pulled away after the break to hand the Tigers (9-3, 3-3) their second straight blowout loss.
Tech was playing for the first time since Jan. 3, having four straight games postponed because of COVID-19 protocol, but picked up where it left off. The Jackets stretched their winning streak to five games in a row, the program’s longest since the 2012-13 season, further bolstering their hopes of finally reaching the NCAA tournament for the first time in 11 years.
“A lot of guys had fresh legs and were ready to go,” Devoe said. “We left it all on the floor.”
Clemson, on the other hand, has looked like a different team since going 11 days without a game because of the pandemic. The Tigers returned from their unscheduled break last Saturday and were embarrassed at home by Virginia, 85-50, and this one got out of hand, too.
Clemson went more than four minutes without scoring to start the second half, allowing Tech to stretch its lead to 53-35, and the Jackets led by as many as 22.
Aamir Simms scored 19 points to lead the Tigers, who shot 52% from the field but were hurt badly by 20 turnovers, which led to 30 points for the Jackets.
Tech worked the ball inside and out to continually get open looks against the Tigers. The Jackets connected on 57% of their shots, including 16 of 26 attempts from 3-point range. The 16 treys — six of them by Devoe — were one off the school record.
Said Pastner: “We shot the daylights out of it.”
Bubba Parham scored only a single point for the Jackets, but he took several offensive charging fouls that stymied any shot Clemson had at a comeback.
“You cannot put a price tag on what a guy’s doing when he’s taking charges,” Pastner said. “Maybe it doesn’t show up in the box score, but those are winning plays.”