Georgia Needed to Close Kentucky Out. That Didn't Happen

ATHENS - Georgia let a very good chance to solidify their solid start to the season slip away in the final eight minutes against No. 14 Kentucky. 

We’ve seen this before form the Cats in Athens - hang around; goof around; and then surge to the end of the game for the win. Mark Fox’s UGA teams alway thought they had Kentucky right where they wanted them only to realize as the clock hit zeros that Kentucky was the better team all along. 

That’s not really the feeling on this one. 

Georgia let this one slip away because of what the Dawgs did (or didn’t do) more than what Kentucky did. These Cats shouldn’t be confused with national title contenders, but they are still Kentucky. 

This young Georgia team/program is figuring things out along the way, but they shouldn’t have had a five-point deficit at the final media timeout. The team was slow to get back on defense often, and Kentucky took advantage of that. Easy buckets lead to wins. 

Anthony Edwards, who was the best player on the floor, got cold at the exact wrong time. That’s why this game slipped away from the Dawgs - inexperience. Georgia will get better as the season goes on, but Kentucky will, too. 

This was a great chance to knock off Kentucky, and strengthen UGA’s NCAA resume. 

With that said, none of the good teams Georgia plays this season, the Dawgs travel to Auburn Saturday, are going to roll over and die. Just because Georgia took out Memphis on the road doesn’t mean they will do the same to the Cats and Tigers. 

That’s the part this team will have to figure out as they go - playing well and celebrating going into the half is great, but the game is a 40-minute game. And by the end of the 40 minutes, Kentucky was doing anything it wanted to do offensively. 

Georgia should have used the ramped-up crowd on its side to fuel defensive stops. Instead, Kentucky moved the ball and found easier looks than it should have. Kentucky is used to this. Georgia is not. 

The question is how long it will take for the Dawgs to be the ones closing things out. The wins over SMU and Memphis proved that Georgia understands what it takes to get quality wins. But playing in the SEC, against teams you will see twice or three times in a matter of weeks or months, is an entirely different thing. 

Games matter more now. League play, no matter the league, is always complex. Everyone knows everyone. 

This won’t be the end of these Dawgs. They are too talented, and they seem to have a particular energy other teams have not had in the past. The job Tom Crean has in front of him - pretty much a new starting group, and leaning on freshmen to get the job done - isn’t insignificant. 

This will be a challenge. But we can’t act like playing Kentucky close is good enough. Not if Georgia is going to get where it needs to go in the sport. Georgia needs to close out it next time. 

And that next time is January 21st in Rupp. That’s a winnable game. Make it happen.