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WINNER OF THE GEORGIA GAME!
The Dawgs beat the buzzer and Kentucky 🚨 pic.twitter.com/NhDaWEOvAf
– SEC Network (@SECNetwork) January 21, 2021
ATHENS – PJ Horne scored an inbound assist from Sahvir Wheeler with 1.3 seconds left to take Georgia to a 63-62 win over Kentucky on Wednesday night.
“It’s great, it’s amazing to beat a team like Kentucky,” said Horne, a transfer graduate from Virginia Tech. “We have come to the fight.
“It’s a great experience hitting a winner. This is my first college basketball.
The UGA’s first victory over Kentucky since 2013 shattered what was a 14-game losing streak in the series and led to the kind of party dogpile typically reserved for March Madness.
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“We thought we were going to win,” Crean said. “I’m proud of the way they locked themselves in and executed at the end.
Brandon Boston scored 18 to lead the United Kingdom, which saw its last three-quarters cry of desperation shot on the field from Keion Brooks (12 points) fail on the buzzer.
The Bulldogs (9-4, 2-4 SEC) trailed by six points with two minutes remaining against the Wildcats (4-9, 3-3) at Stegeman Coliseum, but Georgia kept their cool to win their second consecutive championship match.
Freshman KD Johnson hit a 3-pointer with 1:49 left to cut Kentucky’s lead in half at 62-59.
Moments later, Wheeler yielded to Andrew Garcia under the basket for a layup to bring Georgia to 62-61 with 33 seconds left.
Wheeler has Kentucky freshman goaltender Devin Askew on the line for the next trip.
Askew, the UK team’s top free-throw shooter with 82%, missed ahead of the one-and-one free-throw situation with 23.5 seconds left, setting up UGA final possession .
Wheeler led the way in the dying seconds, but his shot was knocked out of bounds by Isaiah Jackson, Kentucky’s sixth blocked shot of the night.
Coach Tom Crean requested a 30 second time out with 3.5 seconds remaining.
“When we took that time out, Coach Crean told everyone to stop everything and take three breaths,” Garcia said. “We took those three breaths and came back to the fight.
Wheeler’s first attempt to enter the ball went awry and he was forced to call another time out, which led to Crean establishing another play in the clique.
The second time, it was the charm. The Bulldogs lined up in a straight line and Wheeler found Horne cutting to the basket.
Horne, a 6-foot-6 post who spent most of the play on the perimeter chasing his 3-point shot, took care of the rest, dropping the ball after initially throwing the pass.
Garcia, a graduate transfer from Stony Brook, led Georgia with 16 points and 6 rebounds.
Wheeler had 10 points and 7 assists, Johnson has 10 points and Justin Kier scored 7 points and had 5 of the Bulldogs’ 10 interceptions.
Georgia had a 30-27 halftime advantage after leading by no less than nine points.
Johnson knocked down a 3-pointer at the 5:37 mark to cap a 10-0 run to make it 26-17.
John Calipari called a time out, and his team responded with an 8-0 run to come back to a 26-25.
Wheeler, however, kept the UK at bay ahead of the intermission with two driving baskets as UGA held the edge before the intermission.
The Bulldogs return to action at 2 p.m. against Florida in Athens.
The Gators (7-4, 4-3) just picked up a 75-49 home win over No.6 Tennessee on Tuesday night.
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