National Basketball Association
Kentucky 105, Georgia 96
When: 6:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 20, 2024
Where: Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center, Lexington, Kentucky
Officials:
# Rob Rorke, # Owen Shortt, # Steven Anderson
Attendance:
20283
By Field Level Media
Zvonimir Ivisic scored 13 points in his collegiate debut after being granted eligibility earlier in the day as No. 8 Kentucky recorded a 105-96 victory over Georgia on Saturday night in Lexington, Ky.
Ivisic was awaiting clearance from the NCAA after he was admitted to Kentucky in October. The school announced that he was officially cleared to play just hours before tip-off, and he recorded 16 minutes of action in his anticipated debut.
The 7-foot-2 Croatian hit three 3-pointers and scored 11 points in Kentucky's 54-point first half. He went 5-for-7 from the field, grabbed five rebounds, dished out two assists and blocked three shots for the game.
Tre Mitchell led the Wildcats (14-3, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) with 23 points, Antonio Reeves added 21 and D.J. Wagner contributed 18. The trio combined to make 23 of 34 shots as Kentucky shot 61.9 percent overall and hit 14 3-pointers.
Reed Sheppard added 12 points as the Wildcats topped the century mark for the third time this season.
Jabri Abdur-Rahim led all scorers with a career-high 34 points as the Bulldogs (13-5, 3-2) lost for the second time in their past three games.
Silas Demary Jr. added a career-best 22 points and RJ Melendez finished with 12 as Georgia shot 50 percent from the floor and outscored Kentucky 33-16 over the final 10:36 to make the final margin respectable.
Kentucky ripped off an 18-5 run and opened a 26-15 lead on a 3 by Justin Edwards with 10:33 left in the first half. Ivisic hit a jumper and two 3-pointers on three straight possessions, and the lead grew to 41-24 with 5:47 left before the Wildcats built a 54-35 lead by halftime.
After Georgia got within 68-51 on Melendez's dunk with 15:16 left in the game, the Wildcats scored the next 10 points to open a 27-point lead on a 3-pointer by Reeves with 13:38 remaining. Kentucky reached 100 points on a dunk by Ivisic, which made it 100-81 with 4:48 to go.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Georgia |
|
Kentucky |
|
Jabri Abdur-Rahim 34 |
Scoring |
Tre Mitchell 23 |
|
Justin Hill 6 |
Assists |
D.J. Wagner 10 |
|
Russel Tchewa 9 |
Rebounds |
Zvonimir Ivisic 5 |
|
Jabri Abdur-Rahim 11 |
Free Throws Made |
Tre Mitchell 6 |
|
Silas Demary Jr 2 |
Steals |
Zvonimir Ivisic 2 |
|
Frank Anselem-Ibe 1 |
Blocks |
Zvonimir Ivisic 3 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Georgia
|
96 |
50.0 |
7-24 |
27-35 |
16 |
26 |
3 |
8 |
12 |
| Kentucky
|
105 |
61.9 |
14-25 |
13-17 |
27 |
29 |
6 |
9 |
14 |
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