Kentucky 'abandoned defensive assignments' in second half vs. Georgia

The Kentucky Wildcats not only struggled offensively against Georgia, they executed poorly on defense too.

Feb 17, 2026; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Mouhamed Dioubate (23) defends against Georgia Bulldogs forward Jake Wilkins (21) during the second half at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images | Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

Kentucky basketball not only could not take care of business against Georgia on Tuesday night in Rupp Arena, but it was a game where they had to play catch-up late and mistakes costed them. The Wildcats played bad on both ends of the floor. On offense, Kentucky struggled handling the aggressive press defense, while on the other end, struggling to close-out on shooters.

The Georgia Bulldogs came into Tuesday's game needing a win badly and they did it in convincing fashion, going up by as much as 12 points in the second half. This game unfolded similar to the poor execution Kentucky fans saw against Alabama to begin SEC play. In that one, Kentucky failed to stick to the scouting report as they failed to close out on shooters and watch the Crimson Tide torch them from deep. Against Georgia, they faced a team that has struggled shooting, but in their wins, that area of the game was a key for them. The Wildcats allowed 22 points off turnovers, but it was their poor three-point defense that leaves fans up in arms. Georgia shot 14-31 from three, as they entered shooting 29 percent there in conference play.

Mark Pope discussed Kentucky's lack of ability to deal with Georgia's press, but he was very blunt about his team's very poor three-point defense that resulted in 20 assists on the night.

"They're the lowest assist per field goal main team in our league. They had 20 tonight. That's just a poor commentary on the defensive effort and explicably to start the second half, we just abandoned the defensive assignments and also George made some good plays.

Feb 17, 2026; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope looks to his bench during the second half against the Georgia Bulldogs at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images | Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

While we're at it, here is what Pope had to say about Kentucky's troubles with the press on the offensive end of the floor, which resulted in 22 points for Georgia off of turnovers by the Wildcats.

"The press was distracting for us, for sure," Pope said. "We ended up playing on our heels and it was actually hard for us to kind of establish anything other than early in the half court, because to be honest with you, our lead guards did a poor job going back and demanding the ball, so we ended up in a poor space and we just did a poor job."

In the second half, Georgia grew their lead from one-point with 13:23 left to 11 following a big run that really put Kentucky in deep trouble in the second half. In the final half alone, the Bulldogs made eight threes. Every time Kentucky made a big run, Georgia answered with timely buckets, most-notably the big layup with 43 seconds left in the game to put them up by five, really pressuring Kentucky to make something happen, which never came to fruition.