UGA Hoping For SEC East Home Sweep

No. 3 Kentucky tests UGA's home streak

By Tim Tucker
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Undefeated against SEC East opponents in Athens this season, Georgia will have to beat the nation's No. 3-ranked team in order to complete an improbable home sweep of the division.

The Bulldogs wrap up their home schedule Wednesday night against Kentucky in Stegeman Coliseum, which has turned into quite the home-court advantage this season.

Georgia is 12-3 in Stegeman, including victories over three nationally ranked opponents (Georgia Tech, Tennessee, Vanderbilt) and all four SEC East opponents to visit thus far (Tennessee, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Florida).

Kentucky has taken note.

"We could go to Georgia and lose," Wildcats coach John Calipari said. "They're beating everybody down there."

Georgia was 2-6 in SEC home games last season and 3-5 the season before that, and things didn't start out well at home this season, either. You might recall that the Bulldogs lost to Wofford 60-57 on Nov. 17 in Stegeman. And they lost two of their first three SEC home games, against Ole Miss on Jan. 13 and Arkansas on Feb. 3.

"We didn't know how to win at home when we started," Georgia coach Mark Fox said recently. "We have figured out how to win at home for the most part, how to play well at home."

Indeed, Georgia carries a four-game home winning streak into Wednesday's game.

The road, of course, is a different matter. Georgia is 0-10 in opponent's arenas with just one shot left at a road victory: Saturday's regular-season finale at LSU. The Bulldogs (13-14 overall, 5-9 SEC) are 1-1 on neutral courts.

But in old Stegeman Coliseum the Dogs have found a supportive environment, which certainly will be needed against a Kentucky team (27-2, 12-2 SEC) that is led by freshman stars John Wall (16.8 points and 6.2 assists per game) and DeMarcus Cousins (16.2 points, 10.3 rebounds) and junior Patrick Patterson (14.9 points, 7.6 rebounds).

The Kentucky game will be Georgia's fourth reserved-seat sellout of the season and is expected to be the second complete sellout after the student-ticket allotment is sold, according to marketing director John Bateman. Georgia had no sellouts last season.

"Definitely the atmosphere is changing, and I'm just really excited to be a part of it," said starting guard Ricky McPhee, a Parkview High graduate who walked on to the UGA team two seasons ago after transferring from Gardner-Webb. "I'm really happy the fans are coming out to support us. I just cherish every moment."

McPhee and the Bulldogs' two other seniors -- forward-center Albert Jackson, the team's only four-year letterman, and forward Tyler Whatley, a transfer from Wofford -- will be honored in Senior Night ceremonies before Wednesday's game. Jackson and Whatley will join McPhee in the starting lineup, per Fox's practice of starting his seniors in their final home game.

"It's definitely something I've been looking forward to, playing against Kentucky, one of the best teams in the nation," said McPhee, who leads the Georgia team in minutes played. "It's going to be extra special for me, being Senior Night."

Although Georgia was within a basket of Kentucky in the final minute of a 76-68 loss in Lexington on Jan. 9 -- the Bulldogs' SEC opener -- Calipari says this is a different UGA team.

"I just can't begin to tell you in watching the tape how much [they] have improved," Calipari said.

Particularly, it seems, at home.

Not tonight!!