Patterson, Wall each score 17 points as No. 3 Kentucky beats Georgia 76-68 to move to 16-0

No. 3 Kentucky stays perfect, beats Georgia 76-68

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Patrick Patterson and John Wall scored 17 points each to help No. 3 Kentucky hold off Georgia 76-68 on Saturday in the Southeastern Conference opener for both schools.

DeMarcus Cousins added 16 points and seven rebounds for the Wildcats (16-0), who are off to their best start since winning 23 games to open the 1965-66 season.

It wasn’t easy. There were 12 lead changes and nine ties as Georgia hung around despite turning it over 26 times against Kentucky’s unrelenting press.

The Bulldogs (8-6) nearly pulled off their second straight upset behind a season-high 20 points from Travis Leslie and 17 points and 13 rebounds from Trey Thompkins.

Georgia pulled to 63-62 on a 3-pointer by Thompkins with just over 6 minutes to play, but would make just one field goal the rest of the way.

Cousins scored seven of Kentucky’s final 13 points, including the deciding lay-up with 36 seconds remaining.

The win was Kentucky coach John Calipari’s 62nd straight conference victory. The first 61 came while he was coaching Memphis in Conference USA.

He found out quickly the going will be much more difficult in the SEC.

Georgia knocked off No. 20 Georgia Tech earlier in the week and showed the win over their archrival was no fluke. Leslie kept the Bulldogs in it early and Georgia’s zone defense forced the Wildcats to shoot it from the outside.

Kentucky had no problem shooting it. Making it proved to be another matter.

The Wildcats made just 2 of 14 3-point attempts for the second straight game and needed an emotional lift from the volatile Cousins to keep their perfect start intact.

With a capacity crowd that included movie star Ashley Judd and Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin anxious as the Bulldogs hung around, Cousins went to work.

He scored seven straight points — including 5 of 6 free throws — before the game-clinching layup. The 6-foot-11 freshman swung his arms in jubilation.

Georgia’s Dustin Ware missed a jumper, Wall made two free throws then capped it with a high-flying dunk with 9 seconds remaining.

Georgia, like Louisville last week, did its best to rough up the Wildcats. The Bulldogs bumped, grabbed and nudged Wall wherever he went, and this week’s Sports Illustrated cover story was mortal for most of his 34 minutes.

Wall made just 5 of 14 shots — including two missed dunks — and was twice whistled for traveling.

The Bulldogs did the same to Cousins, as Albert Jackson, Chris Barnes and Jeremy Price all fouled out trying to keep the Wildcats in check.

Still, Kentucky had enough when it mattered to stay unbeaten.

The nail-biting finish was hard to imagine at the start.

The Wildcats led by 11 midway through the first half as the Bulldogs couldn’t muster any offense outside of Leslie, who scored Georgia’s first 10 points, including an emphatic dunk over Cousins.

Yet Kentucky couldn’t find a way to finish the Bulldogs early. Instead, Georgia surged in front behind the play of Thompkins and McPhee. The Bulldogs went on a 25-8 burst over an 8-minute stretch as Wall struggled.

Wall missed his first three shots and allowed McPhee to hit a couple of 3-pointers over him.

No matter. He scored five points in the final 1:11 of the half to pull Kentucky to 35-34 at the break.