By Hayden Kennedy
Kentucky beat Georgia State 105-76 at Rupp Arena on Friday night to improve to 7-0 on the season, the best start since the 2016-17 season.
The Cats got off to a slow start, only to be capped off with a 17-4 run to end the first half, leading 48-33. UK's biggest lead of the game was 35 points in late second half.
UK's Jaxson Robinson led the team in scoring with 19 points on 7 of 10 shooting from the field and 1 of 5 coming from three. It was Robinson's fourth double-figure game of the season. Lamont Butler added 17 points, his fourth straight game in double figures, and game highs with six assists and three steals.
“I thought it was a great night of basketball," said UK coach Mark Pope. ”All of the saltiness and the whole deal. A really physical team, a good team. Jonas (Hayes) is a terrific coach. He's going to be a star in this business. I've known him for a long time. It was Georgia State's third game in four nights, so it was a really commendable effort for them. I thought our guys responded great. As things got a little more intense, I thought our guys pulled together. And that's so beautiful to see that as a coach. I was really proud of the guys for that.”
Kentucky led 61-53 with 12:37 remaining in the second half when a skirmish broke out. Georgia State's Clash Peters would drive his shoulder into the back of Amari Williams, causing Wiliams to hit the floor, a move he also made against UK's Andrew Carr at the final buzzer of the first half. The teams had to be separated, with Pope running out onto the court to help end the scuffle.
“I was a little slow out there,” Coach Pope quipped. "I was a little nervous about pulling a hammy, but if I'm being clear, I probably shouldn't be so transparent. I raced out there and, you know, you are always trying to just remove people from the fray. I grabbed one of the Georgia state players that was kind of jumping in late and my next reaction was where is (wife) Lee Anne. I'm telling you, at one point, she could be running on the floor knocking someone out and I'm like, I cannot have that. That was actually my second thing. I got this thing taken care of. Make sure Lee Anne is under control over there.”
Kentucky would dominate the game from there, scoring 44 points in the final 12 minutes of the match.
Coach Pope on Lamont Buter’s Performance
“My goodness, he was good today, wasn't he? I'm so proud of him," said the coach. "I like how he's transitioned now to going from a guy who, it was funny, we were sitting at Thanksgiving dinner yesterday and -- what do they call it. It was something, you weren't there. You guys have to ask Lamont after (the postgame press conference). It was something about downhill Butler, just racing to the rim. He will tell you the phrase.
"But the savvy he is playing with now. His maturity in the game and the fact he's not blindly racing downhill. He's a prober now and he's manipulating all the pieces on the court is what allows him to be a seven for 10 guy tonight and probably a seven for 10 guy the next night and next night and I'm telling you, he's growing so fast in his game right now. He's been awesome, he's been terrific tonight. I thought he was brilliant on the court.”
Kentucky will travel to South Carolina on Tuesday to take on Clemson. The 9:30 p.m. ET contest will be shown on ESPN.
Hayden Kennedy, a recent UK graduate, is a contributing writer from Lexington.
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