Georgia knows what's at stake against conference power Kentucky

It doesn't matter how many five-star McDonald's All-Americans are on Kentucky's roster. It doesn't matter if the 22nd-ranked Wildcats have a couple of meltdowns during a season, like they've done against Auburn and Tennessee.

It really doesn't matter if a player such as center Skal Labissiere fails to live up to the expectations of being one of the nation's top freshmen.

It's still Kentucky, the gold standard of the SEC. To be considered among the better teams in the conference, Georgia must prove it can hang with a Wildcats team that just demolished Florida and recently took Kansas to overtime.

Before Sunday, Georgia (13-8, 6-4 SEC) hadn't been able to take any time to look at what Kentucky (17-6, 7-3) has on its roster. Even so, Georgia's players aren't too concerned who Kentucky has or what it has done thus far. They know the legacy and tradition speaks for itself.

"To tell you the truth, I don't know much about them," Georgia senior guard Charles Mann said. "I'm pretty sure they're good. They're good every year."

The truth about Kentucky is that it has top-15 potential but has stumbled a few times when it probably shouldn't have. For every win against a team such as Louisville, it has a loss against a team like Ohio State.

To score an upset, Georgia must get strong performances from veteran guards J.J. Frazier, Charles Mann and ­Kenny Gaines. But they figure to receive quite the challenge against Jamal Murray, Tyler Ulis and Isaiah Briscoe.

It'll be a battle of old (Georgia's two seniors and a junior) vs. new (Kentucky's two freshmen and a sophomore) in the backcourt.

"They're a good team, and they'll play physical and have veteran guards," Kentucky head coach John Calipari said. "When you have veteran guards, you have a chance to be in every game."

Fox commended Kentucky's trio by saying one of its strengths is how well they work with one another.

"I think they have a real good chemistry between the three of them, and along with that chemistry they've got great skill sets," Fox said. "It's a huge challenge. They're playing terrific."

Georgia historically hasn't had much success against Kentucky, with the Wildcats holding a whopping 119-26 all-time advantage. It's worse at Rupp Arena, where the Bulldogs have won only five times in 63 tries.

Even so, outside of road games in 2012 and 2014, Fox's teams have played Calipari's groups tough.

Last year, Georgia lost 69-58 on the road but cut the game to a 5-point deficit with 2:07 remaining. Two of Fox's other losses at Kentucky have been by eight points or fewer.

The Bulldogs have a lot to play for, and Fox knows his team will need to play as close to mistake-free basketball as possible Tuesday. A win would suddenly bump Georgia up the bubble ranks and into the discussion for an NCAA Tournament berth.

Given the opponent, there isn't much room for error. Following Georgia's 65-55 win over Auburn on Saturday, Fox stressed the importance of Georgia playing its best if it's to upset Kentucky on the road.

"If we play like we did (Saturday), they'll beat us by 200," Fox said. "I told the team we have to play better than we did because we're playing on the road and we're playing one of the best teams in America. They're playing their best basketball."

This story was originally published February 8, 2016 at 9:39 PM with the headline "Georgia knows what's at stake against conference power Kentucky ."