Georgia coach Mark Fox saw it in his players' eyes after they missed two easy rotations on their zone early against Kentucky. The Bulldogs would be in for a long night in front of a frenzied crowd.
Donte' Williams led Georgia with 17 points, but the Bulldogs never led and allowed No. 1 Kentucky to hit 15 of 27 from 3-point range in a 79-49 loss on Thursday night.
''I think our young guys were overwhelmed by the atmosphere a little bit to start the game,'' Fox said. ''We didn't come here to get our butt beat. We came here to win a game, and we didn't do it. We lost to a great basketball team. No shame in losing to a team of that quality.''
Darius Miller hit five 3-pointers and finished with 17 points as the Wildcats extended the nation's longest home winning streak to 52 games and push its overall run to 21 in a row.
''I think he's been the most valuable player against our team when we've played Kentucky,'' Fox said. ''I think he's terrific, I think he's a real key to their team, I really do.''
Kentucky (29-1, 15-0 Southeastern Conference) made an emphatic statement in its final game at Rupp Arena this season with an offensive flurry that nearly equaled the stiff defensive effort the Wildcats have given all season.
Kentucky, the nation's best defensive team by field goal percentage, made a season-best 15 3-pointers, hitting six in a row in the second half.
''They'll be hard to beat when they shoot the ball like that, no matter who they're playing,'' Fox said.
Kentucky coach John Calipari hasn't lost at Rupp Arena in his three seasons in Lexington, and the Wildcats are poised to make a run at their eighth national title thanks to player of the year contender Anthony Davis and a supporting cast of NBA-worthy talent.
It was the final appearance for Miller and fellow senior Eloy Vargas, but also could be the last time that Davis, fellow freshmen Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Marquis Teague as well as sophomores Doron Lamb and Terrence Jones play at home.
They made sure to make it one the Bulldogs (13-16, 4-11) will want to forget.
Davis finished with nine points, eight rebounds and two blocks to give him an NCAA-best 140 this season. Lamb had 13 points and Kidd-Gilchrist added 12.
Kentucky doubled up Georgia 42-21 just over a minute into the second half on Jones' layup and the 24,382 fans at Rupp Arena were on their feet again after Jones missed a 3 and Davis followed with a slam that made it 48-24.
Kentucky continued its attack from behind the arc with a 20-2 run that featured six 3-pointers, including two by Lamb, two by Kyle Wiltjer, one by Teague and one by Miller that made it 67-30 with 10:36 left.
''I told Mark after, I said, `We are a team that makes six threes a game,''' Calipari said. ''We make 15. That's 30 points. What did we beat them by? 30 points.''
Lamb hit two free throws before Georgia finally scored again on a free throw, but the Bulldogs had little reason to keep battling late and fell behind by as many as 41 in the closing minutes.
Williams went 7 of 9 from the field while the rest of his teammates were 12 of 49. None were made available to talk after the game, but Fox praised Williams' effort.
''He's a young guy who has had to play major minutes all year long,'' Fox said. ''He just keeps getting better and better. Tonight he had a productive night and I was proud of how he competed.''
