Georgia State Coach Knows Kentucky has a ‘hell of a team’

Vicky Graff Photo

Georgia State coach Jonas Hayes played against Kentucky when he was a player at Georgia and knew how difficult winning in Rupp Arena would be for his team.

However, holding UK to 7-for-26 shooting from 3-point range like Georgia State did Friday night should have enabled the visitors to stay in the game yet the Wildcats still won 105-76 by pulling away thanks to a 57-point second half.

However, Hayes was not frustrated at all by that number.

“Our game plan was that Kentucky does a great job of shooting the 3, and our chief goal was to not get burned on a t3, and we held them to seven, you know, 3-pointers made,” the Georgia State coach said.

“You have to tip your cap because you know what? The shot we wanted them to take, they were making them and you know what? Sometimes it’s not your night, and we tip our caps to them. That’s a hell of a team, they have a really good team.”

Hayes said he was “honored to have the opportunity” to compete against Kentucky.

“Big Blue Nation showed up today,” Hayes said.

The Georgia State coach also emphasized that the physical play was not one-sided.

“They were just as physical as we were and they matched our physicality. The big fella (Amari Williams) is going to be a load. He’s going to be an absolute load,” Hayes said. “But I thought they were physical. I thought they were physical from my vantage point at least.”

Hayes also said the play that started a brief altercation in the second half was “nothing” extreme.

“One of our calling cards is to play a physical brand of basketball, especially in our league. That play was nothing. I don’t think anything sinister about it; it was just a physical play,” the Georgia State coach said. “Clashes like that happen every day in practice, and so that’s nothing new.

“And if you’re not used to that, you can kind of get taken aback — not to say Kentucky wasn’t used to it — but we see that every single day. And again, from that point on, I think they made decisions and made shots and we couldn’t really counter that at the level that they were doing it. Kentucky was making shots.”

The Wildcats put seven players in double figures and dominated points in the paint and fast break points.

“They’re the number eight team in the country for a reason. They have a lot of guys. They have got a lot of guys who can put it in the hole many different ways,” Hayes said.  “We tried to take away their 3 ball, and we kind of sort of did, but they found a way. And that’s what good teams do.

“And so again, I just have to tip my cap to them. We wanted to limit those 3-pointers, they shot 26 of them. They only made seven, but they still whipped us. That’s what good teams do.”