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Miller leads No. 1 Kentucky past Georgia

Jan 25, 2012 - 5:47 AM Athens, GA (Sports Network) - Darius Miller scored a game-high 19 points off the bench Tuesday night, and No. 1 Kentucky began its second stint as the country's top-ranked team with a 57-44 win over Georgia.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist added 14 points for the Wildcats (20-1, 6-0 SEC), who have won 12 straight games since a last-second loss at Indiana on December 10, which ended their initial two-week stay atop the AP poll.

Dustin Ware scored 12 points to lead Georgia (10-10, 1-5) and Nemanja Djurisic had 10. The Bulldogs have lost five of their last six games overall and four of their last five against Kentucky at home.

The game was close until Kentucky embarked on a 10-1 run to end the first half with a 12-point lead.

Miller scored the first seven points of the burst on two jumpers and a three- pointer. Kyle Wiltjer then buried a three to send the Wildcats into the locker room with a 38-26 advantage.

The game was never closer than 10 points in the second half, but it was also never out of hand. Kentucky led by as many as 19 points in the last three minutes, but the game was as close as 12 with under 10 minutes remaining.

"I thought we opened the game well," said Georgia coach Mark Fox. "Through the first 10 or 12 minutes of the first half, we competed pretty well. We just never were able to get back within striking distance (after that).

"Kentucky is just so good. They have the best defensive team in the league and it was hard for us to score, for sure."

The Wildcats shot 43.8 percent and were 8-for-18 from three-point range. They held the Bulldogs to 34.5 percent shooting and out-rebounded them 41-26.

Game Notes

Kentucky leads all-time series 114-25 and is 40-16 in Athens...The Wildcats are off to their best start in SEC play under John Calipari...Miller's points tied a season-high. He matched a season-high with four three-pointers.