No. 20 Kentucky Upset by Unranked Georgia Tech as Wildcats Fall to 1-3

A tough stretch for the No. 20 Kentucky Wildcats continued Sunday night when they were upset by unranked Georgia Tech, 79-62.

The loss was the Wildcats' third in as many games as they followed up their season-opening victory over Morehead State with losses to then-unranked Richmond (now No. 19) and No. 7 Kansas.

Georgia Tech earned its first win of the year after falling to Georgia State and Mercer to start the season.

Kentucky hasn't started the season at 1-3 since the 2000-01 season.

Sunday's loss also marked the first time that Kentucky head coach John Calipari has lost to a former assistant coach, giving him a 17-1 record, according to Georgia Tech play-by-play broadcaster Andy Demetra. Georgia Tech head coach Josh Pastner was the assistant coach at Memphis in Calipari's last season, and he was elevated to head coach when Calipari left for Kentucky in 2009.

The Yellow Jackets held a 34-27 lead at halftime after going on a 15-5 run, but the sides were nearly equal in field-goal percentage, with Kentucky hitting 10-of-24 shots (41.7 percent) and Georgia Tech going 13-of-31 (41.9 percent). The Wildcats had the advantage with four of eight three-pointers, compared to 3-of-9 from Georgia Tech, and in free-throw percentage (3-of-4 vs. 5-of-7).

It was in the second half that the Yellow Jackets took command, never giving up the halftime lead. They closed the game hitting 62.1 percent of field goals (18-of-29) while limiting the Wildcats to 48.0 percent (12-of-25). They also outscored them from three.

Freshmen Terrence Clarke and Brandon Boston Jr. led the Wildcats offense, with Clarke recording 22 points, three rebounds and three assists, while Boston posted 11 points and tallied four rebounds. Classmate Isaiah Jackson added nine points, 12 rebounds and four assists.

But the trio of first-years was no match for a set of Yellow Jacket seniors that provided a more balanced attack. For Georgia Tech, Moses Wright tallied 21 points with eight rebounds and three assists, followed by Bubba Parham (17 PTS, 2 REB, 4 AST) and Jose Alvarado (10 PTS, 3 REB, 2 AST).

Kentucky is set to host Notre Dame on Saturday at noon ET (CBS), while Georgia Tech will look to carry its momentum into Wednesday's game at Nebraska.