The Associated Press

Kentucky's Marquis Estill (50) keeps control in the second half between Georgia's Steve Thomas (55) and a fallen Ezra Williams (5). (AP photo) | ZOOM |

ATHENS, Ga. - Georgia let it all slip away. "We just buckled," guard Jarvis Hayes said. "I don't know what it was. We thought we were where we wanted to be, just down two, but we didn't get it done."

Four straight turnovers later, No. 2 Kentucky had an eight-point lead, and the Wildcats held on to beat No. 21 Georgia 74-66 on Sunday for their 18th straight victory.

The Bulldogs were playing their first game without assistant coach Jim Harrick Jr., suspended Friday after a former player accused him of paying part of his expenses and committing academic fraud.

The player, Tony Cole, also told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution he used the personal credit card of head coach Jim Harrick to buy a TV while he was enrolled in school.

"I don't think that what's happened in the last couple of days had anything to do with this game," said Harrick, who only took a few questions.

Marquis Estill had 16 points and Chuck Hayes added 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Wildcats (24-3, 14-0 Southeastern Conference), who clinched a share of the Eastern Division title. They lead Florida by two games with two games left for each team, including a season-ending matchup in Gainesville, Fla., on Saturday.

Ezra Williams had 17 for Georgia (17-8, 9-5), which had won four straight.

Kentucky's Gerald Fitch drives on Georgia's Jarvis Hayes. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

Kentucky hasn't lost since Dec. 28, when Louisville blew out the Wildcats 81-63. During the streak, they've won by an average of 16 points, and they'd won their previous five road games by at least 16.

"The winning streak is something we're proud of, but we're just taking care of business," Estill said. "We don't talk about it too much."

The decisive spurt started on two free throws by Estill, which gave Kentucky the lead for good at 56-54. The Bulldogs went six straight possessions without scoring, and the final five of those ended in a turnover. They entered averaging a league-best 12 turnovers.

"That was part of our game plan," Kentucky guard Gerald Fitch said. "They get their offense started with that pass to the wing, and we wanted to overplay the passing lane and get them out of their offense."

The Wildcats scored six straight points for an eight-point lead, and Georgia could get no closer than four the rest of the way.

The Bulldogs had used a 10-0 run early in the second half to take a three-point lead, and the teams swapped the lead four times before Kentucky pulled away.

Estill wasn't on the court for most of Georgia's spurt, sitting down with 18:25 left after picking up his third foul.

"I didn't want to sit when I got that foul," Estill said. "But on the bench, I just tried to stay focused, so when I got back in, I would be ready to play."

When he returned, Kentucky ran most of his offense through passes to him in the post. This strategy paid off by putting Georgia in foul trouble, with Hayes and Ezra Wright both picking up their fourth in the final five minutes, and Estill made 3-of-6 from the line for that 56-54 lead.

Hayes, Georgia's leading scorer, eventually fouled out with 11 points on 5-of-15 shooting. The Bulldogs shot only 38 percent as a team. Steve Thomas had 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Kentucky	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Fitch	29	2	6	5	6	7	1	4	3	10
Bogans	37	6	10	2	4	6	2	4	2	14
Daniels	23	1	6	1	2	2	1	1	1	3
Hayes	36	5	12	4	4	12	3	2	2	15
Estill	25	4	8	8	12	8	0	4	2	16
Hawkins	22	0	7	8	10	6	3	3	2	8
Barbour	9	3	3	0	0	1	0	1	3	6
Camara	19	1	2	0	0	3	0	0	1	2
Totals	200	22	54	28	38	45	10	19	16	74

Team rebounds - 5.

Georgia	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Wright	38	3	9	2	4	1	4	4	5	9
Williams	33	5	14	4	6	4	1	3	1	17
Ja.Hayes	32	5	15	1	1	2	5	5	0	11
Daniels	29	2	5	2	2	5	0	4	1	6
Thomas	33	5	12	2	4	11	1	3	2	12
Wilkins	16	2	6	1	2	1	0	5	1	5
Gibson	3	0	0	2	2	0	0	1	0	2
Jo.Hayes	16	2	3	0	0	1	0	1	0	4
Totals	200	24	64	14	21	25	11	26	10	66

Team rebounds - 7.

Kentucky	35	39	-74
Georgia	30	36	-66

3-pointers - Kentucky 3-9 (Fitch 1-3, Bogans 0-2, Hayes 1-2, Hawkins 0-2);

Georgia 4-16 (Wright 1-4, Williams 3-9, Ja.Hayes 0-3).

Technicals - None.

Officials - Not available.

Attendance - 10,523.