By Paul Newberry
The Associated Press

ATLANTA - Georgia already has dropped four games by at least 20 points, including an embarrassing home loss to Winthrop. A tough season for the Bulldogs, right?

Especially after last year's academic scandal sent coach Jim Harrick packing?

Well, actually, the undermanned Bulldogs (9-5, 1-2 SEC) have somehow managed to pull off two of the season's biggest upsets.

A double-overtime victory over then-No. 3 Georgia Tech was surprising enough. But Saturday's 65-57 triumph at fifth-ranked Kentucky was downright astonishing.

Georgia - which has only seven scholarship players - went into Rupp Arena, ignored 23,000 hostile fans and handed the Wildcats their first Southeastern Conference loss in nearly two years.

"This is the first day of the rest of the season," said forward Jonas Hayes, one of four seniors who start for the Bulldogs. "If we can maintain this level of intensity and enthusiasm, we'll be all over it."

The two upsets - one over an unbeaten state rival, the other against one of college basketball's blue bloods - brought hope to a program in desperate need of some positive reinforcement.

Just 10 months ago, the Bulldogs were a national pariah, caught red-handed running a bogus class for players (no attendance required) and facing allegations of illicit payoffs on behalf of a former player.

The scandal quickly spiraled out of control, prompting Georgia to give up a sure spot in the NCAA Tournament and force Harrick into early retirement.

Enter Dennis Felton, the iron-fisted successor who faced a major rebuilding job. Gone were the team's top two scorers, Jarvis Hayes and Ezra Williams. Most of the recruits who signed on with Harrick left, too.

Understandably, there have been some tough times.

In a game that was supposed to pad the record, Georgia got blown out by Winthrop 80-60 in early December. Before the month was out, Pittsburgh whipped the Bulldogs 76-55.

The new year started triumphantly with an 83-80 win vs. Georgia Tech, which had won 12 straight for the best start in school history. Alas, the Bulldogs lost their first two SEC games by a combined 45 points - 89-65 at Tennessee, 84-63 at home to South Carolina.

With a week to prepare for Kentucky, Felton gave his team three days off, then got to work. He had some experience beating the Wildcats, leading Western Kentucky to a Rupp Arena victory in the 2001 season opener.

Felton showed just how much the Kentucky game meant to him during a film session the night before.

"I didn't think we were ever going to get out of there," senior guard Rashad Wright said. "He was going on and on. You could tell he was feeling the fire. We came out and played well because of that."

The four seniors - Wright and Hayes are joined in the lineup by Chris Daniels and Damien Wilkins - give Georgia (9-5, 1-2 SEC) a chance to keep things respectable against just about anyone. But there's little room for error with a freshman-populated bench.

Wright is especially important, setting the tone from the point. He came up big against Kentucky with 20 points.

Georgia trotted onto the court at Rupp as a 16 1/2-point underdog, needled by the blue-clad crowd with chants of "Winthrop! Winthrop!" A couple of hours later, the Bulldogs were relishing the last laugh.

Wright finished the upset with a resounding dunk. Wilkins grabbed 13 rebounds, helping Georgia dominate the boards (36-23) against a team that had been outrebounded only twice all season. Wilkins and freshman Levi Stukes clamped down on Gerald Fitch, holding the SEC's third-leading scorer to just 10 points on 2-of-9 shooting.

Georgia also won at Rupp Arena in 2002, albeit with a more talented team. This group of seniors became the first in school history to win twice in Lexington.

"They came in here not intimidated and not afraid," Kentucky forward Chuck Hayes said. "They didn't care about the name on our chest."

The Wildcats (11-2, 2-1) were primed for a letdown after a thrilling win at Mississippi State four days earlier. Erik Daniels laid in the winning basket at the buzzer, luckily winding up with the ball after a deflected inbounds pass.

That gave Kentucky 21 straight SEC victories - the ninth-longest winning streak in conference history - since a loss to Vanderbilt on Feb. 27, 2002.

Now it's time to get started on a new streak.

"This is just one game and it's nothing to worry about," Daniels said. "We still have 13 more SEC games to play."