McClatchy Newspapers

(MCT)

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Lowly Georgia dealt Kentucky a crippling blow Wednesday night by beating the Cats, 90-85.

The Bulldogs, who came into the game ranked 308th nationally in free-throw accuracy, made 25 of 30 in this stunning upset.

Georgia had not won a game on the road in Southeastern Conference play. The Bulldogs (12-18, 3-12 SEC) had averaged only 60.7 points in league play.

Leading scorer Terrance Woodbury, an inconsistent shooter, was hot this night. He poured in 30 points. He made 12 of 12 free throws.

Kentucky, which needed to bolster its NCAA Tournament chances, fell to 19-11 overall and 8-7 in the SEC.

Georgia, ranked 271st (out of 330 Division I teams) in shooting accuracy, made 50 percent of its shots.

Jodie Meeks led UK with 23 points despite making only six of 16 shots. Patrick Patterson added 14 and Michael Porter 15. Porter hit a career-high five three-pointers, but he shot an airball when the Cats trailed 83-80 with barely a minute left.

Kentucky needed to score the final nine points of the first half to take a 49-47 lead at intermission. A couple of Georgia turnovers and an intentional foul on Georgia's Corey Butler helped Kentucky finish with a rush.

Kentucky needed the help.

With Woodbury pouring in 21 points, Georgia was more than competitive despite its lowly status.

Woodbury, who blows hot and cold, got off to a good start with an assist from UK. The Cats fouled him twice early, enabling Georgia's leading scorer to get four points on the board inside the first 90 seconds.

With that start, Woodbury was off. He scored Georgia's first nine points.

Georgia led by as much as five points early. Then a 13-0 Kentucky run put the Cats ahead 23-14. Porter hit two of his career-high four three-pointers of the first half in the run.

Twice the Cats led by nine points. But Woodbury would not let Georgia fall hopelessly behind. It also helped Georgia to make 12 of 13 free throws. Woodbury, an 80-percent free-thrower this season, made 10 of 10 in the first 20 minutes.

When freshman Dustin Ware banked in a shot from the left wing, the Bulldogs led 47-40 with 1:06 left.

A comeback seemed unlikely. Meeks was suffering through a 1-for-6 shooting half. Aside from Porter's 12 points, the Cats struggled to score.

Porter and Kevin Galloway missed layups. Josh Harrellson shot an airball from the low post.

But Porter's fourth three-pointer started a late rush. Kentucky took the lead on a four-point trip downcourt.

A fast break off a Georgia turnover resulted in Butler's intentional foul preventing a Harris layup. Harris made both free throws with 15.1 left.

With the ensuing possession, Patterson cut off a Miller screen and took Galloway's inbounds pass for a dunk. That set the halftime score.

Kentucky's play to start the second half was a disaster.

Georgia scored 10 straight points to take a 61-53 lead with 15:51 left.

The run coincided with a mass substitution by UK Coach Billy Gillispie. Harrellson, Galloway, Miller and walk-on Landon Slone joined Porter with 18 minutes left. Until the TV timeout with 15:31 left, UK missed three shots, Slone had a driving attempt engulfed and the Cats committed three turnovers. The final two hurt to watch: Miller threw a high-low pass much too high for Harrellson, then Galloway fired a fastbreak pass that Harrellson couldn't handle.

Kentucky's starters returned after the TV timeout. They brought a renewed energy that resulted in the grinding, hustling play UK talked about on Tuesday.

Meeks took charge. He stole a pass and zipped to a fast-break layup. Fouled, his three-point play started a 9-2 counter by Kentucky. Meeks was everywhere and his hustle seemed infectious. His baseline jumper reduced the deficit to 63-60.

Then after another steal, he launched a three-pointer that would have brought an explosion from the stands. Meeks missed, but Harris hustled to get to a 50-50 rebound, which led to a Miller putback.

That prompted a Georgia timeout with 13:43 left.

Kentucky seemed primed to build a lead. But Georgia did the construction work with more wood.

Woodbury hit a pull-up jumper after his defender, Miller, went for a steal.

Then after a Patterson miss from the post, Woodbury made a three-pointer over Miller to put Georgia ahead 72-64 with 8:25 left.

UK called time six seconds later.

Three times down the stretch, Georgia got the lead to 10 points, the third time on a pretty reverse layup by Woodbury (his 29th and 30th points) to make it 78-68 with 5:43 left.