Tuesday night’s game against No. 6 Kentucky was just the second of 18 conference games Georgia will play this year.

Still, the Bulldogs guard Silas Demary Jr. said his team’s 82-69 victory over the Wildcats in front of a sellout crowd of 10,523 may have been the biggest he’s seen in his two years with the team.

“It’s a big win in my opinion because there were times last year where we got through to the end and then let those big wins fall,” Demary Jr. said. “Being able to overcome that hurdle against that To overcome ranked opponents and get those Quad One wins… that just shows the type of growth we’ve seen in our program and the growth of the guys that are willing to put in the work every day.”

The win moves the Bulldogs to 13-2, 1-1 in the SEC, while Kentucky falls to 12-3 and 1-1 in the league.

It was also a quick response from the Bulldogs to fans who were already predicting a season of doom and gloom after they lost their conference opener to Ole Miss 63-51 on Saturday night in Oxford.

“One thing about this team is that we handle adversity very well in practice and in games, and that showed here tonight,” the freshman said Asa Newell, who led the Bulldogs with 17 points. “We trusted each other. Coach had a great game plan and we played really hard.”

Newell wasn’t the only Bulldogs who had an outstanding night.

Blue Cain contributed 15 points, followed by Demary Jr. with 14 and Dakota Leffew at 11.

Somto Cyril – a former Kentucky signee – also appealed to the head coach Mike White called his “best game.” Despite only scoring six points, Cyril was a terror for the Bulldogs, helping Georgia win the rebounding battle 41-34, scoring a team-high eight points on the night.

“Somto is the core of our team. You know, he came in and made plays, diving on people, and we needed that energy from him,” Newell said. “It’s just him putting in all the work. He does that all the time in training and it showed tonight.”

Demary Jr. agreed.

“For me, it was just watching him shake the rim. I’ve never seen that before. The ability for a guy his size to bounce back so quickly is a testament to his hard work and belief in himself,” said Demary Jr. “I think this is probably his fifth year in America. So, you know, only he experiences adversity. But I’m grateful to see it because he’s my teammate and I don’t have to fight it. In practice I will fight against it, but when it comes to counting I know he has my back. I’m glad he’s on my team.”

White was impressed by what he saw.

Despite shooting just 41 percent from the field (23 of 55), White praised his team’s energy and defense, which held Kentucky to just 37 percent shooting (24 of 64).

“I thought we played with a lot of energy, stayed connected the whole time and separated the score a little bit late in the half. We did a lot of good things, did a lot of good things,” White said. “We have to keep improving and there are a lot of things we have to keep working on. It’s obviously a really good win for us, but it’s a different SEC these days and all of this is going to be extremely difficult, so we have to move on to the next one pretty quickly.”

The Bulldogs led the entire second half and had a 14-point lead at one point, although Kentucky was able to cut the lead to five at 55-50 with 12:07 to play.

The Bulldogs cut the lead to seven with two free throws. Kentucky didn’t get any closer the rest of the evening, ultimately losing its third straight game at Stegeman Coliseum.

Kentucky earned a 106-100 win over Florida on Saturday, but Georgia’s defense was much more difficult.

“It’s like the second 10-minute stretch was really problematic. The first 10 minutes were fine, we got off to a good start, and then comes the second 10 minutes. “Maybe it’s a few rotation issues, maybe we’re a little over-sensitive to fouls, or maybe it’s when the issues in the game really start to trickle down,” Kentucky’s coach said Mark Pope said. “But we are very aware of that. We had much better success in this segment last game, but we just couldn’t match it tonight.”

After five lead changes early in the game, Georgia dominated the final 10 minutes of the half and went into the locker room with a 47-34 lead.

The decisive factor for the spurt was a 14:4 run by the Bulldogs, which Cyril fended off with enormous effort, grabbing a few offensive boards before firing them into the goal for a two count and bringing the sell-out crowd to their feet.

The Bulldogs weren’t done yet.

After a three-pointer by Leffew gave Georgia its first double-digit lead, Newell later hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Bulldogs a 47-34 halftime lead.

Georgia returns to action when the Bulldogs host Oklahoma. The meeting point is scheduled for 6 p.m

Box score

• With today’s result, the Bulldogs have now won their last two home games against the Wildcats (75-68 win on February 11, 2023).

• Starting series – Georgia fielded the same starting lineup for the 15th straight game with Cain, Demary Jr., Lawrence, Godfrey and Newell.

• Leading from the line – Sophomore guards Blue Cain and Silas Demary Jr. combined to score a perfect 13-for-13 from the free throw line in the win. The Bulldogs’ 29 total free throws are the second-most of the year (30 – Texas Southern on November 10).

• Nonstop Newell – Freshman forward Asa Newell led the Bulldogs with 17 points tonight in the eighth game of the season

.• Second half steady – Georgia took a 13-point lead at halftime after Newell knocked down a long three-point attempt past the buzzer. The Bulldogs then went into the second half and finished the game with a 13-point lead despite late pushes from the Wildcats.

• Big Time Beat – The result marks the first win over an AP Top 10 program in four years (65-62 win over No. 9 Memphis on Jan. 4, 2020).