Auburn — Georgia athletics director Damon Evans and three senior administrators sat behind the Bulldogs' bench during Wednesday night's game against Auburn. But if it was unsettling for coach Dennis Felton or his team they didn't show it.

The Bulldogs played with more poise than they have in weeks, pulling out a hard-fought 59-54 SEC victory, their first on the road this season.

It snapped a five-game losing streak for Georgia (13-15, 4-11) and gives them an outside shot at a non-losing season and the No. 5 seed in the SEC tournament.

The Bulldogs will finish the regular season Saturday at home against Ole Miss (20-9, 6-9).

"It was a huge relief," said Georgia center Albert Jackson, who led all scorers with a career-high 16 points. "Just to go in that locker room and see the smiles on all my teammates was the best thing. That's all I needed to see."

Jackson said he didn't realize Evans, Arthur Johnson, Dave Muia and John Bateman were all in attendance until they came to the Georgia locker room after the game.

"When I saw them I was like, dang, they must have flown here on their private plane," he said.

They did, though the plane belongs to UGA.

The win didn't come easy. The Bulldogs, who led by as many as seven points in the second half, had fallen behind 48-43 with less than 10 minutes to play.

But Georgia fought back, thanks in large part to Jackson. The 6-foot-10 Kentuckian scored on back-to-back putbacks at the nine- and eight-minute marks before Terrance Woodbury gave the Bulldogs a 49-48 lead on a bank shot at 5:33.

Georgia would lose that advantage briefly before Jackson put them up to stay with a left-handed hook in the lane that made the score 53-52 with 2:52 to go.

Auburn had a chance but trailing 56-54, Quan Prowell missed an open 3-point try from the corner with seven seconds left.

"I'm just real happy for the guys and proud of them," Felton said. "It got hairy there when we lost our lead and got down by five. But we just grinded out the win."

Sundiata Gaines and Terrance Woodbury each had 11 points for Georgia. Jackson's 16 points came on 8-of-10 shooting and he also had eight rebounds.

"He was a monster on the offensive glass and did a good job of going up strong," Felton said of Jackson, who started his third straight game. "It seemed like he had eight guys hanging on him, but he just powered up. That's the third of the last four games he's played well."

Auburn (14-14, 4-11) loses for the ninth time in the past 11 games. The Tigers got 12 points from Frank Tolbert and and two more players in double figures but shot 33 percent from the field and went 6-for-31 (19 percent) from 3-point range. It was their first loss to Georgia here since 1994.

"Albert Jackson killed us with offensive rebounds and layups," Auburn coach Jeff Lebo said. "He had a career night against us, and we shot the ball so poorly."

Georgia led by three at halftime and went up 38-31 early in the second half after going 3-for-3 on its first three shots. But the Bulldogs also committed five turnovers in their first eight possessions. Not coincidentally, their lead didn't last long.

Tolbert made two free throws at the 14:22 mark to give Auburn a 40-38 lead. The Tigers stretched that to five points at 48-43 with 10:07 to play.

But that began a longer-than-usual dry spell for Auburn. The Tigers didn't score a point for a span of five and a half minutes. Dwayne Reed finally broke the streak with a fast-break dunk at the 4:22 mark.