Georgia Basketball: Dawgs Run Over Moccasins 87- 56
Nov 24, 2013; Charleston, SC, USA; Georgia Bulldogs forward Nemanja Djurisic (42) goes up for a shot during the first half against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at TD Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports
Georgia junior Nemanja Djurisic scored 14 points to lead the Bulldogs to an 87-56 victory over Chattanooga on Monday night at Stegeman Coliseum.
The Bulldogs never trailed, leading by 12 before the first half was 8 minutes old. Coach Fox took advantage of the Bulldog dominance to rest a dinged up Charles Mann and reward second and third line players with extended playing time.
Djurisic was one of 13 Bulldogs (3-4) to score in the game. Senior Marcus Thornton came up just short of his first career double-double, scoring eight points and grabbing nine rebounds. Juwan Parker tallied 11 points and Kenny Gaines 10. The only Bulldogs failing to score were lightly used Houston Kessler and walk on Brandon Young.
“That certainly was a good win for us,” said head coach Mark Fox. “We played really well in the first half, especially defensively. I thought that we came in with a good approach and good plan and really executed it well in the first half. It was a really good night for us, especially with the fact that Charles [Mann] didn’t play much. It was a good win for us against a team that I thought was a really hard playing team.”
The Bulldogs benefited from 14 first-half points from Djurisic–the most for any Bulldog in a half this season. Georgia’s defense stifled Chattanooga (3-6) on the offensive end, holding the Mocs to just 19 percent shooting from the field in the first half.
In the second half, a nine-point spurt by the Mocs shrunk the Georgia lead to 26 points, but a dunk by Brandon Morris doused the Chattanooga momentum, and sent the Bulldogs on a 12-2 run to secure its second straight victory.
The Mocs shot just 29 percent from the field in the game. Georgia shot 50% and took a 51-to-38 rebounding and scored 54 points from the paint.
Georgia improves to 28-5 all-time in its series with Chattanooga.
After a break for final exams, Georgia will welcome the Lipscomb Bison (3-4) to Athens on Saturday, Dec. 14. The game is scheduled to tip-off at 4 p.m. For ticket information, go to Georgiadogs.com.