Georgia Basketball: Davidson Downs Bulldogs 94 – 82
Nov 21, 2013; Charleston, SC, USA; Davidson Wildcats forward De
The Davidson Wildcats defeated the Georgia Bulldogs men’s basketball team 94-82 Thursday night in the opening round of the Charleston Classic. Junior forward Nemanja Djurisic led Georgia with 19 points and six rebounds. Sophomore guards Charles Mann and Kenny Gaines and freshman forward Cameron Forte also scored in double figures. It’s the first time since December of 2012 that the Bulldogs have had four players score at least ten points. The Wildcats took an early 7 point lead on two free throws by De’Mon Brooks. Georgia countered with 12 – 0 run largely on the strength of scoring from Djurisic and Mann to take 26 – 23 lead. However, the Wildcats outscored the Bulldogs by 23 over the last 8 minutes to secure a 10-point half time lead. Forte scored two of his ten points to cut the Davidson lead to nine with 9:28 remaining in the second half, but the Wildcats responded with a run capped by a Tyler Kallnoski three-pointer to regain a 14-point lead. Davidson gained it’s largest lead of the game with six minutes remaining on Jack Gibbs layup which put his team up 17 points, 85-68. “We scored the ball at a pretty good percentage, but we got worn out at the [defensive] end,” said head coach Mark Fox. “We’re not as good of a defensive team right now and the free throw line was the big difference in the game. There are obviously a couple of turnovers that we would like to have back, but I thought those numbers were good and our percentages were good. Despite only committing 3 fouls less than Georgia, Davidson shot 41 free throws to Georgia’s 24. And while the Bulldogs shot free throws at near 80%, Davidson maximized their free throw advantage by shooting 83%. The 15-point difference at the foul line is largely due to De’Mon Brooks’ one-man domination of Georgia in the paint. Brooks scored 13 of his 21 points on 16 free throws. Georgia big men John Cannon, Cameron Brooks, Djurisic and Donte Williams shot 7 free throws for 4 points. “What has plagued our team the last couple years is our ability to score the ball. [This year’s team] is a better offensive team so that part is good, but we have to improve at the defensive end and tonight we hopefully learned some lessons.” The game was similar to the Georgia loss on Friday night to Georgia Tech. The Bulldogs saw Daniel Miller also dominate in the post and Tech outscore Georgia at the end of the first half and beginning of the second half. Against Davidson, Georgia shot a season-best 55 percent from the field, including 41 percent from behind the arc. The Bulldogs also went 19-of-24 from the free throw line. The shooting numbers were offset by a 16 to Davidson’s 5 turnover deficit. Along with Brooks, Davidson was paced offensively by Brian Sullivan who scored 20 points. Georgia will play Temple on Friday at 7:00p.m. The game can be seen on ESPN3.com