Georgia Basketball: Mann And Gaines Lead Bulldogs Past Appalachian State

Georgia Bulldogs head coach Mark Fox talks to guard Kenny Gaines (12) Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports

Charles Mann and Kenny Gaines each scored 14 points, leading Georgia to a 71-53 victory over Appalachian State Friday night at Stegeman Coliseum. Friday night’s win snapped a four-game losing streak for the Bulldogs (2-4) and marked the first of a five-game homestand.

Nemanja Djurisic also scored ten points. Brandon Morris and Donte’ Williams each contributed six rebounds.

“It’s good to be back home and it’s good for these kids to get a win,” said head coach Mark Fox. “This group needs some confidence. They need lots of experience, but they certainly need some confidence. We dug our own hole last week, and tonight was just one step forward.

“We did some positive things. I thought we scored the ball efficiently. We did not rebound it in the first half, but once we solved that, we were able to separate from them. That’s been an issue for this team, and it was again tonight for just a half. But certainly I’m happy to get the win.”

Georgia led by as many as seven points in the first half, but a scrappy Mountaineer defense tied the game at 29-29 with three minutes to play in the period. The Bulldogs, behind seven first-half points from Gaines, took a 33-32 lead into halftime.

Early in the second half, Georgia used a 12-1 run to extend its lead to double digits, 47-37, with 11 minutes remaining. The Bulldogs finished the game on a dominating 9-2 run. Appalachian State (1-5) was plagued by 32 percent shooting from the field, including 22 percent from three-point range.

The Mountaineers were paced offensively by Tevin Baskin who scored 20 points.

Georgia outrebounded ASU, 38-30 and outscored the Mountaineers 40-14 around the basket. With the win, the Bulldogs improve to 5-0 all-time versus Appalachian State. The Bulldogs tied a season-best in at 55% from the field and set a season-best on defense, limiting ASU to just 33 percent shooting from the field.

Georgia will play host to Chattanooga on Monday at 7:30 p.m. The game will be televised on CSS.