Beating Kentucky would provide awesome end for UGA’s Djurisic, Thornton

Georgia’s two senior forwards couldn’t have come from more divergent backgrounds.

Nemanja Djurisic came from halfway around the world to join the Bulldogs. Marcus Thornton came from just down the road. Yet as their collegiate careers wind down, the two players could not be any closer personally or more important to their team.

“We have a tremendous relationship,” said Thornton, a graduate of Atlanta’s Westlake High. “Nemi is one of my best friends. Obviously, we’ve been together for four years now. You can’t really put a tag on that. We’ve just grown together and gone through a lot of things. It’s been a lot of fun.”

Said Djurisic, who comes from the Podgorica, Montenegro, in Eastern Europe: “We’re very close. The most important thing is the friendship that we have created and what we’ve been through. Me and Marcus, we play similar positions and we’ve been here for a while now and we’ve been through bad times and good times. He’s been through some adversity and I was there, I feel like, when he needed me. And he’s been there for me also.”

Tuesday night is a special time for Djurisic and Thornton for two reasons. First, each will be honored (along with guard Taylor Echols) during Senior Night ceremonies before UGA faces No. 1 Kentucky. Secondly, their play will be critically important to the Bulldogs (19-9, 10-6 SEC) if they’re to hang with — never mind upset — the powerful Wildcats (29-0, 16-0 SEC).

“They’re just two great kids,” Georgia coach Mark Fox said. “They have a genuine love for each other. I mean, they’ve gone through a lot of battles together. But just imagine over four years how many times they’ve had to battle every day in practice. They just really tried to push each other, support each other and obviously have become very close.

“I’m proud of both of them. It’ll be a tough night tomorrow.”

The two forwards have joined forces to provide a fairly formidable and versatile front line. Neither would be described as a dominating player along the lines of what they will encounter in Kentucky’s Karl-Anthony Towns (6-foot-11, 250 pounds) and Willie Cauley-Stein (7-0, 240). But the duo is perfectly suited for Fox’s triangle-based offense.

They’re able to provide Georgia with a threat from beyond the arc while also providing the Bulldogs with the low-post presence. The 6-8, 235-pound Thornton leads UGA in scoring and rebounding (12.3, 7.2). Djurisic (6-8, 230) averages 11.1 points and five rebounds and is the team’s third-best 3-point shooter (.349).

“When I was recruited, all the other schools were telling me, ‘Marcus Thornton is over there, you don’t want to go there,”’ Djurisic said. “It’s crazy how after four years we couldn’t have done it without each other. We really play off each other and work well together.”

UK employs a two-platoon system that is so deep, coach John Calipari can put five players on the floor that all stand 6-6 and up.

“Well, their small forward is bigger than our center,” Fox said, referring to Kentucky’s 6-10 wing, Trey Lyles. “Somebody said they’re bigger than every NBA team but one. Bud (Atlanta Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer) texted me and said we could practice at 11 this morning. But he said, ‘They’re bigger than our team so it wouldn’t probably wouldn’t do us any good.’”