Georgia is excited and optimistic about all the players it has coming back next season. But the Bulldogs lose two tremendously valuable seniors, as evidenced in Friday’s NCAA Tournament game.
Senior forward Marcus Thornton recorded the 10th double-double of his career, with 12 points, 10 rebounds in his final collegiate game. He leaves as the only the fifth player in UGA history to win 20 games with three different teams.
Fellow post player Nemanja Djurisic matched his career rebounding high with 12. He was 2-for-9 shooting and had only seven points, but finishes his career with 1,123 points, good for a tie with Jerry Epling (1968-70) for 28th place on the all-time list.
“Marcus Thornton has been such a winner,” Georgia coach Mark Fox said. “He’s a first-class representative of our school. He’s put us in a position to where our team expects itself to be successful. Nemi was a tremendous leader and also a very good player for us and a terrific young man. Those two, along with Taylor, it was an honor to coach them.”
Taylor Echols was a walk-on who earned a scholarship with the team.
It was tough for the seniors to take off their uniforms one last time in the locker room Friday after the 70-63 loss to Michigan State.
“When I walked into the locker room, the emotions among the team, the things the players were saying to each other, it was really amazing and makes me realize how special this team is,” said Djurisic, a native of Montenegro. “It’s something I will always cherish and I will always remember. This is a hard moment for me but one I’ll have to remember.”
Said Thornton: “This is something the University of Georgia men’s basketball program can build on. We’ve been able to establish a consistency and a tradition of winning games and I think that’s what it’s going to be all about going forward.”
Djurisic was having a hard time getting over the two free throws he missed with Georgia mounting a comeback with 2:48 to play.
“I was frustrated with myself for not being able to convert there,” Djurisic said. “I was really sorry about that and wish I could have that back.”
Both players intend to pursue professional basketball.
Gaines plays through pain: Considering he played at only about 75 percent because of a sprained left foot, Georgia got about all it could expect from Kenny Gaines. The junior guard played 20 minutes and finished with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting, with two 3-point shots.
The Bulldogs would have liked to play Gaines a little more, but foul trouble limited him to nine minutes in the first half. Georgia also rested him at times because of pain.
“I played OK,” said Gaines, who missed two of the Bulldogs’ past four games because of the injury. “I could have done a lot of things better defensively. I had a lot of defensive errors. But for the most part I feel like I played OK.”
Fox thought Gaines was better than OK.
“They told me last week if I wanted him at 75 percent I should hold him out of the SEC Tournament,” the coach said. “If he was 75 or 80, I don’t know, but he was obviously hurting. So I’m really proud of the effort he gave us. This is a hard game to play when you don’t practice, and it’s a hard job to guard (Travis) Trice with a hurt foot.”
Maten not discouraged: Georgia freshman and Michigan resident Yante Maten was excited about playing the Spartans in the NCAA Tournament. But he didn't perform as he envisioned. He finished with two points, on 1-of-3 shooting, in 13 minutes.
“It was real frustrating because we all knew what we had to do,” Maten said. “It was the little things that translated into big points for them. … But I learned a lot.”
Maten’s teammates point to him as a reason to be optimistic about next season. He averaged 5.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and led the team in blocks with 45 as a backup to Thornton and Djurisic.
“Obviously Yante is going to be a great player,” Thornton said.
Etc.: This marked just the second time in program history Georgia (21-12) has posted back-to-back seasons of 20 wins or more … The Bulldogs now have a 7-12 all-time record in NCAA Tournament games. Bulldogs teams have yet to win in Charlotte, N.C., after their third try. They lost here as a No. 10 seed in 2011 and as a No. 4 seed in 1997. … Michigan State's 19 fast-break points were a season high by a UGA opponent and the fourth time this season an opponent reached double figures in fast-break points.
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