Georgia coach Mark Fox spent a lot of time preaching offense to the Bulldogs this week, and evidently they were listening.
Georgia busted loose for a season-high scoring output Wednesday night as it dispatched a moribund South Carolina team 97-76 before 5,366 at Stegeman Coliseum. The Bulldogs also tallied season bests for 3-pointers made (10), free throws attempted (50) and free throws made (33).
“Coach put an emphasis this week on us being more decisive and aggressive on offense and I definitely think we were able to do that,” said junior Marcus Thornton, who scored 12 points and was one of five Bulldogs in double figures. “We got some things done tonight.”
Primarily the Bulldogs kept rolling in SEC play. With the 21-point victory the Bulldogs (10-7) improved to 4-1 in conference play for the first time since 2003. Georgia finished 19-8 overall and 11-5 in SEC play that season, but had to vacate the victories because of NCAA violations.
“That’s great, but it’s nothing to harp on,” Thornton said of the strong SEC start. “We have a long SEC season ahead of us.”
Georgia travels to Kentucky on Saturday to take on the No. 14 Wildcats (14-2, 4-1). The Bulldogs are 26-115 all time against the basketball powerhouse and 5-58 in Lexington. But nobody expected Georgia to be tied with Kentucky for second place at this juncture either.
South Carolina falls to 7-11 overall and is 0-5 in league play for the first time since 1999.
Leading the way for Georgia was forward Nemanja Djursic. The junior from Montenegro, known as “Nemi” to UGA fans, poured in a career-high 22 points in just 21 minutes of play. His scoring came on 3-of-3 shooting from 3-point range and he was 6-of-6 from the field.
Kenny Gaines (14), Brandon Morris (13), Marcus Thornton (12), and Charles Mann (10) also scored in double figures and Donte Williams added 9 points and 10 rebounds. The Bulldogs shot 55 percent from the field and their 97 points was 35 above their season average in SEC play.
Djurisic had scored just 11 points in the previous three games combined.
“Nemi was really good, and you have to give him all the credit for that,” Fox said. “I could have babied Nemi the past 10 days. He played well because he was determined to play well today. And he did.”
Unlike the Bulldogs’ other SEC wins, Wednesday’s came with relative ease. Georgia led by as many as 15 in the first half, was up 11 at halftime and quickly built on that in the second half.
The Bulldogs were up 11 with 15:25 to play when a jump shot by Williams ignited a 11-0 run to double their advantage. At the end of the spurt Djurisic made back-to-back 3-pointers, his second and third of the game. In the matter of 2:10, Georgia built an insurmountable 64-42 lead with 14:15 to play.
Another highlight for the Bulldogs occurred in that stretch. Gaines blocked the 3-point attempt of Brenton Williams, gathered the loose carom and started a fast break. He then fed Morris for soaring jam. That ignited the previously sedate crowd and forced a South Carolina timeout with Georgia leading 57-42.
Fouls were way too big a part of the story. The SEC referees whistled players for 59 fouls and the teams combined to shoot 86 free throws. Fifty of those were with the Bulldogs on the line and they made 33 of them, or 66 percent.
But the referees couldn’t bring Georgia down. The Bulldogs left feeling good about themselves.
“We believe we can do something special this year,” Djurisic said. “We believe in our team and our coaches believe in us. No matter what the media says and the polls, we believe in each other as teammates.”
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