Very hot Dogs blister UTC Mocs, 86-55

photo UTC's Chuck Ester, left and Casey Jones block Georgia's Yante Maten during a free throw attempt Tuesday at McKenzie Arena.

For a team that hadn't shown prowess in shooting the ball all season, the Georgia Bulldogs found their stroke in McKenzie Arena on Tuesday.

The Bulldogs shot a blistering 64 percent from the floor, and Kenny Gaines and Marcus Thornton hit 19 of their first 21 shots from the field in an 86-55 defeat of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in front of 3,784 fans.

Georgia (4-3) came in averaging 46 percent from the field, while shooting 26 percent from 3-point range. They finished 7-for-11 from 3 and outscored the Mocs 42-18 in the paint.

Gaines, a 6-foot-3 guard who missed the first month of practice with mononucleosis, scored 25 points on 9-for-11 shooting from the field and 5-for-6 from 3, while the 6-8 Thornton had 24 points and six rebounds on 10-for-11 shooting on the inside.

Guard Charles Mann had 16 points, five rebounds and five assists, and Nemanja Djurisic had 10 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Yante Maten blocked six UTC shots.

The Bulldogs had 15 assists to only nine turnovers.

"When you play a team like that, there has to be some give and take involved," UTC coach Will Wade said. "We didn't want to let them pound us in the post, so we gave them some shots, and to their credit, they knocked them down. We started the game off in some zone, and we were going to hope they shot their percentages.

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"I felt good at the half. I thought that certainly the numbers will come back down, but they shot even better in the second half."

After shooting 60 percent in the first half, the Bulldogs hit 16-for-24 (67 percent) in the final 20 minutes.

"It was a really good win for our team," Georgia coach Mark Fox said. "I think Chattanooga has a good basketball team and they're going to have success in league play, but I thought our guys were geared up and ready to play tonight. We shot the ball well and defended at a level we like. ... We were very unselfish, stayed with our style of play and helped each other.

"We are a pretty good offensive team -- the best we've had in years -- and when we help each other by making a pass that leads to a basket, or help each other find a shot we can finish, we're pretty good."

Casey Jones, fresh off being named Southern Conference player of the week, had a team-high 19 points and five rebounds for UTC. He scored the Mocs' first six points, and then a 3-pointer by Greg Pryor tied the game at 10. Georgia responded with a 13-2 run, but the Mocs rallied again, cutting the lead to five and trailing only 39-32 after a Ronrico White 3-pointer at the buzzer.

The second half is where the game got out of hand. The Mocs were 6-for-28 from the field, and after a 13-2 run early in the half followed by a 10-3 spurt later, the Bulldogs were in complete control.

"It's frustrating, because we had a plan going into the game," center Justin Tuoyo said. "We know the plays they're going to run, so when you're there and they still hit shots, or you mess up on coverage and they hit shots, you feel like you can't do nothing."

As a team, the Mocs shot 31 percent from the field and 30 percent from 3-point range. They finished with 11 offensive rebounds that led to 13 second-chance points. White had nine points and four assists, while Tuoyo had eight points and three blocks.

"We just drizzled away as the game went on," Jones said. "They shot the ball very well, and we couldn't throw a rock in the ocean.

"It's tough, but going into the next game, we have a few days to work on the shots we're missing."

The Mocs have a few days to focus on exams before their next game, at home against Montreat on Monday.

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.

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