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.