Djurisic, Thornton lead Georgia past Troy

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) Nemanja Djurisic likes the progress Georgia made this week with improved ball movement.

If the Bulldogs can stay on task for an entire game, Djurisic likes his team's chances to score more points this season.

''In this game we really helped each other,'' Djurisic said. ''We passed the ball. We ran well. We did a really good job, I think. We just need to be more consistent throughout the whole game.''

Djurisic and Marcus Thornton each scored 17 points to help Georgia beat Troy 82-60 on Friday night.

Starting point guard Charles Mann added 14 points and eight rebounds, and J.J. Frazier had six assists in a reserve role for the Bulldogs (2-1).

Wesley Person finished with 20 points and Chris Bilbo had 10 points and nine rebounds for Troy (1-2).

The Bulldogs were outrebounded in just eight games last season, but they had been beaten on the boards in each of their first two games. Against Troy, they finished with a 43-33 advantage.

Georgia, which tied Kentucky for second place in the Southeastern Conference last season, was coming off a 10-point home win over Stony Brook last Tuesday.

Georgia dropped its opener last week at Georgia Tech, the Bulldogs' fourth straight defeat in the series.

Troy was coming off a 10-point home loss to Mississippi.

Thornton made consecutive baskets with a layup and a dunk to give the Bulldogs an 18-point lead with 13:18 remaining. Most of Georgia's offensive success resulted from a stingy defense that got the ball out quickly on fast breaks.

Georgia had 17 assists, six by reserve guard J.J. Frazier in 21 minutes.

''We have a very balanced offensive team,'' Bulldogs coach Mark Fox said. ''One of the things we talked about before the game was making sure we helped each other get everyone's particular shot. I thought in the first half we played very unselfishly and made each other better.''

Georgia took its first double-digit lead when Djurisic's 3-pointer made it 22-11. The Trojans trailed by at least 11 points the rest of the game after Thornton dunked at the 10:58 mark of the first half.

Troy, of the Sun Belt Conference, dropped to 0-5 against Georgia in their first meeting since 1980.

''Our transition defense was not very good tonight,'' Troy coach Phil Cunningham said. ''One change we made before tonight's game was we wanted to send an extra guy to get some offensive boards, but we may need to rethink that going forward.''

TIP-INS

Troy: Kevin Thomas was coming off a 13-point, 14-rebound performance against Ole Miss, but the senior forward finished with two points, went scoreless from the field and had just three rebounds. He had 10 offensive rebounds against Ole Miss.

Georgia: Kenny Gaines started and scored 12 points after averaging the same number as a reserve in the first two games. Gaines, who started all 32 of his games last season, had a fast break dunk that made it 48-32 with 14:12 remaining.

UP NEXT

Troy visits Southern Mississippi on Tuesday.

Georgia hosts Florida Atlantic on Sunday.