Marcus Thornton, Kenny Gaines lead Bulldogs over Gators

Mark Fox's Georgia Bulldogs look like they are back on track after Saturday's 73-61 win over the Florida Gators. Georgia led wire-to-wire and handed the Gators their first conference loss in 24 games.

The Bulldogs got things off on the right foot early as they began the game with a 12-0 run. Florida's first bucket didn't come until the 15:04 mark of the first half with Jacob Kurtz snapped the streak. Georgia extended its lead to 19-4 a couple of minutes later as Houston Kessler knocked down a three-pointer.

The Bulldog's hot shooting and good defensive effort prevented the Gators from establishing their press and pressure defense. Florida showed some signs of life at the end of the first half and closed to within 36-31 at the break.

Devin Robinson opened the scoring for the Gators in the second half with a three-pointer and brought Florida to within two points at 36-34. That is as close as the Gators would get as Georgia answered with a 10-1 run midway through the half to push the lead back into double digits.

Marcus Thornton helped set the tone early and finished with 16 points and six rebounds. Kenny Gaines also finished with 16 and knocked down four more three-pointers. J.J. Frazier started for the second straight game and finished with 11 points and six assists.

With the win, Georgia evens its conference record at 2-2 and 11-5 overall. The Bulldogs are back in action on Tuesday when they host Ole Miss at Stegeman Coliseum.