posted November 20, 2008
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico --- Taking on last season’s national runner-up is never an easy task, but the Chattanooga men’s basketball team (0-3) gave Memphis (3-0) all it could handle Thursday in an 83-71 loss during the first round of the 2008 O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip Off.
Seniors Stephen McDowell and Nicchaeus Doaks were key cogs in the Mocs offense on the night as the two combined for 42 of Chattanooga’s points.
McDowell finished with a career and game-high 27 points off 10-for-18 (55%) shooting from the field, including 7-for-13 (54%) from three-point range.
Doaks finished with 15 points and 16 rebounds for his second straight double-double of the season. Doaks’s 16 boards set a new tournament record which was previously set at 15 by Miami’s Anthony King.
Junior Ty Patterson continued his scoring onslaught with 10 points, for his third straight double-digit scoring performance.
In the first half the Mocs were able to stay close to Memphis largely in part to McDowell’s 14 points. The senior drained four from beyond the arc as UTC shot 39 percent from the field in the half as the Tigers went into the locker rooms with a 47-35 lead.
Coming out of the break Memphis’s high-scoring offense would pick up steam as the Tigers quickly jumped out to a 19-point lead, its largest of the night.
The Mocs would continue to fight however as McDowell and Doaks continued to pour in points for the UTC offense. In the second half McDowell continued his assault from three-point range as the Indianapolis, Ind. native hit three and had 13 points in the final 20 minutes of play.
Late in the second half the Mocs would eventually chisel the Tiger lead down to 11 thanks to a Ty Patterson three-pointer. That is as close as Chattanooga would get however as Memphis was able to hold off UTC for the 83-71 win.
The Mocs will now wait to see who its next opponent will be as UTC will take on the loser of the USC-Seton Hall contest Friday at 5 p.m. ET. The contest will be aired nationally on ESPNU.
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