UTC’s Earl Hoping Past Experiences At Indiana Will Benefit Mocs

When coach Dan Earl leads his Chattanooga Mocs onto the court of Indiana’s iconic Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Saturday, it would be understandable if he borrowed a scene from the movie “Hoosiers”.

In that film about upstart Hickory High School taking on a highly-favored foe for the championship of Indiana high school basketball, Gene Hackman, in the role of coach Norman Dale, demonstrated with a measuring tape that the court dimensions at Butler Field House were identical to their tiny gym back home, convincing his boys the venue shouldn’t determine the outcome.

But Earl won’t have to resort to such theatrics prior to Saturday’s noon tip televised on the Big Ten Network. He’s experienced Assembly Hall first-hand as a player during his college years at Penn State, and he knows well the mystique that surrounds the arena Indiana has called home since 1971.

It will be the Mocs third trip inside the 17,222-seat arena, having lost by 22 points in 2007 and by 25 in 2011. The two teams met on one other occasion in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament, where Indiana prevailed over 12^th seeded UTC, 99-74, in Des Moines, Iowa.

Indiana (8-3) has an overall record of 624-137 at Assembly Hall, including a staggering 285-27 mark against non-conference opponents. The uniquely designed seating has steeply rising rows along the sidelines with only 20 rows behind the baskets, creating an imposing bowl of noise for opponents.

It remains one of the few old-school meccas of college basketball that stills exists, often mentioned in the same breath with Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium for atmosphere and passionate fans.

“The state of Indiana is a basketball state,” Earl said. “When I recruited there as an assistant at Penn State, there would be a hoop on the garage of every house whenever I’d drive around. They are a passionate fan base and very knowledgeable of the game throughout the entire state.”

After signing with Penn State as a high school Parade All-American and 1993 New Jersey player of the year, Earl had his first taste of facing the Hoosiers his freshman year.

“They were really good,” Earl recalled. “They had Damon Bailey as their point guard, and he was a Hoosier legend before he even made it to college. This was before we had Twitter or the internet, and he was being written about back when he was in the eighth grade as a future star. Everyone already knew about him, and I remember playing against him my first time against Indiana.”

This was also during the era of legendary Indiana coach Bob Knight, who led the Hoosiers to three national championships during his regime that than ran from 1971-2000. That first encounter with Knight was something Earl vividly remembers.

“Coach Knight was just such a presence,” Earl said. “Obviously you knew of him, and I was aware of him during the game. But I remember shaking his hand after the game when we’d go down the line, and he was a big guy. He had a certain aura about him, so you could see why they called him ‘The General’.”

Over the course of Earl’s six seasons at Penn State – having missed two years due to injuries - he was a four-year starter and team captain for two seasons. He averaged 10.6 points and 4.8 assists per game during his time in Happy Valley, and ranks third all-time in career assists at the school.

But the Nittany Lions were winless at Assembly Hall in Earl's five tries. However, during his junior year PSU did finally manage to get the better of Indiana in a satisfying 82-68 home victory.

“We had a really good team that was top 10 in the nation for a good amount of the season,” Earl said. “Then we lost late in the year at Indiana. We thought we were playing well, and had beaten them once already. But it’s just tough to win on the road at Assembly Hall.”

While Earl has some history to rely upon in leading the Mocs to Saturday’s showdown, he isn’t backing down on his expectations from his squad that enters the game 8-4 having won eight of their past nine contests.

“I just talked to the guys and gave them three choices,” Earl said. “I asked them, ‘Who's going up there just to later say to your kids that I played on the Assembly Hall floor?’ Nobody raised their hand. Then I asked ‘Who's going up there to show people that you can do well individually against a Big 10 opponent?’ Again, no hands went up. Then I asked ‘Who's going up there to compete your tails off and try your absolute best to get a win?’ And all the hands go up.

“It'll be a loud environment. It'll be a Big 10 opponent. But we’ve got to use our smarts, be confident and play together as a team. If we do those things, we certainly have a chance. We're going to go at them and expect to compete and try to get a win. But if we play as individuals, it will be a long afternoon.”

LEGENDARY VOICES CALLING THE GAME: The game will also feature two of the longest-serving play-by-play announcers with a combined 97 years of experience. Chattanooga’s Jim Reynolds is in his 45th year calling UTC basketball, while Don Fischer is in his 52^nd season broadcasting Indiana games.

INDIANA CURRENT SEASON OVERVIEW: Indiana (8-3, 1-1 Big Ten) will play with a full week of rest after last suffering an 85-68 road loss at Nebraska on December 13 in Big Ten action. The Hoosiers defeated Minnesota 82-67 in its Big Ten opener inside Assembly Hall back on December 9. IU is a perfect 7-0 on its home floor this season.

THREE-POINT SHOOTING KEY TO STRETCH OF WINS: Chattanooga put together its two best three-point shooting efforts of the season during the current three-game win streak. In last week’s win at Evansville, UTC knocked down a season-high 12 threes before besting that total in back-to-back wins with 14 against both Alabama A&M and Tennessee Wesleyan. The Mocs have combined for 40 made 3-pointers over the past three games.

HISTORIC THREE-POINTER STREAK: The Mocs have made at least 5 three-point field goals in 80-straight games, every game under Earl. The streak is the second-longest active streak (Oral Roberts, 137) in Division I and tied for 12th longest all-time.

Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com