Honor Huff celebrates on of his nine 3-pointers made in Sunday's win over VMI
photo by Ray Soldano/GoMocs.com
On the surface, it seemed like the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s home contest on Sunday against VMI was possibly a “trap game” for the Mocs.
They were coming off a crushing last-second loss against UNC Greensboro last Thursday, the game was delayed a day due to the winter storm with a noon tip time, the absence of the UTC pep band gave McKenzie Arena a tepid pregame energy level and the gritty Keydets entered the contest winless in Southern Conference play.
Everything appeared to indicate a perfect storm for a potential VMI upset. Instead, UTC opened with a tsunami on both ends of the court with a near-flawless opening ten minutes that saw the Mocs surge to a 31-6 lead on their way to a convincing 91-66 win.
Chattanooga (10-7 overall, 2-2 SoCon) did not miss a shot of any sort until the 9:43 mark of the opening stanza. Until that point, they were a perfect 10-of-10 from the field, including six 3-pointers, and were true on all five free throw tries.
At the same time, the Mocs were suffocating on the defensive end to open the game, limiting VMI to only 2-of-13 from the field and 0-for-6 on 3-pointers during the decisive opening stretch.
Junior Honor Huff tied his career-high with 31 points to lead UTC, equaling his school-record nine 3-pointers set last season that he shares with Stephen McDowell (2008) and Wes Moore (1997). Huff made his first seven attempts beyond the arc before his lone miss, then added two more late in the game to finish 9-of-10 from long range, perfect on four three throws along with three rebounds and two assists.
“I thought I was proud of the guys. We came out ready to play,” UTC head coach Dan Earl said. “Obviously it helps when you make shots early. We got out to an early lead, but I thought we had good energy. We were moving the ball really well on offense, and played with some really good defensive intent, in particular in the first half. Honor had an incredible shooting day, but we had unselfish guys finding him as well. So overall, it was a good team win and nice to get back in the win column.”
The Mocs finished the day with 19 made 3-pointers in 28 tries, a remarkable accuracy rate of 68%. It is the most 3-pointers made against a Division I opponent, with the 22 against Covenant College in the 2022-23 season still the single-game high water mark.
Chattanooga led by as many as 31 points in the first half before entering intermission with a 51-22 lead. The Mocs shot 75% from the field in the opening 20 minutes including converting 10-of-13 3-pointers while limiting VMI to only 25% shooting success.
VMI (6-11, 0-4 SoCon) refused to concede in the second half, scoring nine straight points to cut the margin to 22 with 13:14 remaining. But the Mocs continued their torrid shooting to keep the Keydets at bay, never allowing the deficit to drop below 18 points.
It was a cathartic win for Earl on the heels of the disappointing loss to UNC Greensboro the last time out.
“I think we got better defensively,” Earl said. “Truth be told, when I watched the film of last game, part of me thought we didn't play with enough energy. But it wasn't an effort thing or an energy thing. It was a discipline to the game plan thing a little bit more. So, we talked about playing ball screen defense back to the way we want to play ball screen defense. We did a better job of that today. Sometimes when you watch the film, you learn a couple things and it wasn't an effort thing. So, we’ve got to continue that effort or better, and then be more disciplined with how we're guarding the other team.”
Huff’s near-perfect display provided a needed confidence boost after combining for only 17 points through his first three conference games.
“It's good to see the ball go through today,” Huff said. “Obviously as a shooter, when you're making shots, you feel good and you get in the rhythm. I'm mad that I missed that one to make it 10-for-10, but I'm just glad we got the win. My guys did a great job of finding me. I think my teammates had just as much a part in it as I did in making the shots.”
The relationship between Earl and Huff dates back to their time at VMI three years ago, so the veteran coach didn’t miss an opportunity to remind his star guard of areas for improvement following his sterling performance.
“Late in the game, Honor was trying to maybe get another three off,” Earl said with a smile. “It was a little undisciplined, rotating forward when that's not what we do. So, I had to tell him about it a little bit. But we have a good relationship. Hopefully he's not mad at me.”
It was important for Huff and his teammates to set the tone early to cleanse the bitter taste left by the UNCG loss.
“I think it just shows the people and the character that we have on this team,” Huff said. “I think especially coming off the game we had last game, our whole mindset was just win, no matter if the game got moved. The character we have on this team and the perseverance to do anything that we feel that we can do was shown today.”
Frank Champion finished the day with 13 points, while Garrison Keeslar and Bash Wieland added 11 each. Jack Kostel chipped in with nine on a trio of 3-pointers – one of seven Mocs to connect beyond the arc – and Trey Bonham scored eight to go along with a team-high five rebounds and four assists.
The Mocs finished the day 31-of-50 shooting (62%), while holding VMI to only 20-of-55 (36%). UTC finished with 24 assists against only nine turnovers.
Augustinas Kiudulas led the Keydets with 20 points, while Jaylen Pazon added 15 and Rickey Bradley tallied 12.
It was reassuring to Earl to see how his squad responded to the challenges of the past few days.
“In championship teams, the old cliché is you don't want makes and misses to affect your energy level and your toughness and your how hard you're playing,” Earl said. “Inevitably, it helps when the ball goes through the basket. That’s human nature. We had a couple lapses late in the second half, but overall it was a great team win. We obviously shot the ball well, but we still have a ton of work to do.”
The Mocs will host Wofford (8-8, 2-1 SoCon) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at McKenzie Arena in their next outing. The Terriers will travel to Furman for a Monday night game that was postponed from Saturday.
Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com