The Chattanooga Mocs stirring win over Wofford is celebrated by, from left, Honor Huff, Bash Wieland and Frank Champion
photo by Derek Daniel/GoMocs.com
If there’s one thing the past two games have taught the rest of the Southern Conference, it’s the fact that no lead is ever safe against the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
More importantly, the Mocs have also come to recognize that no deficit is insurmountable. And that inner fortitude and never-say-die attitude speaks volumes of the character of this year’s UTC squad under head coach Dan Earl.
Chattanooga (12-7, 4-2 in the SoCon) enters Thursday’s highly-anticipated 7 p.m. showdown at McKenzie Arena against league leader Samford (15-4, 5-1 SoCon) on a high after a pair of incredible comeback wins last week. The Mocs overcame a 31-11 gap last Wednesday at home against Wofford before winning 83-81 in overtime, then stormed back from trailing 22-6 at Furman last Saturday to prevail 75-71.
Hopefully UTC will choose a different approach against Samford to extend its three-game winning streak. After earning a degree in data analytics during his time at Walsh University, fifth-year senior forward Garrison Keeslar has provided his expert opinion on the matter as a self-confessed numbers nerd.
“I wouldn’t recommend a similar start to the game, but I would do it every time if it guaranteed a win,” Keeslar said. “In that game against Furman, there was a sense of peace on our team, knowing that we've been here before. We had the belief, and we just had to do it. And thankfully, we did.”
Samford opened SoCon play with five straight wins before seeing its 28-game home winning streak end at the hands of ETSU last Saturday. The Bulldogs have not dropped consecutive conference regular season games since a pair of road losses at Wofford and Furman two years ago.
The defending SoCon champions made an impressive showing at Michigan State in November, falling to the Spartans 83-75. They later got hammered at Arizona by a 96-64 count.
UTC and Samford shared two non-conference opponents in Austin Peay and Alabama A&M. The Bulldogs decimated Austin Peay in Birmingham, 72-47, while the Mocs dropped a 67-61 decision in Clarksville in the season’s third game. Both teams handled Alabama A&M, with Chattanooga winning 85-63 at home in December, and Samford claiming a 97-90 win in Huntsville a week later.
Gone are five of the six leading scorers from last year’s Bulldogs team that compiled a 29-6 record before losing to Kansas, 93-89, in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. Three players – Jaden Campbell, Jermaine Marshall and Garrett Hicks – completed their eligibility, while A.J. Staton-McCray departed for Miami and Achor Achor landed at Kansas State.
With graduate point guard Rylan Jones (10.9 ppg) returning to orchestra head coach Bucky McMillan’s frenetic style of play deemed “Bucky Ball”, Samford reloaded its roster via the transfer portal. Senior guard Trey Fort transferred from Mississippi State and leads the Bulldogs with 14.4 points per game, just ahead of UIC transfer Jaden Brownell’s 14.1 points an outing. Senior forward Collin Holloway (10.8 ppg) came to Samford from Tulane, while Isaiah West (Vanderbilt), Julian Brown (Wagner) and Larry Olayinka (Utah Tech) are also new to the Bulldog roster.
McMillan is in his fifth season at Samford and is the three-time reigning SoCon Coach of the Year. He previously coached 12 years at his alma mater, nearby Mountain Brook High School, where he won five Alabama high school state championships.
UTC has four players averaging in double figure scoring, paced by Bash Wieland’s 13.4 points per game. Trey Bonham (13.2), Honor Huff (13.1) and Frank Champion (10.0) round out the Mocs top scorers.
Chattanooga owns an overall advantage in the series of 68-44, including a 42-14 mark at home. Samford swept both games by double figures last year and has won four of the last five meetings, but the Mocs have a 24-12 edge since the Bulldogs joined the SoCon in 2008.
Despite their decided advantage, 20 of the Mocs’ 24 wins have been by 10 or points or fewer. Aside from a 38-point UTC blowout in 2020, the average margin of victory has only been 6.8 points in those wins.
Thursday’s game will be aired on both ESPNU and ESPN+ and features a special Academic Night halftime presentation in addition to a student-section “White Out” with students encouraged to wear white.
GAME NOTES:
GAME NO. 300 ON TAP FOR DAN EARL: Head coach Dan Earl is set for his 300th game as a Division-I bench boss on Thursday, 212 which took place at VMI from 2015-22. The 2021-22 SoCon Coach of the Year earned win No. 50 at UTC with the victory over Wofford and now stands at 51-26 with Chattanooga.
HISTORIC THREE-POINTER STREAK SNAPPED AT FURMAN: UTC’s streak of 86 games with at least five made 3-pointers ended last Saturday in the win over Furman. The Mocs were 4-of-13 and had the longest active streak in Division I and the 11th longest in history.
SPECIALTY STATS FAVORING THE MOCS THIS SEASON: The Mocs have featured a balanced effort in hustle stats this season. UTC has earned a 506-306 advantage in total bench points, with the 26.6 points from the reserves ranking 58th in Division I. The Mocs also hold an edge in points scored in the paint over its opponents by a 618-566 count.
Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com