Mocs’ Defense Shuts Down Samford In Critical Road Win, 82-68

The much-ballyhooed “Bucky Ball” was formally introduced to “Dan’s Defense” on Wednesday night.

In his fifth season since taking the helm of the Samford basketball program, Bucky McMillan has gained a reputation for his breakneck offensive attack and relentless defensive pressure. But the Bulldogs were kept on a very short leash with the Southern Conference co-lead on the line, as the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga posted a convincing wire-to-wire win, 82-68, at the Pete Hanna Center in Birmingham, Ala.

Samford entered the contest averaging 83 points per game while forcing 16 enemy turnovers each outing. But the veteran Chattanooga squad neutered the Bulldog offense in the second half, not allowing a Samford basket for nearly nine minutes as they missed 12 straight shots. Equally important was UTC’s ability to protect the basketball, coughing up only one turnover against the Bulldogs’ full-court pressure during that same critical stretch.

With the victory Chattanooga (18-8 overall, 10-3 SoCon) kept pace with UNC Greensboro atop the league standings, earning its sixth consecutive win and also extending its road winning streak to six in a row. Samford (19-7, 9-4 SoCon) lost at home for the second time this season after ETSU ended the Bulldogs’ 28-game win streak at the Hanna Center last month, and has dropped consecutive conference games for the first time in more than two years.

“I thought we played really good defense,” UTC head coach Dan Earl said. “They didn't make a field goal for like a nine-minute stretch or something like that in the second half. Now, look, they missed some shots, too, and that's part of it. But I think we had something to do about that. Against a team like that, 21 assists and 14 turnovers is pretty good. But I thought our defense made the difference. We made it difficult on them, at least.”

Trey Bonham scored 11 of his game-high 18 points in the second half, adding four rebounds and three assists. Honor Huff added 17, making 4 3-pointers to go along with three assists, and Frank Champion supplied 14 points, making all six of his field goal attempts while raking in nine rebounds, dishing out eight assists plus three steals and three blocked shots. Jack Kostel chipped in 11 points, nine of those coming in the first half.

The Mocs were able to snap a three-game losing streak to Samford, the last of those coming in painful fashion after squandering a 16-point lead at McKenzie Arena three weeks to lose by four. Chattanooga was again able to pull out to an early 15-point lead, but responded to the Bulldogs’ comeback in a different fashion this time around.

“Last game when that happened, it was difficult,” Champion said. “They cut the lead down, and we folded over when they took a run. But this game, we kind of stayed the course, stayed locked in, and made sure that we kept pushing the way, doing the things that got us to this point.”

After scoring the game’s first nine points, Chattanooga used a 15-5 run to surge to a 31-16 lead with 4:32 remaining in the first half, prompting McMillan to burn a second timeout. The Bulldogs responded by running off 10 straight points while holding UTC scoreless for three minutes. But Huff ended the drought with a 3-pointer, and Bash Wieland sank a leaner in the paint in the final seconds to give the Mocs a 36-26 advantage at intermission.

The Mocs built the lead back to 15 early in the second stanza only to see Samford storm back behind ten points from Josh Holloway to slice the deficit to 61-57 with 9:19 remaining, forcing Chattanooga to call a timeout.

“We came in knowing that this is a team that feeds off runs,” Champion said. “They cut the lead down to four at one point, but we just stayed the course. We came in the huddle and everybody's talking like this is what we prepared for. That comes in with that veteran leadership right there.”

With Samford poised to stage another dramatic comeback, the Mocs stood tall and withstood the challenge. Chattanooga scored the next eight points to start a decisive 21-7 run, not allowing another Bulldog basket until 35 seconds remained with UTC up by a game-high 18 at that point.

“We probably made some pretty good plays and probably got some stops, but I enjoyed the body language of our guys by not panicking,” Earl said. “Samford is a really good team and we have great respect for them, but there was no doubt in our mind that we can beat them. We knew that after last game we were upset with ourselves. But I'm looking in the huddle, and the guys are just like, ‘Okay, here we go. We’ve got to get stops, we’ve got to score. We’ve got to continue doing what we do.’ I thought we had a great response.”

Chattanooga shot 70% in the second half, while Samford cooled off to shoot 41% after halftime despite converting 12 of their first 19 attempts to pull within four. The Bulldogs entered the game averaging better than 11 3-pointers per contest, but finished 5-of-25 on the evening including a meager 2-of-16 in the second half.

“Samford is so hard to prepare for,” Earl said. “If you start overthinking things and you slow down, and you try to run sets and have everybody in a position, it messes with you. All of a sudden they flip into zone, or they flip into man, or they run and jump and trap you, and you’ve just got to play basketball out of it. I thought we did a good job of just staying with our offense, and I thought we did a good job of attacking the press and making them pay at least some of the time instead of being passive against it.”

UTC shot 55% for the game (29-of-53), while Samford was held to only 38% accuracy (23-of-60). The Mocs were 8 for 21 beyond the arc, and made 16 of 22 free throws. Chattanooga had 21 assists to 12 for their hosts, but were outrebounded by Samford, 37-30. The only negative was the fact the Bulldogs garnered 18 offensive rebounds, with 12 of those coming in the second half.

Wieland totaled seven rebounds and three assists to go along with six points for Chattanooga, while Garrison Keeslar also scored six in addition to three rebounds and four assists. Sean Cusano notched eight points while making all three of his field goal attempts including a clutch 3-pointer.

Holloway led Samford with 18 points off the bench, while Rylan Jones tallied 14 and Riley Allenspach scored 11. The Bulldogs’ leading scorers entering the game – Jaden Brownell and Trey Fort – were held to eight and six points respectively, well below their average of 14 points per outing.

Chattanooga returns to McKenzie Arena on Saturday for a 7 p.m. contest against in-state rival ETSU. The Buccaneers (15-11, 8-5 SoCon) were upset on the road at Western Carolina on Wednesday, 76-67, but swept both of their games against Samford this season.

Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com