Mocs Sweep ETSU Behind Long-Range Accuracy From Bonham and Huff

Trey Bonham was going through one of those stretches in January that every scorer encounters at some point during the season, a period when the basket appeared to be the size of a thimble whenever he launched a 3-point shot.

Undeterred by his lack of success from long range, the senior guard for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga found other ways to score, utilizing his quickness to produce points from slashing drives in the paint and mid-range jumpers.

But the maddening loss of touch beyond the arc also lit a fire inside Bonham, spending extra time in the gym trying to regain his magical touch from outside. Despite going through a drought where he made only one of 20 shots from 3-point range over a five-game span, Bonham put in the work. It’s part of his DNA, the discipline and work ethic instilled by his father, Robert, who never allowed his son to quit in anything including when he wanted to walk away from the rigors of his freshman year at VMI.

Bonham’s refusal to quit paid huge dividends Saturday evening in front of the season’s largest crowd of 4,406 at McKenzie Arena. With the Mobile, Ala. native going 6-of-10 on threes to account for all of his 18 points, Chattanooga was able to win its seventh straight game in defeating in-state rival East Tennessee State by a 78-71 score.

In doing so, the Mocs improved to 19-8 overall and maintained a first-place tie atop the Southern Conference standings with UNC Greensboro with an 11-3 mark in the league.

Bonham has now converted 10 of his last 16 shots from beyond the arc, something that UTC head coach Dan Earl recognizes as a direct byproduct of his star guard’s work invested into improving his craft. The veteran coach has witnessed that same level of determination since recruiting Bonham to VMI as a talented but unpolished freshman. 

“He's always in the gym, but even more recently,” Earl said. “He was making shots at shoot around, and I'd love to tell you when you're making shots at shoot around, then you make him the game. But that's not always the case. But sometimes it's good to see the ball go through the hoop, to see him make shots. And most of his shots were good shots. When you're feeling like he is, we let him shoot almost all those types of shots, and I was glad to see him make six out of 10.”

The Mocs finished the evening 15-of-29 from 3-point range (51%), with Bonham’s backcourt mate Honor Huff converting five of his eight tries that led to a team-high 19 points. Every time ETSU seemed poised to make another run in the second half, Chattanooga was able to neutralize the comeback try with a timely 3-pointer.

The Bucs were down two starters with injuries, missing the services of Jaden Seymour and his 17 points per game for the second straight game along with John Buggs III, who averages 11.4. But ETSU’s Quimari Peterson single-handedly kept the Bucs within reach, finishing the night with 31 points including 22 of his team’s final 25 points as part of his 26-point second half.

“A ton of credit to ETSU,” Earl said. “I thought Coach (Brooks) Savage did a great job with their game plan. They were down a couple guys, and they kind of took the air out of the ball. They ran the shot clock down really low on most of their possessions. So, it became frustrating to us. We wanted to play a little more up-tempo. We tried to press a little bit, but they did a really good job of slowing the game down. Obviously, Quimari Peterson got it going, who's a tremendous player but we made enough plays late and made enough shots.”

Chattanooga scored the last six points of the first half – including a 3-pointer from Huff in the final seconds – to carry a 36-30 lead into intermission as the Mocs made 9 of 16 treys in the opening stanza.

UTC still clung to a slim three-point advantage midway through the second half before a 9-0 burst swelled the lead to a dozen at 61-49. Bash Wieland scored a pair of buckets and Huff drained a three to spark the run that concluded with a pair of free throws from Sean Cusano with 8:11 remaining.

But ETSU (15-12, 8-6 SoCon) refused to die as Peterson scored the game’s next eight points to slice the deficit down to four. Chattanooga then responded with an 8-1 run that featured bombs from Huff and Bonham to regain an 11-point margin with 4:14 on the clock, eventually closing the contest making their final six field goal attempts. The Bucs were unable to draw any closer than eight until a pair of Peterson free throws in the final seconds.

Frank Champion continued his habit of stuffing the stat sheet, finishing with 13 points on efficient 6-of-9 shooting. The senior forward also led the Mocs with seven rebounds and an impressive eight assists. Wieland also supplied 13 points – 11 of those coming in the second half – and three rebounds, while Garrison Keeslar scored eight while making both of his 3-point tries and had four assists to go with three rebounds.

“I struggled a lot in the first half, but all credit to my teammates who encouraged me,” Wieland said. “They knew I wasn't playing well at all, but they were very positive, very encouraging. And that means the world, like you don't find that on every team. So, I can't say how much that means to just know that teammates have my back when I'm struggling.”

UTC finished the contest shooting 54% from the field (28-for-52), while ETSU shot an even 50% (26-for-52) including 8-of-17 on 3-pointers. The Mocs compiled 22 assists – the first time since 2011 where they have recorded more than 20 assists in consecutive games against SoCon foes - against only 10 turnovers, seven of which occurred during the sloppy first half. The Bucs won the rebounding battle by a 29-24 spread.

Peterson’s 31 led a trio of ETSU double digit scorers, followed by 11 from D.J. Hughes and Maki Johnson finished with 10.

Having now won 10 of its last 11 games, Chattanooga is finding ways to win even when things are not clicking on all cylinders as evidenced on Saturday night.

“You're not going to have your ‘A’ game every time,” Earl said. “So, you have to be able to win some tougher games, or some games when shots aren't falling. Shots were falling today, just we didn't play great the rest of the game. You have to figure out how to grind out wins when everything's not going your way.”

Wieland points to the progression of Champion since entering the lineup after missing the first eight games due to injury as the pivotal piece to the Mocs’ recent success.

“Part of the reason why I feel like we've hit our stride so well is Frank Champion,” Wieland said. “Just the stuff he does - he can score the ball, he can pass the ball. His athleticism makes up for his lack of height against other bigs. He's 6-8, but when we're playing a 7-foot big his athleticism makes up for it off the bounce. He's quicker, and he just does a lot of things. He's a difference maker.”

With four conference games remaining including the trip to UNCG on Feb. 27, Earl is trying to keep everything in perspective as the Mocs find themselves tied for the SoCon lead.

“It is fun to be in the thick of things,” Earl said. “But as you know, when you're trying to make the NCAA Tournament, seeding matters in this league because you don't want to play four games in four days (at the SoCon tournament). We're trying to win the league in the regular season. But when it comes to tournament play and who goes to the NCAA tournament, it doesn't really matter where you're seeded. We're going to try to go win each and every game out, and I hope our guys would do that whatever place we're in.”

Malachi Smith sighting: Former UTC guard Malachi Smith made an appearance at Saturday’s game. The 2022 SoCon Player of the Year who finished his college career at Gonzaga after two seasons in Chattanooga is now playing for the Memphis Hustle in the NBA G-League where he’s averaging 8.5 points per game.

Next Up: The Mocs will host Western Carolina at McKenzie Arena on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Chattanooga trounced the Catamounts, 84-60, in Cullowhee, N.C. on Jan. 29. WCU is 8-17 overall and 4-10 in SoCon play, winners of two straight after a 76-73 win over The Citadel on Saturday.

Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com