The victorious UTC basketball team celebrates a SoCon regular season championship on Thursday night
photo by Contributed
It’s time for a certain group of guys to find out their ring sizes, because there will need to be an order placed for some hard-earned bling. Hopefully, it won’t be the only time they will add to their jewelry collection this spring.
In what was essentially a winner-take-all showdown to determine the Southern Conference’s regular season champion, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga made a loud statement Thursday evening at First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C. It was hardly a perfect performance, but it did have a perfect outcome as the Mocs defeated UNC Greensboro by a final score of 75-63 to clinch their second league title in four years.
In doing so, UTC secured the No. 1 seed at next week’s SoCon Tournament in Asheville, N.C., and delivered its 13th overall regular season crown - but only the third since 1994.
Chattanooga (22-8 overall, 14-3 SoCon) also extended its overall winning streak to 10 consecutive games, the longest since the 1996-97 Sweet 16 squad reeled off 11 straight. The seventh straight road win also established a new single season record, and the Mocs have now won 13 of their past 14 contests.
Bash Wieland, one of five seniors on the Chattanooga squad, led the Mocs with 18 points, followed by fellow senior Trey Bonham, who scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half. Honor Huff delivered 15 in a winning cause.
“What a great effort from the guys, right?” UTC head coach Dan Earl said. “We all know how tough UNCG is and the tenacity they play with on defense, so credit to them. But our guys just continue to fight and find a way. That was kind of a back-and-forth game where no one could grab real momentum and then the guys found that spark after a couple defensive stops.
“I thought we did a great job at just staying in the moment. We knew what was at stake and for the guys to just continue to fight, I’m just so proud of them. Still a lot of work to do and the job isn’t done yet, but overall, just proud of these guys and the way they represent Chattanooga.”
The victory was made even sweeter for Chattanooga as it atoned for a heart-breaking loss on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer against UNCG (19-11, 12-5 SoCon) at McKenzie Arena on Jan. 9. After watching the Spartans shoot 54% and connect on 11-of-23 3-pointers in that defeat, the Mocs were determined to produce a different outcome in the rematch.
UTC was relentless on the defensive end, limiting UNCG to only 39% (21-of-54) from the field and forcing the Spartans to shoot 26% (5-of-19) from outside the arc. UNCG’s Donovan Atwell and Keyon Giles burned the Mocs for career-bests of 28 and 26 points respectively in the first meeting, but were held to a combined 17 points on 4-of-16 shooting thanks to the suffocating defensive effort.
Chattanooga trailed 46-45 with 13:08 remaining before going on a prolonged 25-10 run that covered more than seven minutes. Consecutive 3-pointers by Collin Mulholland and Jack Kostel gave the Mocs a five-point cushion early in the surge, and the lead swelled to 14 points with 5:25 left in the contest on another Kostel three.
It would prove to be the Mocs’ final basket of the game, with the remaining five points coming from the free throw line as UTC misfired on its last seven field goal attempts.
Thankfully, the Spartans were equally cold-shooting down the stretch as they missed 11 of 12 shots covering an eight-minute span until a late garbage basket, unable to get any closer than eight points in the closing minutes.
The contest was tightly called by the officials, resulting in a combined 41 fouls whistled. Both teams were in the bonus midway through the second half, and the Mocs capitalized on their status as the SoCon’s best free throw shooting team by canning 13 of 16 charity tosses while expanding their lead. Meanwhile, UNCG misfired on three of four free throws when the outcome was still undecided.
The Mocs asserted themselves defensively from the opening tip, limiting UNCG to 35% shooting in the first half. But the Spartans made a living at the free throw line where they made 12-of-17 free throws in the opening stanza. Chattanooga outscored their hosts from the floor by 30-19, but a favorable home whistle – including a trio of curious fouls on UNCG 3-point attempts – allowed the Spartans to build a six-point lead with 9:03 in the half.
But the Mocs closed the half on an 8-2 run to take a 34-31 edge at intermission as Wieland and Huff both tallied 11 first-half points.
With Wieland, Frank Champion and Garrison Keeslar all saddled with three fouls halfway through the second half, Chattanooga got some needed relief from the bench. Freshman Latif Diouf scored six points and pulled down seven rebounds in 15 minutes of action, while Noah Melson provided a solid defensive effort in his eight minutes of play and dished out a pair of assists.
Despite the late shooting drought, UTC finished the contest shooting 49% (24-of-49) and connected on 38% (8-of-21) from 3-point range. The Mocs were also 19-of-25 on free throws, a steady 76% clip. Chattanooga outrebounded UNCG by nine in the second half, winning the overall total by a 36-28 spread with Bonham’s eight rebounds leading the charge.
UNCG was led by Ronald Polite III with 17 points, 15 of those coming in the second half. Former UTC forward Demetrius Davis added 14 before fouling out, and Giles tallied 10.
With the regular season championship secured, Huff was reflective about the Mocs quest this season.
“It’s just a surreal feeling,” Huff said. “I feel like it’s been a long time coming, and even though this isn’t the ultimate goal, it’s still so rewarding coming out with hardware and a title. Trey [Bonham] and I have been together through a lot in this league and it feels just amazing to win this, not only with him, but just this team in general. It’s been a bond that you can’t really describe and we’re all just grateful to be around one another. We still have business to handle in Asheville, but we’ll enjoy this for sure.”
Chattanooga remains on the road to wrap up the regular season schedule on Saturday in 1 p.m. contest at VMI in Lexington, Va.
Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com