Mocs Travel To Wofford For Challenging Road Test

  • Tuesday, February 4, 2025
  • Paul Payne
Frank Champion (5) and Makai Richards (34) join their teammates in celebrating the earlier win over Wofford with the student section at McKenzie Arena
Frank Champion (5) and Makai Richards (34) join their teammates in celebrating the earlier win over Wofford with the student section at McKenzie Arena
photo by Ray Soldano/GoMocs.com

The last time the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga faced Wofford, it was that game that served as ground zero for the insanity that has ensued for the Mocs ever since.

In the earlier meeting at McKenzie Arena, Wofford led by a 31-11 margin with 10:42 left until halftime. The Mocs were able to trim the deficit to a manageable 12 points at the half, then opened the second half on a 20-6 run to grab the lead.

Chattanooga found itself down by six with under a minute left in regulation only to have Bash Wieland drain a pair of 3-pointers to send the game to overtime. Trey Bonham’s twisting layup in traffic gave the Mocs a two-point lead with three seconds on the clock in the extra period, and Wofford missed a potential game-winner beyond the arc as time expired.

Justin Bailey had 22 for the Terriers, and Dillon Bailey scored 21 while combining for 8-of-14 shots from 3-point range on an evening where leading scorer Corey Tripp was limited to only five minutes after suffering an ankle injury.

Little did anyone realize at the time how that comeback win would become a trend. On four different occasions, UTC has managed to fight back from first half double-digit deficits to eventually win. They trailed by 16 at Furman, 12 at ETSU and 12 in their most recent win over Mercer.

But head coach Dan Earl recognizes that his Mocs are playing Russian Roulette, and that at some point their luck will run out and cross paths with a fatal bullet in the chamber.

UTC (15-8, 7-3 SoCon) puts a four-game road winning streak on the line Wednesday in Spartanburg, S.C. when they face Wofford at 7 p.m. in a nationally televised game on ESPNU as well as ESPN+. Winners of six of their past seven games, the Mocs are tied for second in the SoCon with UNC Greensboro, one game behind Samford.

Bash Wieland headlines a quartet of Chattanooga players averaging double-figures in points at 13.8, followed by Bonham (13.5), Honor Huff (13.4) and Frank Champion (10.5)

Wofford (12-11 overall, 6-4 SoCon) is coming off an impressive road victory at UNC Greensboro last Saturday. The Terriers led by 24 with 12:14 left in the game only to see the Spartans cut the gap to nine before winning 74-62.

Tripp is averaging 13.0 points per contest, just ahead of Dillon Bailey’s 12.1 average. But the Wofford offense revolves around post player Kyler Filewich. The beefy 6-foot-9 senior contributes 11.4 points per game, but also snags 9.7 rebounds per game while leading the team in assists. Forcing Filewich to earn his points at the free throw line by fouling him when he receives the ball down low is a prudent strategy given the fact that he’s made only 24 of 81 free throws, a 29.6% success rate.

Mocs have won five straight and nine of their last 11 meetings with Wofford, and are 8-3 in their last 11 trips to Spartanburg. UTC has also served as the Terriers nemesis at the Southern Conference tournament by eliminating them the previous three seasons. Chattanooga holds a 34-22 edge in the all-time series, including a narrow 13-12 advantage at Wofford.

UTC has put together four straight wins on the road in consecutive seasons for the first time since the 1991-92 and 1992-93 campaigns. The Mocs tied a program record with six straight last season.

Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com

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