Collin Mulholland celebrates with Chattanooga fans following his career-high 21 point effort
photo by Paul Payne
MURFREESBORO - Given his towering frame topped by a shock of bright ginger hair that looks like it’s allergic to a comb, it’s challenging for Collin Mulholland to go unnoticed in a crowd. But despite his formidable presence, the 6-foot-10 center for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga has often been overshadowed during his redshirt freshman season.
But Tuesday night in the Mocs thrilling 109-103 triple overtime win over Middle Tennessee State in the opening round of the National Invitation Tournament at the Murphy Center, Mulholland surely proved that he belonged in the spotlight while making his first start for UTC. The native of Canada scored all of his career-high 21 points after halftime, with 12 of those coming in the extra periods to propel Chattanooga (25-9) into the NIT second round.
Chattanooga now awaits the winner of Wednesday night’s contest between No. 1 seed Dayton at Florida Atlantic to reveal their second-round opponent. The site and the date of the Mocs’ next game is to be determined.
With the Mocs trailing by four in the second overtime, Mulholland – affectionately dubbed as “Big Maple” – canned consecutive 3-pointers to help resuscitate the Chattanooga hopes. He displayed his full offensive arsenal on the evening, adding a deft baby hook shot for a bucket along with a powerful drive and dunk to close the game 6-for-10 from the floor and 3-for-7 on 3-pointers to go with a perfect 6-for-6 on free throws plus three rebounds and three assists.
“How about Colin Mulholland, who just reminded me, this is first press conference,” UTC head coach Dan Earl said. “I said (this is his) first of many. I’m super proud of him. They were making it really difficult on Honor Huff and showing him a lot of attention. So, you probably could see, but we were having Honor screen for Collin. During a couple of those time outs, I'm like, ‘You're going to tee off and shoot this thing and you're going to shoot it to make it.’ And he's like, ‘Yeah, I got you coach.’ And he did. He knocked them down, which was huge.”
Mulholland, whose mother was a U.S. Olympic volleyball gold medalist, and his father was an All-American volleyball player at Southern Cal, was glad to be able to capitalize on his opportunities to flourish.
“I think just the way we move the ball makes it really hard for teams to guard us,” Mulholland said. “It can make them over adjust at times, which will lead to more openings. A lot of back door cuts that we get to really frees up the threes that we make, and we make them at a very high rate. So, it makes us very dangerous.”
Mulholland had plenty of company when it came to heroics for the Mocs. Senior guard Bash Wieland tallied a career-best 31 points, while fellow senior Trey Bonham added 27.
Wieland scored 22 of his points in the first half to enable Chattanooga to overcome an early 11-point deficit to the hot-shooting Blue Raiders, as the Mocs trailed by 48-43 at intermission. The Cincinnati native also hauled down seven rebounds and dished out a pair of assists while connecting on all nine of his charity tosses.
“Bash had it going, and certainly we called his number a bunch,” Earl said. “His overall performance was awesome. I mean, in the first half, he kept us in the thing. Our defense was terrible, and Bash kept scoring the ball. So, I was super proud of him, and he fought all game long.”
After the disappointment following the overtime loss to Furman in the semifinals of last week’s Southern Conference tournament, Wieland was grateful for the chance to wipe away the sour taste from that defeat.
“It's definitely gratifying,” Wieland said. “I mean, this has been my favorite team I've ever played on. Just the fact that we're able to play again in surviving and advancing, I’m so thankful. I don't ever want it to end.”
Bonham carried the freight in the second half with 15 points and snagged 10 rebounds from his guard position to go with six assists and a pair of steals. Meanwhile, senior Garrison Keeslar led the Mocs with 11 rebounds and supplied five assists along with six points, and junior guard Honor Huff played all 55 minutes while finishing with six points including a decisive 3-pointer with the shot clock expiring in the final minute of the third overtime to give Chattanooga a five-point cushion. Senior Jack Kostel also chipped in with nine vital points from the bench.
The large contingent of UTC supporters were thrilled as the Mocs jumped out to a 7-2 lead, but the Blue Raiders’ Camryn Weston scored 14 straight points for MTSU to help the Blue Raiders claim a 31-20 advantage with 8:29 left in the opening half.
MTSU extended its five-point halftime lead to eight early in the second period, only to see UTC run off ten straight points to take a 53-51 lead with 16:12 on the clock. The two teams remained within four points of each other before Bonham seize control, seemingly giving the Mocs a comfortable lead in the latter stages of regulation.
The Mobile, Ala. native reeled of seven straight points to enable Chattanooga to claim its largest lead with 6:13 remaining, capping the streak with a 3-pointer to move the Mocs in front by 77-70. But UTC suddenly went cold from the floor, missing seven of its last eight shots to enable MTSU (22-12) to force overtime when Weston calmly drained a pair of free throws with five seconds left.
The Mocs again had a chance to force the issue in the first overtime as both teams combined for only eight points. But the normally reliable Huff misfired on a pair of free throws with 38 ticks remaining, and the Blue Raiders failed on two tries to win the game in the final seconds.
Mulholland’s eight points in the second extra period – including a pair of clutch free throws with 16 seconds left – gave Chattanooga a three-point cushion. But MTSU center Essam Mostafa drained a desperation 3-pointer to force the third overtime, only his fifth made three on the season.
A pair of Mulholland free throws opened the scoring in the final five-minute period, and a driving bucket from Bonham increased the lead to four. After MTSU trimmed the gap down to a single point, Wieland calmly sank a two charity tosses with a minute remaining and Huff connected on his decisive 3-pointer to give Chattanooga the victory.
“Again, I’m proud of them,” Earl said. “Basketball is such a tough thing because it comes down to a made or missed shot, sometimes getting a stop, sometimes a loose ball. How many times did (MTSU) come back and get a big rebound and get possession again in first overtime or second overtime? So, for us to just stick with it and play hard, and again, I thought Middle played a tremendous game. It was a hard-fought game. We've been on the other side of some of those, but just super proud of the guys, and they kept fighting. You know, we want to continue to play. It's a big part of this whole thing. And I’m proud that I can continue to coach these guys.”
Chattanooga finished the game shooting 51% (39-for-76) and was 30% (9-for-30) from long range. The Mocs were successful of 22 of 28 free throws, and accumulated 23 assists against only 11 turnovers, with seven of those coming in the first half.
MTSU was led in scoring with 31 points from Weston before fouling out late in the second overtime period. Mostafa added 30 points for the Blue Raiders, while Justin Porter supplied 19 in the loss.
The win also marks UTC’s first postseason victory including NCAA Tournament and NIT games since the 1997 Sweet 16 run and its first NIT victory since 1985. UTC has now won its last four games against Middle Tennessee (22-12), matching the longest streak for either team in the series' 100-plus year history.
The victory was the Mocs’ ninth straight road win to extend the program record, and Chattanooga is now 4-4 overall in NIT games having made four straight appearances from 1984-87.
Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com