Moc-nificent! Bonham’s Game-Winner Sends UTC To NIT Final Four

For the average basketball fan unfamiliar with the moxie of this edition of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga basketball squad, it may have seemed like a rout was in the making when Bradley led the Mocs by 16 points late in the first half of Tuesday night’s National Invitation Tournament quarterfinal matchup in Peoria, Ill.

But little did the Braves and the 4,954 packed into Carver Arena realize, the Mocs had Bradley right where they wanted them.

UTC had already proven earlier in the season that no lead is ever safe against this band of never-say-die Mocs, previously overcoming a 20-point deficit to defeat Wofford and climbing out of a 16-point hole at Furman for another improbable win. Now, you can add Bradley to that list thanks to a furious second half comeback.

Senior guard Trey Bonham overcame a scoreless first half to score 17 points after halftime, punctuated by a game winning 3-pointer with 14.8 seconds remaining to give Chattanooga (27-9) a gritty comeback win, 67-65, over third-seeded Bradley.

Chattanooga now advances to the NIT Final Four inside historic Hinkle Fieldhouse on the campus of Butler University in Indianapolis, Ind. on April 1 against the winner of Wednesday’s matchup between Loyola Chicago and Kent State.

“I’m just super proud of the guys again on an awesome comeback,” UTC head coach Dan Earl said. “You know, this was a little bit of a different game how it unfolded, but it was similar to the Wofford and Furman games that we played in Southern Conference play where we dug ourselves a big hole. It just shows the character and the relationship between these guys to be able to step up to the challenge.”

Honor Huff led UTC in scoring with 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting including 5-of-13 from 3-point distance plus three assists. His 11 first half points – including the Mocs last eight of the opening frame - kept Chattanooga within reach as Bradley took a 38-25 lead into halftime.

After taking a 2-0 lead on a Bash Wieland layup, Bradley responded by scoring the next 12 points to grab an early ten-point advantage. Meanwhile, the Mocs were frigid on their outside shooting, missing their first eight 3-pointers and finishing the opening half only 3-of-18. Overall, Chattanooga was 11-of-32 (34%) prior to intermission.

Meanwhile, the Braves made eight of their first ten field goal tries, closing the opening half shooting 60% (15-of-25) including 4-of-8 on 3-pointers.

Bradley used a 9-2 round late in the half to build its advantage to 16 before Huff’s third 3-pointer in the first half trimmed the deficit to 38-25 at the half. The Mocs managed only five points over the final seven minutes, missing open shots they have grown accustomed to making.

After averaging a combined 62 points per game over the first two NIT contests, Wieland, Bonham and Collin Mulholland could muster a total of only two first half points.

“I didn't go nuts on them at halftime, but we challenged them,” Earl said. “I just wrote on the board, ‘You Just Got Manhandled’. We went over the ways they weren’t grabbing rebounds, the fact that Bradley was more physical than us. They obviously heard the message with how they responded.”

Before Earl entered the locker room with his clear message, Huff and his teammates had already resolved to turn things around in the second half.

“We actually talked amongst ourselves for about ten minutes,” Huff said. “(Coach Earl) didn't come in for a long time, and he said, ‘I'm not going to yell, but you’ve got to make a decision. They're manhandling us, and what are you going to do about it?’ And that's all he said.”

Five points in the opening minute from Bonham on a driving layup followed by a 3-pointer trimmed the gap to eight, causing Bradley coach Brian Wardle to call a quick timeout. However, the Mocs’s confidence that was reeling in the first half was suddenly bolstered.

“What we said in the huddle coming into the second half was, ‘Let's make him call a timeout within the first couple minutes,’” Huff said. “Then Trey had five straight and – boom! - time out. That's what we wanted. So that already set the tone for us and built our momentum a little.”

Huff went on a rampage with ten straight points for UTC including a pair of 3-pointers to slice the gap to five, and Bonham’s three makes from the charity stripe after being fouled on a 3-pointer pulled the Mocs within 48-46 with 11:47 remaining.

A 3-pointer from senior Garrison Keeslar gave UTC its first lead since the opening seconds, and the Mocs increased the lead to 56-52 on a Wieland bucket to cap a 15-4 run with 8:02 on the clock.

Bradley (28-9) responded with a 9-3 run of its own to regain the lead at 61-59 with 2:40 left as Chattanooga made only one of seven shots during a six-minute stretch. But Wieland’s layup knotted the score with under two minutes showing.

Bonham’s 3-pointer from the top of the key pushed UTC ahead by three in the final minute, only to see Bradley’s Duke Deen even the score with a contested three of his own with the clock reading 0:41.

Earl called a timeout to set up a play, and Huff penetrated the lane before finding Bonham in the corner for the decisive 3-pointer.

The Mocs chose to send the Braves to the free throw line by fouling Deen before he could attempt a potential game-tying 3-pointer. After making the front end of a one-and-bonus to trim the gap to two, Deen intentionally missed the second but UTC’s Latif Diouf corralled the rebound and was fouled with two seconds left.

Diouf missed his free throw try, but Bradley was unable to connect on a desperation heave to send the Mocs into their deepest postseason run since making the move to Division I, eclipsed only by their pair of Final Four appearances in Division II that culminated in a national title in 1977 and a runner-up finish the previous year.

After the game in the jubilant Mocs locker room, Wieland took command of the white board where Earl had written his halftime challenge and penned his own message.

“I think we did a great job of responding,” Huff said. “Bash did something funny after the game when he wrote ‘Manhandle This!’ on the board. That just shows our camaraderie and our will to win. You know, we don't want to go down, we don't want to lose. And I think we showed that.”

Earl was proud of the way his team responded to his halftime challenge in a game where the Mocs held the lead for only 4:48 of clock time.

“We challenged them at halftime, and we played so much better in the second half,” Earl said. “We were more alert in the second half and we played a much more physical brand of basketball. Bradley missed some, too, that they usually make, but you need a little luck sometimes. But we were just much more in tune defensively in the second half as well.”

The third-year Chattanooga coach was also complimentary of the manner in which Bonham took control after halftime.

“Trey was obviously a huge part of that game with the winning shot,” Earl said. “When he scored those five quick points after halftime, that really gave us some confidence. You know, it just showed that we were here. And Trey was just phenomenal in the second half. He was consistently making the right play on top of making shots. He was awesome.”

Bonham finished the evening making 5-of-12 attempts and was 4-of-8 on 3-pointers in addition to snagging five rebounds. Wieland added eight points, while Mulholand tallied six points in the final half plus four rebounds and three assists. Diouf hauled in a team-high seven boards and dished out three assists, while Keeslar also had five rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Chattanooga managed to get off 16 more shots than the Braves, shooting 26-of-64 (41%) to Bradley’s 26-of-48 (54%). The Mocs forced 12 turnovers and managed eight steals to create that shot imbalance, finishing the game with 17 assists against only five turnovers. UTC won the battle of points off turnovers by a 20-5 spread, 13-0 in the second half.

Bradley was led in scoring by four players in double figures including Demarion Burch (14), Deen (13), Jaquan Johnson (10) and Christian Davis (10).

Given the Mocs trio of NIT wins over the past week, suddenly the disappointment of not making it into the NCAA Tournament is a distant memory. The opportunity to showcase their brand of basketball on a national stage in the NIT is something that Huff is relishing.

“I hate to say this, but in a way, this is kind of better than going to the NCAA tournament,” Huff said. “Being able to host a postseason game was cool, to be able to win three games in the postseason and then go to the Final Four of the NIT. Not to say I don't believe in our team, but how far would we have gotten in the NCAA Tournament?

“I talked to my dad and said this might have been better, honestly, to be able to keep playing and keep winning and maybe have a chance to actually do something really special. It's a cool opportunity that I don’t take for granted being able to go to the Final Four in the NIT. I don't think it even hit us yet it’s about to be April and we're still playing basketball.”

Chattanooga becomes only the second SoCon team to make it to the NIT’s Final Four, joining North Carolina State in 1947 when it was a member of the conference. The semifinal round next Tuesday will be followed by the championship game is slated for April 3.

This is the Mocs fifth appearance in the NIT, having lost in the third round in 1985 in what was their deepest run in the tournament until now.

RELIVING THE MOMENT: Click here for the dramatic final moments of the win as delivered by the long-time “Voice of the Mocs” Jim Reynolds.

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Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com