Mocs Mount Second Half Comeback To Advance To SoCon Semis

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - With a kazillion different decisions needing to be made over the course of a basketball game, one of the things University of Tennessee at Chattanooga head coach Dan Earl hasn’t had to worry about is filling out his starting lineup.

For all but one of the past 21 games, the third-year UTC coach didn’t need to think twice when penciling in his regular starting five of Honor Huff, Trey Bonham, Garrison Keeslar, Bash Wieland and Frank Champion. The only exception was when Jack Kostel made a start to salute his final home game against The Citadel as part of the Senior Day celebration.

But as top-seeded Chattanooga opened play on Saturday in the Southern Conference Tournament quarterfinals against Mercer, Earl was faced with a conundrum not experienced since early December.

Senior transfer Frank Champion was unable to play due to an injury suffered at practice earlier in the week, leaving the Mocs wondering who would step up to replace his 11.4 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game as well as the energy and dynamic abilities vacated by Champion’s absence.

Enter Makai Richards, a redshirt junior transfer from Pacific, who had not started a game all season.

While it was impossible to replicate the unique skill set that Champion brings to the Mocs on both ends of the court that earned him SoCon Newcomer of the Year and 2nd Team All-SoCon honors, Richards played a vital role in sparking Chattanooga (24-8) to a second-half resurgence to capture a 76-61 over the 8th-seeded Bears at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center.

The 6-foot-10, 225-pound native of Oak Park, Calif. scored ten points on 5-of-8 shooting, pulling down five rebounds along with two assists and two blocked shots in nearly 21 minutes of action.

But Richards wasn’t the only performer who helped the Mocs advance to Sunday’s 4 p.m. semifinal matchup against No. 5 seed Furman (24-8). Senior forward Garrison Keeslar led a contingent of five Chattanooga starters in double figures with a season-high 19 points while providing suffocating defense on Mercer’s mercurial Ahmad Robinson.

Huff added 16 points - all those coming in the second half - while Bonham and Wieland both chipped in with 11 apiece.

“We certainly keep things interesting,” said Earl, whose team extended its winning streak to 12. “We had a tough first half. Truth be told, we looked a little unsure of ourselves, and I had a couple choice words and woke them up a little bit at halftime. I’m super proud of the guys’ response in the second half. I challenged some guys individually, and challenged us collectively. Makai being one that responded, and Honor Huff responded really well.”

Earl was was quick to mention the effort produced by Keeslar, a fifth-year senior transfer from Walsh.

“How about Garrison Keeslar? If you know basketball that was a grown man's game on both sides of the floor,” Earl said. “He certainly passed the ball, made plays on offense, but to hold down Ahmad Robinson - who is a heck of a player - and to make it difficult on him, that was part of the plan. I thought Garrison did a wonderful job. So we’ve got to learn from this and move on. But it's called ‘survive and advance’ for a reason. I’m proud of the guys for the response in the second half.”

Richards had been a meaningful contributor for UTC prior to Champion’s debut for the Mocs following a foot injury during the preseason. He scored 19 points against St. Mary’s, and followed that up with a team-high 17 in a win over Bryant. Over those eight games with Champion sidelined, Richards scored 6.9 points per game while playing an average of 15 minutes a contest.

But in the past 23 games, Richards’ playing time diminished to barely six minutes per outing. After scoring 55 points in the first eight games, he had scored only 54 since then. It would have been understandable if the talented left-hander sulked about his reduced role. But instead, he continued to put in his work, remaining prepared when called upon which drew the praise of his teammates.

“Makai showed great energy,” Champion said. “He was ready to be the next man up. I know in that position it can be frustrating because he wants to play, but when his number was called he showed up. I talked to him all day about bringing the energy, and I’m so proud of him. He can play. It’s just a matter of finding confidence and I tried to instill that into him.”

Keeslar wasn’t surprised by Richards’ performance, having witnessed his potential all season during practice.

“That was big time,” Keeslar said. “That's a huge testament to who he is as a kid. I mean, with Frank going down, you know you're gonna be playing, getting new minutes, like you haven't been playing like that the whole season. For him just to step up and do that, that's big time for our team, and our whole team knew it.

“You can't just replace Frank with one guy. It's going to be a collective effort. Our coaches did a good job of shuffling the bigs, and they know when they go in, they’ve just got to go in and give it everything they got. Makai was huge tonight, both offensively and defensively. It was a big time performance.”

While admittedly battling some jitters before the opening tip, Richards was confident in his preparation in making his first start with the Mocs.

“I just try to prepare as much as I can both mentally and physically, and then stick to the game plan,” Richards said. “It took a minute to try to figure things out, you know, finding the best way to bring myself out there and fully leave it all out there because I didn't want to play soft.”

With his confidence and comfortability on the court increasing, eight of Richards’ ten points came in the decisive second half that saw Chattanooga outscore Mercer by a 48-27 margin.

“Basketball is just a game of runs, so you’ve just got to always be ready to play with the flow of the game, try to figure out what offense works and what defense works,” Richards said. “I feel like we were able to adjust in second half and make that a big difference.”

Earl was effusive with his praise of Richards and the manner in which he stepped up for UTC with Champion unavailable.

“I'm super proud of Makai individually,” Earl said. “If there's one guy that maybe during the course of the year hasn't got the minutes that I would like to have gotten him, it's him. He's maintained a great attitude. He's practiced hard, he's never sulked, and he's risen to the occasion in multiple games. I'm proud of him for doing this, and we're going to ask them all to be ready to go.”

The Mocs struggled to gain an identity during the first half as they adjusted to Champion’s absence. After grabbing an early 10-6 lead, Chattanooga was outscored by a 28-18 over the last 15 minutes to trail at intermission by 34-28.

UTC shot only 39% in the first half and 21% on 3-pointers over in the opening stanza, allowing seven points from turnovers. Their listless showing resulted in a spirited team meeting during the intermission.

“Before the coaches got in the locker room we had our own talk as a players,” Keeslar said. “We didn't look like ourselves in the first half. We weren't moving the ball well. Loose balls that that we usually get to, we weren't getting to. And so we talked about that, and then coach came in and let us hear it just a little bit, and it woke us up. It lit a fire inside of us. But we shouldn't need that. It should start in the first half right when the ball tips.”

Earl’s halftime message resonated loud and clear with the Mocs. Chattanooga opened the second half on a 20-4 run to seize a 48-38 lead with 14:40 remaining with Huff scoring nine points during the streak.

The momentum swung when Robison was assessed a technical foul, and the Mocs capitalized with a pair of Huff free throws followed by a Richards slam to give Chattanooga a ten-point lead.

Mercer (14-19) cut the deficit in half before another 15-5 spurt gave the Mocs a comfortable 15-point advantage with 7:13 left. The Bears clawed back within nine with 4:52 remaining, but were then held scoreless for more than four minutes as UTC increased its lead to as many as 18 while forcing Mercer into 12 second half turnovers.

Keeslar finished his solid afternoon by converting 7-of-11 shots, including 2-of-5 from 3-point range. He also tied Bonham and Huff with six rebounds, while recording three assists and two steals. While Wieland had an off day shooting, he was a defensive menace by snagging five of the Mocs 13 steals.

Chattanooga shot 58% during the second half onslaught, making 56% from long range and was 13-of-14 from the charity stripe. Overall, the Mocs shot 47% (27-of-57) from the floor and 35% (8-of-23) on 3-pointers.

Mercer was led in scoring by reserve Jah Quinones with 17 points. Robinson added 12 on a 4-of-17 shooting performance, while Tyler Johnson and Alex Holt added 11 each.

The Bears finished the game shooting 40% (23-of-58) and 30% from on threes (7-of-23) while turning the ball over 17 times.

With the win over Mercer, the Mocs tied the the second-longest win streak in program history by earning their 12th consecutive victory. The longest streak of 14 straight was accomplished during the 1992-93 season.

The quarterfinal victory also created a milestone for Earl in his 100th game as UTC’s coach. His ledger at Chattanooga stands a 63-37, the most for any Mocs head coach in his first three seasons to eclipse the 62 earned by Mack McCarthy between 1985-88.

Chattanooga was the lone survivor among the top four seeds in Saturday’s quarterfinals. No. 7 VMI upset No. 2 UNC Greensboro, 64-57, and will face No. 6 Wofford in the second semifinal at 6:30 Sunday after the Terriers bounced No. 3 ETSU, 72-60. Furman, the 5th seed, dethroned defending champion and No. 4 seed Samford by a resounding 95-78 verdict.

Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com