CHARLESTON, S.C. -- John Shulman is as frustrated as he's even been in his six years as head coach at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
His Mocs lost 68-60 at The Citadel on Saturday, ending a trip to Charleston with two losses that followed wins over the two teams ahead of them in the Southern Conference North Division.
"Our guys have no experience, and I'm sick of saying that because it's February 6," Shulman said. "I'm a competitive guy. I'm sick of it. I ain't used to this and I explained that politely in the locker room. Young team, old team, I'm sick of it."
The Mocs (13-12, 5-7) are 0-5 in their last five road games, three of which were close with 10 minutes to play.
UTC trailed by one point with 4:52 to go Saturday. Then Austin Dahn hit two 3-pointers and Bo Holston converted a three-point play to give The Citadel a 61-53 lead with 2:46 to go.
"L's are unacceptable," Shulman said. "How on earth can we go from looking like one of the best teams in the league, then come down here and lose twice? I don't get it.
"I'm disappointed and frustrated -- mad, actually."
The Citadel guard Zach Urbanus torched the Mocs for the third time in his five games against UTC. He scored 24 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the 3-point line. He benefited from solid defense on point guard Cameron Wells, who went 1-of-10 from the floor and finished with 11 points.
"If you help on Wells, you give up 3s," Shulman said. "If you don't help on Wells, he goes for 50."
Urbanus' shooting and the Bulldogs' victory overshadowed a career night from UTC forward Ridge McKeither. The junior college transfer scored 13 points and grabbed 18 rebounds, which is the third most in UTC's Division I era. Senior Ty Patterson led the Mocs with 19 points, and Chris Early added 10 points.
"There's a lot going through my mind," McKeither said. "I'm thinking about shots I could go back and put more effort into making."
McKeither began his monster night with his best half of the season. He used his size and strength against smaller Citadel players to score nine points and grab 11 rebounds, one shy of his career high.
The Bulldogs (12-12, 6-6) did most of their damage in the first half from the 3-point line. Wells and Dahn penetrated and found Urbanus, who hit 4-of-10 3-pointers in the first half.
The lead changed seven times, there were four ties, and both teams led by four in the first half, which ended with The Citadel leading 28-25.
UTC junior DeAntre Jefferson did not play in the first half. When he took off his warmup shirt to check in, he didn't have his uniform on. But he checked in for Jeremy Saffore less than a minute into the second half.
The Bulldogs inched out to a nine-point lead less than four minutes into the second half. The Mocs spent the rest of the half playing catch-up without getting over the hump.
"Dahn made a big-time 3 in my face," UTC's Ricky Taylor said. "It was a great shot. We didn't get stops and didn't capitalize in the end. I think if we would have gone ahead by one, it would have been a big momentum shift."
The Mocs shot 35.6 percent from the floor and an appalling 10-of-20 from the free-throw line. The Bulldogs hit only 32.7 percent of their shots, but five of their last six free throws sailed through.
"I don't want to hear a peep on that dadgum bus," Shulman said. "We're a fun bunch of good kids, but at some point` they're going to have to take basketball serious."