A day off Thursday seemed to work for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball team.
Players seemed in good spirits Friday while texting, joking and goofing off a little before their daily meeting in McKenzie Arena. Even coach John Shulman appeared refreshed, considering the circumstances.
"We got our minds clear and had time to think about what we need to do to have success," sophomore guard Ricky Taylor said. "When we were on our six-game win streak we were playing hard, we were attentive, alert, physical, active on defense and communicating.
"It's easy to solve. We have to do it."
A Southern Conference home victory Saturday night over Furman (11-13, 5-8) would cure the symptoms and end a three-game losing streak for the Mocs.
"It's a test and we failed that test Wednesday," Shulman said about UTC's 78-54 home loss to Samford. "I'm not going to tell you we passed the test because we beat Western Carolina and App (in the last home stand). We passed the test because we battled.
"We failed the test Wednesday -- not that we got beat, but how we played."
The Mocs' season is still poisoned after they dropped to 13-13 overall and 5-8 in the conference.
"We have to get back to work and have the attitude that the season is not over," point guard Keegan Bell said. "We had a rough stretch, and the way to get back to work is to do the small things."
The Mocs need a win now more than ever this season, considering it's mid-February. But they absolutely needed a win before and came through.
"We had that Richmond, Missouri, (Texas) Pan-American stretch and desperately needed to a win in that last game and we pulled our season back together," Bell said of the Mocs' defeat of Longwood in Texas. "That's what we have to do here. We've been through all this before and we know how to get ourselves out of it, and that's what we have to do."
Five of Furman's top seven players are juniors or seniors, including South Florida transfer Amu Saaka, who averages nearly 16 points per game.
"He's a tough matchup," Shulman said. "He's big; he puts it on the floor; he shoots 3s; he posts up. He's a good player. They were young a couple years ago and they were waiting for this year."
A good start, jumping out to a lead, would aid the Mocs tonight.
"I wouldn't count on one," Shulman admitted. "You have to earn it."
Josh Odem and Ridge McKeither, whom Shulman suspended from games indefinitely before Wednesday's loss, still will be in street clothes tonight. They are UTC's third and fourth leading scorers.
"I was disappointed because they're a valuable asset to this team and both helped us tremendously," Taylor said. "Wow, how do we move on from this? Are others going to step up?"