Hot-shot UTC Mocs top Norse by 12

UTC guard Greg Pryor has seen his scoring average increase this season after working on his jump shot in offseason workouts over the summer.
UTC guard Greg Pryor has seen his scoring average increase this season after working on his jump shot in offseason workouts over the summer.
photo UTC guard Greg Pryor has seen his scoring average increase this season after working on his jump shot in offseason workouts over the summer.

If there's one thing the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball team has shown so far this season, it's that it can win different ways. The Mocs out-gritted a Robert Morris team that plays strictly zone defense. In their most recent victory before Tuesday, they out-defended Southern Conference opponent The Citadel.

Tuesday night, it was time to score, and the Mocs did a much better job of that than their opponent.

UTC shot 63 percent from the field -- its third consecutive game over 50 percent -- and knocked down 13 3-pointers in a 93-81 win over Northern Kentucky in front of 2,361 fans at McKenzie Arena.

The Mocs (6-5) led by as many as 21 points in the second half, but the Norse, led by Tayler Persons' career night, rallied with a 17-6 run that trimmed the deficit to 86-77 with 1:16 to go. Despite not hitting a field goal in the final 7:09 of the contest, the home team had some clutch foul shooting by Greg Pryor, Casey Jones and Ronrico White to secure its third consecutive win.

Those three Mocs made seven of 10 free throws down the stretch.

"We knew they're a good team," White said of the Norse's late rally. "We knew they weren't going to come out and lay down when we got the lead; they're one of the top teams in their conference. They have pride in their program just like we have pride in our program, so we knew they were going to fight back and make it a game.

"It was our job to come back and seal the win."

Pryor had a career-high 24 points and four assists, while White added 20 and five assists. Jones had 13 points and six rebounds, and Tre McLean was the team's rebounding leader with seven.

Justin Tuoyo, who entered the game 11th in the country in blocked shots, was limited by foul trouble, scoring four points with no rebounds and a pair of blocks in 15 minutes before fouling out.

Persons, a freshman, finished with a career-high 30 points and five assists for Northern Kentucky. Jalen Billups added 16 points and five rebounds for the Norse (4-6), who hit 10 of their first 14 shots but finished 49 percent from the field.

"They're a tough cover for us with their style of play," UTC coach Will Wade said. "They shoot the ball well, and our inability to put them away was more them than us. (But) we missed some free throws; we missed some chippies around the basket; we just didn't finish some things.

"The way they play, they're never out of it, but when we shoot the ball like that, we're really good."

The first half had four ties and eight lead changes, but the Mocs, who had 11 assists on 16 made field goals in the half, assumed control with a 7-0 run capped by a Martynas Bareika 3-pointer with 5:45 to go that made it 36-28. Northern Kentucky trimmed the deficit to three, but the Mocs pulled away again, this time with a 14-5 run that gave them a 54-40 edge at halftime.

The 54 points set a season high against NCAA competition. The number has been topped only by a 62-point first half against NCCAA member Hiwassee to begin the season and a 58-point performance against NAIA member Montreat last week.

"We looked to get to the rim first, which created kickouts for both me and Rico," Pryor said. "We got the ball into Tuoyo, and they kicked it out to us for 3s.

"The flow of the offense was the pace that we've been wanting and working on."

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.

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