Will Wade started 2014-15 basketball practice with 15 players on his University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball roster. That number dropped to 13 before the team had played a single game, and it currently sits at 12.
The Mocs have experienced highs with wins over 2014 NCAA tournament team Coastal Carolina in the Battle 4 Atlantis Mainland championship and most recently over Alabama-Birmingham. They've had low points, such as the 31-point loss to Georgia at McKenzie Arena and the game at Tennessee Tech, when they led by 16 with 12 minutes to go before losing 69-67.
But going into their last nonconference game before the meat of the Southern Conference season begins a week from Saturday, the Mocs have a good feeling about their overall progress.
They return to practice today after a three-day break for the Christmas holiday.
"Our guys are tired," Wade said. "This will be a good break. It'll be a good chance for our guys to rest up and heal up. I'm excited about where we are. We're growing as a team and getting better as a team, and it's showing on the court.
"I've got some ideas I've been trying to install that I haven't had the chance to, yet. We'll have some time to work on that when we get back."
A 7-6 record going into Monday's home game against Lipscomb might have been expected. Maybe there was a win or two the Mocs stole; maybe there was a loss in a game they could have won. There's nothing to do about that now; all that matters moving forward is that the Mocs have won four of their last six games, with their losses to Georgia and at Middle Tennessee State not exactly bad ones.
Of course, none of that mattered this past Monday in the defeat of UAB. Immediate thoughts surrounded the upcoming holiday and, most importantly, who was cooking.
"Everybody's cooking," said sophomore guard Greg Pryor, who hails from Memphis. "I haven't been home all school year, so I'm making everybody cook.
"I'm going house to house."
Sophomore center Justin Tuoyo said that after the early-season sprint of games from Nov. 14 to Dec. 2, which was followed by exams, the team has had more time to jell, which explains the improved play.
"Everybody has gotten better individually, and we're all on the same page now," he said. "Coach Wade has done a great job helping after practice, and these last seven games have been pretty good for us. We've gotten better as a team, all 12 of us.
"We have confidence in everybody."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.