Quickly shaking off the effects of a tough loss is never an easy thing to do.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball team has no choice but to do so.
The Mocs went blow-for-blow with Mercer Thursday night in Macon, Ga. Despite falling behind by double digits on multiple occasions, UTC had a chance to steal a Southern Conference win, missing a game-winner at the regulation buzzer before falling 75-72 in overtime.
Sprawled out in a chair about 20 minutes after the game, Casey Jones shook his head.
"We played too hard for the game to come out like that," said Jones, who set career highs in scoring (24) and rebounding (15). "It's not not to think about all the little things that we could have done. We had them down multiple times, and had a chance to sneak out of here, stealing a win."
UTC (14-8, 7-2) has a fast turnaround, hosting The Citadel (8-12, 3-6) today at 6 p.m. The UTC women (18-3, 6-0) host Mercer (11-10, 3-2) at 3.
Thursday, the Mocs found themselves down double digits before the first media timeout, as the Bears fed off their sellout crowd of 3,585 by hitting their first four shots and five of their first six. The Mocs rallied to within six points before trailing by 10 at halftime.
In the second half, Mercer came out hot again, jumping back out to a 15-point lead before the Mocs rallied again, this time taking the lead on the strength of 20 second-chance points in the second half. The teams were tied three times down the stretch before Jones' jumper hit off the back rim at the horn ending regulation.
"We stuck together," UTC point guard Greg Pryor said of facing adversity. "We showed a lot of heart and made a lot of big runs and shots. It's a loss we can't dwell on. It was a good game and we'll learn from this; we'll watch film and get better."
Pryor was 5-for-8 from the field in the second half, including 3-for-4 from 3-point range.
The Mocs must refocus. The Bulldogs are the only team to defeat preseason favorite Wofford in Southern Conference play, and they boast two solid guards in Ashton Moore and Marshall Harris III, as well as 6-foot-9 post presence P.J. Horgan.
UTC coach Will Wade has no fears of a letdown after the Thursday loss. He was disappointed in the outcome yet upbeat about how his team responded in the face of adversity.
"I told them after the game the reason we lost this game is basketball stuff and we can go correct that," he said. "We were a connected team. We had unbelievable spirit. We were into it, and that's hard in this type of environment. To come back from 15 down is tough, and our guys did that.
"We had a shot to win it at regulation, but we didn't execute great. I wish we had a little bit better pace with our execution, but that's the way it goes. We need to learn some lessons from this and be ready to roll on Saturday against Citadel."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.