Tre' McLean and Greg Pryor spoke with confidence Saturday night after the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball team beat Illinois 81-77. Right now, the Mocs are oozing with it after a strong start to coach Matt McCall's first season.
They'll need to maintain that confidence tonight.
The Mocs travel to Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa, to face seventh-ranked Iowa State in the second game of the Emerald Coast Classic. Tipoff is at 8 p.m. EST.
The Mocs are 3-0 for the first time since the 1997-98 season, with two of their wins on the road, including a season-opening overtime victory at Georgia.
Greg Pryor looks to pass the ball inside as the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga hosts Hiwassee College in a men's basketball game Monday, Nov. 16, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. UTC won their home opener by a score of 94-55."The biggest thing for me, obviously Coach (Billy) Donovan did an unbelievable job preparing me for the opportunity here," said McCall, a former Florida assistant, after Saturday's win. "He really does a great job with his assistant coaches, preparing them to be head coaches for when they sit in this seat.
"We have a long season ahead. I want our guys to enjoy this tonight, but we have to get back to work tomorrow. We have a quick turnaround against a top-five team in the country."
The Cyclones return four starters from a team that was the No. 2 seed in the 2015 NCAA tournament. They fell in the second round, which prompted players such as preseason All-American forward Georges Niang to declare he would return for another season.
"Just like we prepared for Illinois, we're going to go in and play hard," said McLean, a junior guard/forward. "Iowa State is very good. They're talented we're just going to prepare and go at it. We are hungry. Every day we are hungry and want to get better. We're 3-0, but that's not it. We're chasing greatness. We're determined."
Eleven Mocs average at least six points per game, and the rotation was bolstered by the addition of senior forward Duke Ethridge, who had 10 points and five rebounds Saturday in his first action of the season.
Confidence might be central to that balance.
"We have a lot of confidence," said Pryor, a junior guard. "That's what we focus and practice on is our confidence. We have confidence from our one man to our fourteenth on the bench. Whenever your name or jersey is called, everybody is coming in ready to play. We don't have any doubts."
Just as he stated after the Mocs beat Georgia on Nov. 14, Pryor said Saturday that the win over Illinois shouldn't be considered an upset.
"I don't feel like any game we go into this year will be an upset," he said. "We're preparing ourselves to win every game. We just have to go in and play. Everybody on our schedule we can beat, so we are going into every game knowing that we have our chance to win."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.