The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball team has been able to jump out to quick starts in each of its first four games this season, three of which were wins.
Alabama State, the Mocs' opponent today, has not had such success so far.
The teams will battle at noon in the semifinals of the Emerald Coast Classic at Northwest Florida State Community College in Niceville, Fla. The Mocs are coming off their first loss of the season, 83-63 at fourth-ranked Iowa State, after road wins over Power Five conference opponents Georgia and Illinois.
The Hornets are 1-2 after a road win over Atlantic Coast Conference member Virginia Tech and losses to Mercer and Alabama-Birmingham.
The Mocs have held double-digit leads against Georgia, Hiwassee and Illinois in the first halves of their wins, and they led 7-2 in the opening minutes at Iowa State.
"That's our main goal this year," UTC center Justin Tuoyo said after the loss. "We always want to get off to a quick start. We want to get our feet wet. We got out to a quick start, but then they came back."
Scoring baskets early in the game has given the Mocs opportunities to get into their press defense. If a team can force turnovers, that leads to more easy baskets, as evidenced by the nearly 22 points per game UTC scored off turnovers in its three wins. Not creating turnovers leads to open 3-point baskets, such as the ones the Cyclones had in Monday's game.
The Mocs allowed 11 in the first half of the loss. The Hornets have shown a desire to shoot from deep, averaging 26-plus 3-point attempts and 8.3 made per game. If UTC can stop the shots from deep and create some turnovers, it will take the Hornets to a familiar spot at halftime - behind, as they have trailed at the break in every game.
UTC will try to deliver a knockout blow early, as Alabama State has shown it can hang around in the second half of a game.
"I thought our press was good early on in (Monday's) game," UTC coach Matt McCall said. "We gave up one 3 against the press with a bad rotation and they were able to bang that one. I thought the press was good at the end of the day. They had 11 turnovers, eight or nine in the first half, so we were getting our press into the game.
"At the end of the day, they made 11 3s in the first half and ended up with 14 in the game. You are not going to win too many games giving up 14."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at @genehenleytfp.