Rodney Chatman told Makale Foreman late in Saturday's game against UT-Martin that if he missed another open shot Chatman wasn't "going to pass him the ball anymore."
Foreman made sure to stay in Chatman's good graces.
The 6-foot-1 sophomore guard scored a career-high 18 points, including a clutch 3-pointer from the corner with 1:12 remaining, and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga won 66-63 over the Skyhawks at McKenzie Arena.
The Mocs (4-4) will visit former conference rival Marshall on Tuesday and will host Charlotte next Sunday in the first game of a doubleheader, with the UTC women playing Virginia Tech.
UTC's men used a balanced scoring attack Saturday, with six players scoring at least eight points. Foreman's previous high was 14 against Tennessee Wesleyan, and his four 3-pointers tied a career high.
"It feels good," said Foreman, who had made only six of his last 24 shots prior to Saturday's game. "I've been off lately, but my teammates were able to find me and I was able to hit some open shots."
The Mocs made only 37 percent of their shots against the Skyhawks' 1-3-1 matchup zone, with the 6-foot-8 Mike Fofana playing up top for large portions of the game. Sixteen of UTC's 24 first-half shots came from 3-point range as the Mocs were reluctant to attack the zone. That changed in the second half when they got the ball inside some, with Joshua Phillips and James Lewis combining to score 11 of their 18 points after halftime, which freed up the outside shooters.
The Mocs started the second half on an 18-6 spurt while building a 10-point lead, but just as quickly they went cold and the Skyhawks responded with a 15-2 run for a 48-45 advantage with 9:05 to play.
UTC limited the Skyhawks to two field goals over the next 5:03 to retake the lead, but a jump shot by UTM's Matthew Butler - who led all scorers with 27 points - tied the score with 2:27 to play.
Phillips responded with a basket inside, and a Foreman 3 put the Mocs up five. He would add four free throws in the final 22 seconds, which helped offset two more 3s by Butler.
"Early on, they were doing some things to discourage you from getting the ball around the basket, so in the first half we didn't think about catching the ball and scoring quickly inside," UTC coach Lamont Paris said. "In the second half we did a better job of that. We got some stops and made some shots.
"In the first half our ratio of 2-point field goals to 3-point field goals was disproportionate, but all the looks we had from 3 in the first half were at minimum acceptable."
After a 3-for-16 first half on 3s, the Mocs were 7-for-15 in the second half as Foreman and Chatman made three each.
Fatodd Lewis added 11 points for the Skyhawks (1-7), who have 10 newcomers and have played six of their eight games on the road. UTM still has nonconference trips at Arkansas State and Mississippi State remaining.
"Discipline down the stretch by their team and our inability to get key stops defensively was the difference," UT-Martin coach Anthony Stewart said. "We're better, but we're still not where we want to be. We have goals we've set that we're trying to gear towards.
"I designed the schedule, so I don't have anybody to blame but myself. I wanted it to be tough and it is, but we're going to come out of this OK. We're making strides in the right direction."
Notes
Former UTC coach Mack McCarthy, who won a school-record 243 games and led the Mocs to five NCAA tournaments, was in attendance Saturday and was recognized at halftime. Chatman's three 3s set a personal standard for his career, while his six assists set a new season high. Nat Dixon's 10 points gave him a team-high seven double-digit outings this season. Lewis's and London's nine rebounds were career highs for each.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.