GREENSBORO, N.C. - For half of the men's basketball game Monday night, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's focus was solid.
But in the second half, it was anything but.
The visiting Mocs led by 12 points late in the first half and took a six-point margin into the locker room, but they shot 9-for-32 in the final 20 minutes and had some bad plays down the stretch in a 73-68 Southern Conference loss to UNC Greensboro at Greensboro Coliseum.
UTC (10-4, 1-1) will play its next three games at home, beginning with Wofford at 7 p.m. Thursday in McKenzie Arena.
Francis Alonso scored 22 of his 26 points in the second half for the Spartans (11-5), who have defeated the Mocs two consecutive times. Demetrius Troy had 11 while Jordy Kuiper scored 10.
The Mocs were led by Justin Tuoyo's 18 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks. Makinde London scored a career-high 15 points in 19 minutes, while Tre' McLean had 14 points. UTC had a 36-32 edge on the backboards with 13 offensive rebounds to the Spartans' 11, but it was UNCG that better converted those extra possessions, with 18 second-chance points to the Mocs' nine.
"You've got to be eight points better than the other team to win on the road. You have to come down with loose balls, 50-50 balls, and Greensboro came down with every single one of those tonight," UTC coach Matt McCall said. "Defensively we didn't our job enough, but at the end of the day we had a chance to get a stop. We had a loose ball and they came down with it.
"We had some dumb plays defensively down the stretch, and at some point you've got to make some layups. We lacked some focus around the rim today, but give (the Spartans) credit. They played great."
Early on, it was UTC that was playing great. Back-to-back 3-point baskets by McLean gave the Mocs a 24-20 advantage. That led to an 18-4 run that was capped by a Rodney Chatman 3-pointer from the corner to make it 36-24 with 2:52 to play in the first half.
UNCG closed to within six by halftime after a pair of 3s by Marvin Smith and then followed two Tuoyo inside baskets starting the second half with a 10-0 run featuring eight Alonso points. That swung the lead in the Spartans' favor and they would not trail again. They led by as many as eight, the final time being after a trio of Alonso free throws with 5:04 to play.
"In the second half, we weren't as aggressive," London said. "We lost our aggression, and when we lose that we're vulnerable any day."
The Mocs did make a run, cutting the gap to 69-68 with 1:12 to play on two Casey Jones free throws. They forced a wild Diante Baldwin missed jumper, but Tuoyo and UNCG's Smith got tangled up for a loose ball on the rebound and the Spartans kept possession.
Alonso was fouled and hit a pair of free throws, and then after a Jones turnover Baldwin put the game away with two of his own.
"When we have the lead, we've got to stay on edge," Tuoyo said. "We know when we lose that edge a team can get hot real quick, especially with the shooters they have. We lost our edge in the second half and they came out, made a huge run, so we just know we've got to stay on edge and can't let that happen."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.