Defense runs in Makale Foreman's family.
UTC guard Makale Foreman (0) tries to defend a shot by Mercer guard Jordan Strawberry (5) during the Mocs' home basketball game against Mercer at McKenzie Arena on Saturday, Feb. 10, 2018, in Chattanooga, Tenn. 
UTC's Makale Foreman (0) drives past Western's Marc Gosselin (12). The University of Tennessee Mocs visited the Western Carolina Catamounts in Southern Conference men's basketball action at the Ramsey Center in Cullowhee, North Carolina on February 1, 2018It's no surprise the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga sophomore, a 6-foot-1 guard, has thrived in that area this season.
Mocs coaches have given Foreman the responsibility of matching up with an opponent's best perimeter threat. He has thrived for the most part, with a number of recent shining examples.
There was UNC Greensboro's Francis Alonso, who ranks second in the Southern Conference with a scoring average of 16.5 points per game. Alonso had 20 in the Mocs' double-overtime win over the Spartans, who are second in the league standings, but did so on 7-for-21 shooting, including 4-for-16 from 3-point range.
There was the Citadel's Matt Frierson, who scored 31 points the first meeting between the teams this season but was held to nine points on 1-for-10 shooting while missing eight of his nine 3-point attempts. Frierson ranks 10th in the league in scoring with an average of 13.5 points per game.
It's no coincidence the Mocs won both of those games.
"I take a lot of pride in those (games) because Coach wants me to go out there and play as hard as I can and guard the best player on their team," said Foreman, whose brother Malik was a two-year starting defensive back for the University of Tennessee football team.
Foreman added that "chasing around these screens, contesting these shots and knowing they're not as efficient as they are in some of their other games feels good. I affect their shots and how they play throughout the game."
Foreman's challenge tonight? Furman's Devin Sibley, the SoCon player of the year last season who has averaged 14.9 points per game - fourth in the league - in 2017-18. While Alonso and Frierson generate much of their offense via screens, Sibley likes to take people off the dribble, so it will be a different challenge tonight when the Mocs (9-18, 3-10) face the Paladins (17-9, 8-5) at 7 tonight in Greenville, S.C.
Sibley was held to nine points on 3-for-11 shooting when the Paladins beat the Mocs 73-55 on Jan. 10 in Chattanooga.
"Makale's been good," UTC coach Lamont Paris said. "They (opponents) get a lot of shots for those guys, and he can make them more difficult. Some days he's more successful than others, but he keeps trying and doing it the same way and is committed to it.
"He's really good at it, and he's really good at it when he's fresh. We hadn't been able to keep him as fresh as I'd like to for most of the year just because of a variety of personnel issues. When he's fresh, he does a really good job of sticking to principles and making it difficult for shooters."
Foreman has also been the team's most durable player in terms of minutes. He is one of three Mocs to participate in all 27 games and ranks second to Nat Dixon - who missed the past two games due to a coach's decision but practiced earlier this week - in minutes per game at 35.3. In addition, Foreman has made 38 percent of his shots from 3-point range with averages of 9.5 points and two assists per game.
Foreman and the Mocs have been resilient through everything in their first season under Paris - injuries, suspensions, youth - and resiliency is something the team must maintain with the SoCon tournament starting two weeks from today.
"Coach always tells us to play hard and move on," Foreman said. "If we make a mistake, we'll talk about it later, but we have to move on to the next play because you can't sit there, pout or get upset about the play that just happened, because that might affect what goes on in the game.
"So you just have to move on, keep playing hard and try to get our team a win."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.