Wiedmer: Cochran's shooting dooms Mocs

photo UTC's Casey Jones drives toward the basket past Spencer Collins during the Mocs' loss to Wofford in the Southern Conference game Monday at McKenzie Arena.

If you can find one of those 2,927 Moc Maniacs who showed up at McKenzie Arena to cheer on the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga against Wofford on Monday night, ask them to tell you about the greatest individual men's basketball performance in UTC history.

Ask them to tell you about how the Terriers' Karl Cochran -- all six feet and one inch of him -- pretty much single-handedly broke the Mocs' hearts in this 68-64 loss.

How he swished -- and we mean swished -- all six of his second-half 3-pointers, all of them barely rippling the nets in the final 11:27.

How he knocked in the fifth of those 3-pointers over the outstretched arm of UTC's 6-foot-10 center Justin Tuoyo with 57 seconds left and the Mocs clinging to a 64-62 lead before the shot.

"That's a big, long cat running at you," was Wofford coach Mike Young's description of Tuoyo's lunge at the top of the key.

Added Tuoyo, who blocked four shots in the game: "When I went out there, I thought, 'There's no way he's making this shot.'"

But Cochran said he never even saw Tuoyo. At least not until after he released the ball. And it headed goalward like all the others, as if there was some invisible magnet in the center of the goal, pulling it in. Perfectly in. Swish.

"You see him (Tuoyo), but you're so in the zone that you don't see him until the last minute," Cochran said. "You're coming back down and you realize the big guy was in your face and there was a guard on your shoulder. It's crazy."

It was so crazy good that when it ended, Cochran had recorded a career high of 33 points, 27 of them coming in the final half.

It was so good that it might have been the best performance for a single half ever inside 33-year-old McKenzie.

It was so good in a game that was about as good as Southern Conference basketball gets -- "This game just showed you how special this level of competition can be," Cochran beamed afterward -- that it overwhelmed the 70-foot shot that Stephen Curry once swished for Davidson before halftime. Or all those shots Western Carolina's Kevin Martin used to drain on his way to the NBA. Or those long, strong jumpers Willie White buried for the Mocs.

"In 29 years (of coaching) I've never seen anything like that," said Young, whose Terriers were the preseason favorites largely because Cochran was the preseason player of the year. "He can get in that zone and he loses his mind."

Said UTC's Will Wade: "That's as great a performance as I've ever seen live. He even hit one over Tuoyo. You've just got to tip your cap to him."

And yet it also must be said that it took that extraordinary effort to top the Mocs, who looked pretty extraordinary themselves in building a 14-point lead not once, but twice, the final with 14:23 to play. But then Cochran hit his first triple three minutes later. And another 76 seconds after that. And then four in the final 3:55, the last one coming with seven seconds on the clock, that basket delivering the final score.

"We changed up who was guarding him three different times," Wade said. "I thought we guarded pretty well. We had an answer for most everything they did until right at the end."

Or as Young noted, "Then Cochran happened."

Sometimes it's like that. Sometimes your long, big cat (Tuoyo) scores a career-high 19 points, ties his high in rebounds with 13, blocks four shots and you still lose. Sometimes your team's heart and soul (Casey Jones) scores 21 and grabs seven rebounds and you still lose. Sometimes you lose a lead, then grab it back four more times in the final 5:37 from a deficit or a tie, and it's still not enough.

But this game should be more than enough to shame Moc Maniacs the region over from never having as few as 2,927 fans arrive at McKenzie for any of the remaining seven home conference games for these 9-7 (2-1) Mocs, beginning with Thursday night's visit from Western Carolina.

"This is just round one," Young said as he addressed the media.

Round two comes on Feb. 12 at Wofford. And if there's a basketball god looking over the SoCon this year, round three will come in the league tourney in Asheville in March, UTC's big, long cat getting at least one more chance to outshine Cochran when it matters most. That showdown would make the whole league lose its mind.

Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.

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