UTC forward Justin Tuoyo (5) and UNCG guard RJ White try to rebound the ball during the Mocs' SoCon basketball game against the UNCG Spartans on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2015, at McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga.The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's team having just concluded its turn in the Mocs' doubleheader hoops spectacular Saturday at McKenzie Arena, winning coach Jim Foster chose to compliment his team's collective brain for its brilliant basketball.
"Our starting five is a high-IQ group," Foster said. "Their basketball intelligence is off the charts on both ends of the floor. Very unusual."
To watch today's college game across the board -- its potential majesty muddied by turnovers, missed free throws and a seeming dead sea that exists for all jump shots taken between a dunk and the 3-point line -- is to see the wisdom in Foster's quote.
Both men and women can be painful to watch these days for the purist.
Or as Foster added of his wise women, "They understand how to play. It's not a common thing today."
But losing Furman coach Jackie Smith Carson -- who was the epitome of grace and skill and intellect during her Paladins playing days -- said such savvy has become all too common for the UTC women, from former coach Wes Moore's long run to Foster's two seasons on the job: "What everyone in this conference tries to emulate is what they have as a team. It was that way when Wes was here, and it's that way now."
Not only the women looked pretty sharp for UTC inside McKenzie, however. When the UTC men took the court against UNC Greensboro, the Mocs winning 81-72, they certainly seemed to outfox a Spartans team that looks far less than the sum of its considerably talented parts.
That game over, losing coach Wes Miller chose to get in UTC coach Will Wade's face for a comment Miller thought he overheard a UTC assistant make to an alumni group before the game. Every coach should stand up for his team, but when you're 6-15, as the Spartans are, you might want to focus your energy on winning games instead of ripping opposing coaches.
Not that either coach wanted to dwell on that unfortunate moment afterward. Wade, however, was more than happy to discuss his own team's hoops IQ after its third straight win and 11st triumph in its last 13 starts.
UTC's Ka'Vonne Towns (11) breaks between Furman's Brittany Hodges (31) and Holli Wilkins during the Mocs' SoCon game against the Furman Paladins on Saturday at McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga. UTC won, 67-45."We've got guys who can play multiple positions," Wade said. "(Guards) Ronrico (White) and (Greg) Pryor are both high-IQ guys. We've got a lot of different weapons. That's good because you've got a lot of different styles of play in this league. You've got the fastest team in the country (VMI) and the slowest (The Citadel)."
VMI's average of 82.1 points per game stands seventh nationally and The Citadel's 64.3 is 251st among 345 Division I schools, so Wade's point is well-made. Unless you're good enough to overwhelm most opponents with the consistency of unbeatens Kentucky and Virginia, you need to be versatile, you need to think.
You need to do as Pryor did late in Saturday's win, hitting not only a crucial 3-pointer and nerveless floater in the lane, but also feeding Justin Tuoyo for a big layup in the post with 1:52 to go, a basket that briefly put the Mocs up six.
"Tremendous," Wade said of the difference in the sophomore Pryor from his freshman year to this season. "He just works so hard. He wants to make those tough plays. He gets confidence through his work."
There certainly is intelligence in the willingness to work hard. And both Foster's and Wade's teams passionately embrace that ethic, which may be one reason why the women stand 17-3 overall and 5-0 in the Southern Conference, numbers that should soon place them in the Top 25. It's also why Wade's team is 14-7 overall and 7-1 in league action. And why it is becoming increasingly difficult to imagine either of these teams being beaten between the ears. But it's nearly impossible to see them losing due to work ethic.
What also should be considered a year from now is more of these weekends with both programs on display on the same day inside McKenzie. The women drew 2,322 for their win. The men were cheered by 4,177, which was their largest home crowd of the season.
"The crowd was great," said Tuoyo, who had encouraged the fans to show up for both Thursday's win over VMI and the UNCG game. "They made a big difference."
Said longtime fan David Gibbs, who arrived at 2 p.m. for the women Mocs' 3 o'clock start, then stayed until Wade wrapped up his postgame radio show: "What a great way to have some fun. Both these teams are so much fun to watch, and they both look they'll have a chance to win their conference tournaments. It's just great to see so much support for both groups."
It is, indeed. Because to borrow a line from Foster, such support at Chattanooga's mid-major level is not a common thing today.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.
