BETH LIGGETT/THE LEAF-CHRONICLE
Chattanooga's Troy Cage goes up for a shot over Austin Peay's Justin Blake during their game Monday night at the Dunn Center.CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. -- University of Tennessee at Chattanooga basketball coach John Shulman tried to stall the start of Monday night's game by chatting with the referees.
They forced UTC starting shooting guard Omar Wattad to change out of his undershirt because it didn't match NCAA regulations.
An awkward start off the court had little to do with UTC's sluggish start on the hardwood against Austin Peay.
The Mocs fell behind early for a second straight game and eventually lost 89-57 in a game much different than the classic the two teams played in November.
"This is one of our worst losses because we only lost to them on a buzzer-beater and we came in here and got blown out," said Ricky Taylor, who had 12 points for UTC. "We thought we'd come in and compete and it would be a close game."
Austin Peay's TyShwan Edmondson led all players with 23 points. Josh Terry added 16 and John Fraley scored 11 for the Governors (10-6).
The Mocs (7-8) were never in Monday's game, unlike the first matchup when a 3-pointer by Caleb Brown in the final second sank them by three.
UTC made just 14 of its 59 shots, which equates to 23.7 percent. That's the worst shooting rate for the Mocs since Dec. 5, 1997, against North Carolina.
Troy Cage, who started for Wattad, led UTC with 13 points. Chris Early had 12 points along with Taylor.
"We're not as bad as what we looked tonight," Shulman said. "We looked zonked and exhausted. We couldn't make a shot and we couldn't get a stop.
"The game started, and we were funky."
Much like the Dr Pepper Classic championship game against Georgia State on Thursday, UTC started cold from the floor while its opponent started hot.
UTC fell behind 26-10 after the Govs opened the game 11-of-17 from the floor. The Mocs missed 10 of their first 12 shots, and the Govs shredded the press for three dunks.
APSU led by 24 points after Edmondson hit a 3-pointer with 6:46 to go in the first half.
Shulman grabbed a Diet Coke from under his seat, then trudged into the locker room with his team down 41-23.
"The first 17 minutes was as good as we can play, and we were good on both ends," APSU coach Dave Loos said. "We played so well together. That's what's really fun for a coach to watch."
After a few minutes of the second half, the rest of the game became a mere formality that the teams were required to play out.
Shulman received a technical foul with 17:03 to go after he disagreed with a traveling call on Jeremy Saffore. Shulman stepped several paces onto the court to argue, saw the "T" gesture then clapped and said, "Thank you."
The Mocs remained down by at least 20 points the rest of the game.
"They jumped on us quick and we never battled back," said point guard Keegan Bell, who did not score. "That's disappointing to not battle back. That's not acceptable."
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6484. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP.