NASHVILLE – The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball team couldn’t shake off a poor first half in dropping a 76-68 decision to Belmont at the Curb Events Center.
Everything that could go wrong did in the first half for the Mocs (9-2), who shot 30% from the field and made just 1 of 10 3-point attempts in falling behind 39-23 to the Bruins. Things improved in the second half, as the visitors shot 55% and got as close as seven after a KC Hankton 3-pointer with 5:17 to play, but the Mocs were unable to get defensive stops in some key stretches and the Bruins (9-3) were able to hold on.
Malachi Smith finished with a game-high 27 points and seven rebounds for the Mocs, who entered the game ranked eighth in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major top-25 poll. Silvio De Sousa scored 10 of his 15 points in the first half while adding a team-high nine rebounds, and Josh Ayeni scored a solid 10 points before fouling out in 11 minutes and 41 seconds of playing time.
Ben Sheppard scored 23 points for the Bruins, who are currently ranked seventh in the mid-major poll. Cleveland graduate Jacobi Wood scored five points and had four assists in 22 minutes off the bench for Belmont.
“There’s a couple of areas where they (Belmont) are ahead of us,” UTC head coach Lamont Paris said. “It doesn’t make them better – it did today, because we also didn’t play great – but it’s good to find some things that you have to learn how to do. Being consistent within the framework of what you want to do, following your rules, the discipline it takes to do that. The amount of energy you have to exert to get open to get good looks when a team is going to play physical defense against you.
“I wasn’t particularly displeased with anyone. We wanted to win, we just didn’t play well.”
The Mocs travel to face Murray State – ranked 10th in the same mid-major poll – Saturday night at 8.
– Complied by Gene Henley. Contact him at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.