CHARLESTON, S.C. – Playing in subpar fashion on the road against a conference opponent, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball team could have unraveled Saturday afternoon.
Instead, as they had numerous times previously this season, the Mocs came together.
Exiting the final media timeout of the game, UTC trailed The Citadel 72-66 with 3:59 to play and the Bulldogs seemed comfortably in command, with center Zane Najdawi converting a layup and getting fouled by Greg Pryor.
The Mocs didn’t flinch. They responded by scoring the next 10 points – Najdawi missed his free throw – and finishing the game on an 18-6 run to claim an 84-78 win in the Southern Conference opener for both teams.
Tre’ McLean looks to pass as the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga hosts Hiwassee College in a men’s basketball game Monday, Nov. 16, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. UTC won their home opener by a score of 94-55.The comeback happened quickly. The Mocs erased the deficit in 47 seconds with scores and defensive stops on four consecutive possessions. After a three-point play by Tre’ McLean and dunks by Eric Robertson and McLean, Pryor had a three-point play. In the span of 91 seconds, the 10-0 run shifted control to the visitors.
“Of course, nobody wants to be in that position, but we’ve been in this position a lot of times this season,” Pryor said. “In the middle of the game, at the end of the game, at the beginning of the game. We’ve adapted to overcoming those types of situations.
“When we get in those situations, we know that our points don’t come from the defensive end. We have to come and get stops before we can think about anything else.”
The Mocs led 80-75 after running a play for center Justin Tuoyo, who scored on a drop-step with 1:13 to play, but The Citadel’s Matt Frierson hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to two. The Bulldogs nearly had a steal on the following possession, but they knocked the ball out of bounds and then fouled Pryor on a 3-point attempt with 37 seconds to play.
“I felt like we panicked a lot in the game, and I talked to our guys before the game about not panicking,” UTC coach Matt McCall said. “That’s how they want us to play. They want us to panic. With four minutes to go in the game, down six, I told our guys in the timeout, ‘Listen, it’s a two-possession game. We need a score, a stop and a score.’
“We ended up getting I think five baskets and five stops down the stretch, which was ultimately the reason we were able to come out with a win.”
The Mocs return to competition Tuesday with a 7 p.m. home game against Mercer. The Bears are 11-3 after a thorough beating of Samford in another SoCon opener on Saturday, and they also topped Arkansas and George Mason this season.
Mercer and UTC played a pair of close games last season, and there’s no reason to believe that won’t be the case again.
If Saturday was any indication, the Mocs look like they would be ready down the stretch.
“We have some experienced guys,” McLean said. “We’ve been here before. In order to win this game, we were going to have to make one more big push. That’s exactly what we did.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.