There’s no substitute for experience.
Throughout the course of a basketball season, players gain more of it. However they perform in key moments, just having the opportunities to be in those moments could prove crucial down the stretch.
In the case of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men, all of those experiences have been beneficial this season because almost none of the players on the team had been in a crunch-time situation in a college game until last month.
In their first such opportunity this season, the Mocs let a lead late in regulation play slip away and fell in overtime to visiting Jacksonville State. Careless ball-handling and some missed opportunities reared their ugly heads as the Gamecocks ratcheted up the pressure and the Mocs didn’t respond well in the 77-75 defeat.
This past Saturday, they held on in a close game, beating UT-Martin 66-63 at McKenzie Arena to improve to 4-4 in their first season under coach Lamont Paris.