As much as families love one another, all know that a little time apart is supposed to make the heart grow fonder.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball family might be “dysfunctional,” coach John Shulman’s word, but he hopes the Christmas break will help the team come back more focused and prepared for the tough Southern Conference slate ahead.
“Even dysfunctional families love each other,” Shulman said.
The Mocs head into the break 4-8 and 0-2 in the SoCon, but only one of the wins is over an NCAA Division I foe (Savannah State). The others were against Division III school Spalding University, United States Collegiate Athletic Association Division II member Warren Wilson and, two days ago, Hiwassee College of the National Christian College Athletic Association.
UTC’s best performance might have come in a double-overtime road loss against conference favorite College of Charleston. The Mocs also had road losses against top-20 members Indiana and Kentucky and 2010 and ’11 national runner-up Butler, plus another overtime defeat against Gardner-Webb.