UTC junior forward Chuck Ester and the Mocs will take on Indiana in the opening round of the NCAA tournament tonight in Des Moines, Iowa. The Mocs are going for their 30th win of the season as they try to secure the program’s first NCAA tournament victory since 1997. They lost their opening game in 2005 and 2009.DES MOINES, Iowa – Above the surface, there’s talk about what many people want for Saturday’s NCAA tournament game at Wells Fargo Arena: a matchup between men’s basketball blue bloods Indiana and Kentucky with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line.
Meanwhile, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga quietly lurks – eager for an opportunity to crush those dreams, eager for the chance to show that the team’s 29-win season (with four victories against opponents in the top 100 of the Ratings Percentage Index) is no fluke.
That opportunity comes tonight.
The Mocs (29-5), the No. 12 seed in the East Region, will face fifth-seeded Indiana (25-7) at 7:10 EDT in the tournament’s opening round, with the game shown on CBS. The winner faces the winner of No. 13 seed Stony Brook (26-6) and the fourth-seeded Wildcats (26-8), who play tonight’s late game at the same site.
Indiana is led by point guard Yogi Ferrell, a first-team All-Big 10 selection and second-team All-American. The Hoosiers also have depth inside and typically surround Ferrell with a number of shooters.