For college basketball teams outside the power conferences, there are only so many opportunities for program-changing wins – the moments when all of the elements are in place: a nationally televised game bringing extra eyes, a great home crowd, a quality opponent.
Those were all there Saturday afternoon for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men as the Mocs hosted Furman in a game shown on the CBS Sports Network. The student section was solid, the overall crowd atmosphere at McKenzie Arena delivered, and the Paladins’ presence as a quality opponent brought the chance for a quality win.
For the first time in a long time – perhaps not since the 2015-16 season – the Mocs delivered in such a situation, with a pair of Malachi Smith free throws the difference in a 71-69 win in front of 3,607. It was UTC’s largest home crowd since 4,553 witnessed a 77-64 loss to East Tennessee State University on Feb. 2, 2019, and for the first time in a while, the Mocs had a big home game that allowed their fans to go home happy.
They saw Smith go for 17 of his 21 points in the second half. They saw Grant Ledford play his best game in a UTC uniform with 13 points. They saw Darius Banks score seven points, grab five rebounds and hand out five assists while guarding Furman’s Mike Bothwell, who was limited to 15 points on 5-for-12 shooting.
They saw UTC improve to 14-4 overall and 4-1 in the Southern Conference, just three days after a surprising 70-59 loss at Western Carolina.