GREENVILLE, S.C. – Saturday wasn’t the best game for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball team.
But if there is a positive for the Mocs, it’s that they won’t have much time to dwell on it.
Furman won 70-55 in Southern Conference play Saturday at Timmons Arena, ending the winning streak for UTC (13-3, 2-1) at eight games. The Mocs have a quick turnaround, taking on two-time defending SoCon tournament champion Wofford (6-9, 3-0) this evening in Spartanburg, S.C., where UTC has won the previous two meetings with the Terriers.
“We just have to try to learn from this today,” UTC coach Matt McCall said Saturday. “The second the clock strikes midnight, we’ll get past today and focus on our next opponent.”
Today’s game, originally scheduled for 7 p.m., was moved back to 6 to accommodate those in Spartanburg wanting to watch Clemson play in the national championship football game against Alabama at 8:30.
Considering the circumstances, Saturday was one of – if not the – worst performance of the season for the Mocs. The Paladins (8-8, 2-1) came ready to play, and they never wavered despite going down 16-7 early. They calmly worked their way back into the game, led at the break and went ahead for good on an 18-8 run in the second half.
This season, the Mocs have had games in which they didn’t play well early, falling behind against a number of opponents during the winning streak, only to find a way to make a late run and pull out a win.
That stretch of rallies came to an end against the Paladins.
“I feel like we always know in the back of our minds that we never have to panic when we get down and we can always capitalize, but tonight I guess we didn’t have it in us to do it,” junior guard Greg Pryor said after the loss. “We have to have the right mindset going into games, and that comes from preparation.”
Tonight won’t be much easier. Despite losing their leading scorer – 2015 SoCon player of the year Karl Cochran – and emotional leader Lee Skinner from last season, the Terriers still returned a number of key players from the team that nearly defeated Arkansas in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
“It’s going to be a good opportunity for us to get the bad taste out of our mouths,” UTC senior guard Dee Oldham said. “As hard as it’s going to be, we’ve got to move forward.
“We’ve got to come out and be ready to play, because Wofford is a good team.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.