UTC 125, The Citadel 85
The Citadel (10-13, 3-7 SoCon)Schroeder 4-10 0-0 10, Marshall 3-11 2-3 9, Najdawi 3-8 0-2 7, Boutte 2-7 1-2 6, Henry 3-13 3-4 10, Frierson 3-7 0-0 9, Koopman 3-6 0-0 6, Broom 2-5 1-2 5, Olds 1-1 0-0 3, Duncan 0-0 0-0 0, Newton 1-5 0-0 2, White 6-11 4-4 18. Totals 31-84 11-17 85.UTC (19-3, 8-1)Ester 2-4 3-6 7, Tuoyo 2-5-2-4 6, McLean 7-9 2-2 17, Pryor 6-12 7-8 21, Robertson 2-5 0-0 6, Oldham 3-7 7-8 13, Matthews 2-3 0-0 5, Burroughs-Cook 1-2 5-5 7, Woods 3-7 4-5 12, Bates 1-2 3-4 6, Bran 4-5 0-0 9, Ethridge 5-8 4-5 14, White 1-1 0-0 2, Kalina 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 39-71 37-47 125.Halftime—UTC, 48-33. 3-point goals—Citadel 12-44 (Frierson 3-6, White 2-6, Schroeder 2-8, Olds 1-1, Najdawi 1-3, Boutte 1-3, Marshall 1-5, Henry 1-7, Broom 0-1, Newton 0-2, Koopman 0-2); UTC 10-31 (Robertson 2-5, Pryor 2-6, Woods 2-6, McLean 1-2, Matthews 1-2, Bates 1-2, Bran 1-2, Burroughs-Cook 0-1, Ethridge 0-1, Oldham 0-4). Rebounds—Citadel 44 (Najdawi 8); UTC 49 (Oldham 8, Ethridge 8). Assists—Citadel 15 (Broom 8); UTC 22 (Pryor 6). Turnovers—Citadel 14 (Boutte 5); UTC 6 (Burroughs-Cook 2). Blocks—Citadel 3 (Najdawi 2); UTC 8 (McLean 3). Steals—Citadel 5 (Marshall 2); UTC 10 (Pryor 4). Total fouls—Citadel 30, UTC 16. Fouled out—Najdawi, White. A—2,587.
If there were any questions about the toughness of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball team, they were answered emphatically Monday.
On the court.
The Mocs set a school record for points scored against an NCAA Division I opponent, scoring 77 points in the second half and blowing out Southern Conference opponent The Citadel 125-85 in front of 2,587 fans at McKenzie Arena.
It was the sixth consecutive victory for the Mocs (19-3, 8-1), who improved to 9-0 at home. They have two more games at McKenzie this week – against Wofford on Thursday and Furman on Saturday.
The 40-point margin of victory was the most against a SoCon opponent in UTC history.
Emotions had run high after the teams’ game in Charleston, S.C., as a Citadel assistant coach and UTC junior forward Tre’ McLean had words and had to be separated. A Charleston news station ran video of The Citadel head coach Duggar Baucom saying McLean wasn’t “tough enough” to play for the Bulldogs, words the Mocs fans made sure he remembered Monday evening.
“I was really proud of how our guys handled that whole situation,” UTC coach Matt McCall said. “I don’t think it was about anything anyone said, it was that Citadel was our next opponent, they’re right in front of us and we need to do a good job of handling our business and winning the game, and that’s what we did.
“I thought tonight was a businesslike win.”
The Mocs shot 63 percent from the field in the second half and 55 percent for the game. They had 22 assists and 23 points off 14 Citadel turnovers and attacked inside, with 56 points in the paint and 47 free throws (37 made).
Five UTC players scored double figures, led by Greg Pryor with 21 points plus six assists and four steals. McLean added 17 points, six rebounds, three assists, three blocks and a pair of steals, while Duke Ethridge scored 14 points with eight rebounds. Dee Oldham had 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists and Peyton Woods scored 12 points off the bench.
“We started to execute,” Oldham said. “That opened things up a bit, but when you play the right way, and play together, things like that tend to happen.”
Nobody played more than McLean’s 28 minutes, and all 14 players got action. Freshman guard Zaqwaun Matthews scored his first career points on a 3-pointer with 2:45 to play and finished with five points, while sophomore walk-on K.J. Bates made his first career 3.
The Bulldogs (10-13, 3-7) started the game in a 1-3-1 zone that threw the Mocs off early. The Citadel led for the first 8:32, with UTC not tying the game until a layup by McLean knotted the score at 17. The Mocs didn’t build a lead until late in the first half, but then they took off.
UTC outscored the Bulldogs 24-11 in the final 5:50 of the first half and scored 101 points over the last 25:50.
“They’re good,” Baucom said afterward. “They’re excellent. They’re 19-3 for a reason. We had our chances at Charleston, but they’re a good team and made plays at the end when they had to.
“Tonight we ran into a buzzsaw. I thought we played good for the first 11 minutes, but after that we quit making shots and they didn’t. Matt’s got a heck of a team; they don’t have any weaknesses.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.