Out of options, Greg Pryor did the only thing he could.
Having just knocked the ball away from UNC Greensboro’s Marvin Smith, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga point guard saved the ball before going out of bounds. With only one foot on the ground, Pryor turned and threw up a shot from about 30 feet out that went in.
That was one of 11 3-pointers the Mocs made Thursday night as they ended a two-game skid with a 91-68 pasting of the Spartans in front of 4,364 at McKenzie Arena.
UTC (16-6, 7-3 Southern Conference), which slid into the third spot in the league standings with the win, hosts Western Carolina at 5 p.m. Saturday in the second game of a women’s-men’s doubleheader at McKenzie.
The Mocs shot 56 percent from the floor, 55 percent from behind the 3-point line and had a season-high 21 assists against UNCG (16-8, 7-4). Tre’ McLean led the way with 20 points – adding six rebounds and three assists – Justin Tuoyo had 19 points, nine rebounds and two blocks, and Pryor scored 13 points to go with a team-high five assists and a highlight that made ESPN’s “SportsCenter” Thursday night.
“I missed the layup,” Pryor said, “so I instinctively stole the ball. The ball was rolling out of bounds and I knew I didn’t want to save the ball towards their goal, so it was either throw the ball out of bounds or shoot it, so I shot it.”
The 6-foot-2 senior said he knew the ball was going in the basket when he shot it.
After a lackluster performance in an 80-64 home loss to Virginia Military Institute and a tough 76-71 defeat at East Tennessee State last week, the Mocs were slightly reeling. Coach Matt McCall preached aggression in practice all week, and against the Spartans his players came out with plenty to go along with execution.
The Mocs jumped out to a 13-4 lead against UNCG, which had won two straight in the series, and led by double digits for the final 27:26 of the game. UTC was up 47-31 at the half, then blew the game wide open with a 19-2 run to start the second half.
“We played the game the right way,” McCall said. “We made the extra pass and found guys that were open. When we can get stops and get out on the break, that’s when we’re at our best. Our focus was on the defensive end of the floor tonight.”
R.J. White and James Dickey led the Spartans with 11 points each, and Kyrin Galloway added 10. Francis Alonso, who had 26 points in the teams’ first meeting, was held to seven points on 2-for-6 shooting.
“The last three times we’ve played them, he’s destroyed us,” McCall said. “Taking the 3-point line out of the game was a big key, because when he (Alonso) is making shots, they’re such a difficult cover, and I thought our focus on the defensive end of the floor and taking the 3-point line out of the game was a huge key for us.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.