UTC Mocs logoThe University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball team has been taking things one game at a time, not putting any additional emphasis on the upcoming opponent.
But one can’t help thinking that this afternoon’s game has a bit of additional significance.
The Mocs (13-2, 2-0) will play Furman (7-8, 1-1) at Timmons Arena in Greenville, S.C., at 12:30 in a Southern Conference game televised on Fox Sports Southeast. It’s the first game of a doubleheader, as the UTC women (10-5, 1-0) will face Furman (8-8, 1-0) at 3. That game will be available on ESPN3.
Furman’s 10th-seeded Paladins upset the second-seeded Mocs in the quarterfinals of the 2015 SoCon tournament in Asheville, N.C. New UTC coach Matt McCall was not around for that loss but understands that his players might have an extra incentive today.
“It’s human nature to think about what happened last year,” McCall said. “If you want to use that as internal motivation, I’m fine with that, but last year has nothing to do with this year’s game. Zero. The game is decided in between the lines.
“That couldn’t have been a fun bus ride home, especially with how great of a regular season they had, but Furman is a terrific team with a terrific coach in Niko Medved. He’s done a great job with that program, and they have everyone back.”
The Paladins advanced all the way to the SoCon tournament final, where they lost to Wofford – UTC’s opponent Monday – in a close game. The Mocs and Terriers split last season, each winning on the road, but UTC senior Eric Robertson said Monday’s matchup will have no significance until after today’s game.
It helps for focus purposes that Furman is a good program that returns everybody from the 2014-15 team.
“It helps having a really good team in the first game of these road swings, so you don’t think about the second game,” Robertson said. “We’re just approaching it one game at a time.
“We’re preparing for Furman now. Once we’re done, then we’ll move on to the next game.”
Center Justin Tuoyo said the biggest motivation comes from the fact that he feels the Mocs still haven’t earned anybody’s respect – yet.
“I don’t expect them to. We haven’t done anything,” Tuoyo said after the Mocs defeated Mercer on Tuesday. “We’re just having a good year right now. We have another hard game on Saturday against Furman, who knocked us out last year. Then we have Wofford, who won the SoCon, so we’re just trying to battle. We’re going to move on.
“We’re going to celebrate tonight, and then we have to keep fighting. We have a lot to prove.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.