In a season when defense has already been the calling card of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball, the Mocs still found another level of their capabilities Sunday afternoon.
Four UTC scorers finished in double figures, but the Mocs again leaned on their play at the other end of the court while holding Southeast Missouri State to 33% shooting in a 72-56 victory on the final day of the Coke Zero Sugar Classic at McKenzie Arena.
Now 5-1, UTC has consecutive big road opportunities over the next seven days: Wednesday at Lipscomb (5-3) for a noon Eastern matchup in Nashville, then on Dec. 3 at Kentucky’s Morehead State (4-3), which visits Austin Peay before hosting the Mocs.
Offensively, the Mocs still aren’t a well-oiled machine in Dan Earl’s second season as head coach, but they shot 52% from the field Sunday while led by the usual suspects in forward Sam Alexis and guard Honor Huff as the two sophomores had 18 points apiece. Jan Zidek added 16 and Myles Che, shaking off a couple of poor performances in recent games, chipped in 11.
Alexis fell one rebound shy of his fourth double-double of the season.