Friday’s snowstorm led to a Saturday game being postponed to Sunday afternoon for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball team.
And when it was over, Thursday’s heartbreaking defeat looked like a distant memory for the Mocs, who had no trouble adjusting to playing a day later than expected in their weekend matchup with Virginia Military Institute. Led by Honor Huff’s nine 3-pointers in a 31-point performance, UTC used some record-setting long-range shooting to cruise to a 91-66 win over VMI in front of 2,915 at McKenzie Arena.
Three days after UNC Greensboro’s last-second 3-pointer on the same floor handed them a 78-75 loss, the Mocs led by as many as 31 points while building a 51-22 halftime advantage. Along with washing out a bit of the bad taste left in the collective mouth of coach Dan Earl’s team, it improved UTC to 10-7 overall this season and 2-2 in the Southern Conference ahead of Wednesday’s 7 p.m. game against Wofford to complete a three-game homestand.
VMI fell to 6-11, with the Keydets’ five-game losing streak now including their first four in SoCon play.
“I was proud of the guys,” said Earl, who took over in Chattanooga in March 2022 after seven seasons in charge at VMI. “We came out ready to play, and it obviously helps when you make shots and can build an early lead. But I thought we had good energy and moved the ball really well and played with great intent on defense in the first half. … It was nice to get back in the win column, but we have a lot of work to do before a really good Wofford team comes on Wednesday.”