The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball came up empty on a two-game trip to the West early in its 2025-26 schedule, losing 101-69 to UNLV on Saturday in Las Vegas after falling 87-66 to Saint Mary’s the night before in Moraga, California.
The Mocs (1-2) spread the on-court time out again, with 12 players getting in the game for UTC and all but one of those logging at least 10 minutes, and they were led in scoring for the second straight game by Teddy Washington Jr., who had 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting while handing out four assists.
Jordan Frison scored 13 points in a team-high 29 minutes, and Tate Darner chipped in nine points with a team-high six rebounds, but the Mocs were beaten 42-20 on the glass, including 16-6 on offensive rebounds leading to 22 second-chance points for the Runnin’ Rebels (1-1).
UNLV, a member of the Mountain West Conference, had five scorers in double figures: Naas Cunningham (25 points), Kimani Hamilton (19), Howie Fleming Jr. (13), Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn (13) and Jacob Bannarbie (10). Hamilton grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, while Fleming had a game-high six assists and grabbed that many rebounds.
UTC trailed for most of the first half, and UNLV went into the break with a 47-36 lead. The Runnin’ Rebels’ advantage never got below 11 points in the second half.
Friday night’s loss to the Gaels ended a six-game winning streak for the Mocs that dated to last season’s NIT championship run.
“Yeah, not the result or effort we were looking for tonight,” Mocs coach Dan Earl said in a UTC release. “The road trip, the back-to-back games and travel, it’s tough, but it’s not an excuse to let some things spiral, if you will. It’s an extremely important time for these guys to stick together and learn each other out, right?
“We have a ton of new guys here who are still trying to learn roles, and we’re doing the same as a staff. We want to put these guys in the best possible positions for them to succeed. This was definitely a learning moment tonight, and we’ll get back in the gym, come together and move forward as a team.”
The Mocs, the reigning Southern Conference regular-season champions, are also on the road for their next two games, facing Florida Gulf Coast University next Saturday in Fort Myers and South Carolina State on Nov. 19 in Orangeburg.
The next home game for the Mocs is against North Alabama on Nov. 22 at McKenzie Arena.
Compiled by Marty Kirkland. Contact him at mkirkland@timesfreepress.com.