The Mocs were kings of the Southern Conference a week ago.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga was 7-0 in the SoCon and coming off an impressive 91-88 win over the College of Charleston — which seemed to be the best team in the league at the time.
Then the Mocs fell face-first into a 32-point loss at Wofford and a 26-point loss at Furman.
In a matter of 48 hours, UTC went from the current kings of the conference to one of the contenders — along with Charleston, Wofford and Furman — scrambling to claim the crown. All of the momentum built from beating the Cougars came crashing down.
“We didn’t go from being the best team in the league to the worst by losing two in a row,” senior Troy Cage said. “We had a seven-game conference winning streak, and we felt like we were the best in the conference.
“Losing two didn’t stop our momentum, it just put things in perspective. We’ll get it back tomorrow.”
The Mocs (11-10, 7-2) will attempt to scramble back to their feet against UNC Greensboro on Thursday at 7 p.m. in McKenzie Arena.
“Is [No. 12] Purdue any good? They’re 12th in the country and they were down 33 in the second half Tuesday,” UTC coach John Shulman said. “[No. 9] Syracuse was down 26 at home to Seton Hall. Does that mean they’re bad? No. It just means they got their tail-ends kicked.
“And we got our tail-ends kicked over the weekend. So be it. We get off the ground and go play again.”
They’ll play what, record-wise, was one of the worst teams in the country.
UNC Greensboro started the season with 15 straight losses and zero wins. Six losses came against ACC schools such as Duke, Maryland and Clemson. Other early-season losses came against VCU, N.C. A&T, and two Southern Conference schools, including UTC.
An 0-15 record from a mid-major team doesn’t indicate a quality team. The Mocs gave the Spartans their 13th loss in a 70-65 game. Yet, their first win didn’t seem far off.
Two games after scaring UTC, once the Spartans overcame a 13-point halftime deficit at Appalachian State and beat the Mountaineers by a point, they had the attention of opposing SoCon coaches.
They now have the second-longest active winning streak after following the ASU victory with wins over Davidson and Georgia Southern.
“If you give me a vote for SoCon coach of the year I’m picking Mike Dement,” Shulman said. “To have his kids continue playing with the energy level they’re at, and playing that schedule, they could have quit. They dusted themselves off and have kept on battling.
“They got a taste of winning and they’ve gone crazy.”
Dement has received similar support from other coaches during weekly teleconferences. Mike Young, Charlton Young, Bob McKillop, Larry Hunter and others have praised Dement.
“They’re going to sneak back in this North Division race if they’re not careful and the rest of us aren’t careful,” Shulman said. “It’s not like anybody is dominating the North.”
Dement is humble enough to praise his players and not himself.
“They stepped up and performed at a high level,” Dement said, referring to a 28-point game from Aaron Brackett and a 33-point game from Trevis Simpson. “Everything we do is new. We’re dealing with all of those things.
“Playing a team for a second time around is new. It’s interesting to see how they’ll respond.”
Officials were quick with the whistle in the first Mocs-Spartans matchup, and UNCG center Aloysius Henry became the beneficiary of his aggressive offensive play which helped foul-out UTC post players Jeremy Saffore — for the first time in his career — DeAntre Jefferson and Jahmal Burroughs.
“We respond by getting back in the gym and working on what we do,” Saffore said. “The last time we played was the first time I fouled out. I think it was more the guys with the whistles. I’ll do the same thing I did against him when we played down there.”
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