Saturday afternoon, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball team will face its biggest rival. But before that, the Mocs will have to face the only Southern Conference team they haven’t beaten this season.
The Southern Conference’s second-place team faces a big week on the court, with home games against Mercer and East Tennessee State. Two of the Mocs’ three overtime games this season were played against the teams they’ll face this week, with UTC defeating ETSU’s Buccaneers 74-71 on Jan. 10 but dropping a 75-72 decision to the Bears in Macon, Ga., on Jan. 29.
UTC has won its last two games, including a road victory over first-place Wofford. The Mocs will need to exact some revenge against the Bears (15-12, 10-4), who remain a game behind them but would hold a tiebreaker if they were to win Thursday.
“We owe Mercer one,” sophomore guard Tre’ McLean said. “ETSU is a rivalry game, so everybody is always up for rivalry games, but Mercer is the one we want. We know it’s a big week, so we know we’ve got to get back in the gym and get to work.”
The Mocs went through a two-hour practice Monday in preparation for Thursday. Coach Will Wade said the primary concern is working on the little things that got his team beat at Mercer.