STATESBORO, Ga. — Georgia Southern basketball coach Charlton Young took a long look at previous University of Tennessee at Chattanooga games from this season and came to a simple conclusion: The Mocs are a poor ball-handling team aside from point guard Keegan Bell.
So the former UTC associate head coach devised a game plan to take Bell out of Wednesday’s Southern Conference game, or at least take the ball out of his hands. If Bell can’t get the ball, he can’t pass it, shoot it or drive it.
The Eagles succeeded in that single effort, but they lost 75-63 largely because freshman Josh Odem had a career evening — in points and intangibles.
“They did a good job of trapping when I got the ball in the backcourt,” Bell said. “They weren’t going to let me get the ball back.
“It was a different defense to go against.”