UTC Mocs logoThe Mocs can book their rooms for the Southern Conference tournament one day earlier than they would have liked.
Appalachian State whipped the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga 86-60 and claimed the final first-round bye for the men’s basketball tournament that begins Friday in Asheville, N.C.
UTC’s Mocs (13-18, 8-10) could have claimed the bye with a win and a Samford loss Saturday. The latter did happen, in overtime at Western Carolina.
Instead, the Mocs will play Friday in the first round as the No. 7 seed at 6 p.m. in the Asheville Civic Center. Their opponent will be UNC Greensboro, and the winner will play No. 2 seed Elon at 6 p.m. Saturday.
“I don’t know if our guys understand what that means,” UTC coach John Shulman said on the postgame radio show. “We’re so young and inexperienced that this was the first big meaningful game that we’ve played.