UTC’s Zaccheus Mason heads past Georgia Southern’s Marvin Baynham Jr. at McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga Thursday, Feb 20, 2014.Will Wade said it before his first game as the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball coach.
And he’s repeated the point several times throughout the season — before and after games, including Thursday.
The Mocs have little margin for error.
They’re not talented enough to tip the ball in the air and just play 40 minutes of basketball against comparable competition at their leisure and expect to win. They need to pay attention to the details, follow the scouting report and win 50-50 balls — or “80-20” balls, as junior guard Ronrico White has called them, because they’re that important to the Mocs.
UTC played outside the necessary margins after the first 10 minutes in Thursday’s Southern Conference game and wound up losing 77-61 to Georgia Southern, which hadn’t beat a team with a winning record all season until they toppled the Mocs (16-12, 10-3).