It’s not always a bad thing to hold a grudge.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball team held a collective one against Tennessee Tech from last season, when the Mocs blew a 16-point second-half lead at Cookeville and lost by two points in the final seconds.
The Mocs avenged last season’s loss Tuesday, building a 23-point lead in the second half on their way to an 80-69 win at McKenzie Arena. They get another chance this evening when they host Kennesaw State, which has won the teams’ meetings the previous two seasons.
Tipoff is scheduled for 7 at McKenzie.
UTC coach Matt McCall said after Tuesday’s win that he felt his guys were “fired up to play” against the Golden Eagles.
“They lost last season and there was extra motivation for them because they wanted to get this one,” McCall said.
KSU’s Owls (3-9) have gone through a lot of attrition since last season, including at the top with their head coach. Al Skinner, who once had Boston College ranked in the top three in the country, took over. He inherited some talent, which includes point guard Yonel Brown, who had 32 points in the 77-69 win over the Mocs a season ago.
“We just have to enter the game with the same mentality we had against Tech,” UTC junior guard Tre’ McLean said. “In our eyes we’re the underdogs: They beat us the last two, so coming in here they’re pretty hyped up to beat us and feel they have a pretty good chance.”
The Mocs didn’t turn their attention to the Owls until Wednesday morning, but all season long, they’ve focused more on handling things inside their own locker room and not worrying about what another team does. That approach has produced results, as the Mocs are sitting pretty at 8-2 with an RPI of 22 and a Ken Pomeroy ranking of 93.
“We’re not worried about Kennesaw, but we’re not going to take them lightly, because they beat us last year,” forward Duke Ethridge said. “But this is a whole different team and staff. Everybody’s on the right page and we’re headed in the right direction.
“We won’t have any distractions, so we’ll be ready to play.”
Chatman commits
Rodney Chatman, a 6-foot-2 guard for Lithonia High School in Georgia, committed Wednesday evening to play for the Mocs.
“Thanks to all the schools and coaches who recruited me but I’m blessed to say that I’ve committed to The University of Tennessee-Chattanooga to be a student-athlete for the next 4 years #RepTheC,” Chatman posted to his Twitter account.
Chatman was a Class AAAA all-state selection last season. Through six games this season, he was averaging 13 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.8 assists a game. He averaged 11 points, 5.2 assists and 2.5 steals for the Bulldogs in 2014-15, helping them to the state Elite Eight.
He becomes the fourth commitment for the 2016 signing class, joining guards David Jean-Baptiste (Miami), Makale Foreman (Kingsport, Tenn.) and C.J. Jones (Birmingham, Ala.).
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.