UTC 78, Kennesaw State 66
Kennesaw State (3-10)Jones 4-10 0-0 8, Morena 5-5 3-3 13, Ray 5-12 1-1 12, Brown 7-14 6-6 24, Masterson 3-6 0-0 7, Clarke 0-5 2-4 2, Williams 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-53 12-14 66.UTC (9-2)Ester 5-10 1-1 11, Tuoyo 10-14 1-4 21, McLean 4-6 5-8 14, Pryor 1-6 4-4 6, Robertson 5-10 0-0 15, Oldham 2-3 0-0 5, Burroughs-Cook 1-6 2-2 4, Bran 0-0 0-0 0, Ethridge 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 29-58 13-19 78.Halftime—33-33. 3-point goals—KSU 6-15 (Brown 4-8, Ray 1-3, Masterson 1-3, Clarke 0-1); UTC 7-18 (Robertson 5-9, Oldham 1-1, McLean 1-2, Tuoyo 0-1, Ethridge 0-1, Pryor 0-2, Burroughs-Cook 0-2). Rebounds—KSU 25 (Jones 8); UTC 38 (Tuoyo 12). Assists—KSU 14 (Ray 3, Brown 3); UTC 19 (Pryor 9). Turnovers—KSU 12 (Morena 4); UTC 12 (Pryor 4). Blocks—KSU 5 (Morena 3); UTC 4 (Ester, Tuoyo, McLean, Ethridge). Steals—KSU 6 (Jones 2); UTC 6 (Ester 2, Pryor 2). Total fouls—KSU 21, UTC 13. Fouled out—Masterson. A—2,421.
Justin Tuoyo entered halftime of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball game against Kennesaw State with no fouls. So he had no excuses to not be effective when the Mocs needed him down the stretch Friday night.
When it counted most, he provided.
The 6-foot-10 Tuoyo scored a career-high 21 points and added 12 rebounds as the Mocs improved to 9-2 with a 78-66 win over the Owls in front of 2,421 fans at McKenzie Arena. The start is the program’s best since 2002-03, and UTC can continue to improve on that Tuesday at home against a tough Radford team.
Tuoyo had 17 of his points in the second half and 10 in the final 5:25. Eric Robertson added 15 points on 5-for-9 shooting from 3-point range. Tre’ McLean added 14 points, while Chuck Ester had his best all-around game as a Moc with 11 points, seven rebounds and a career-high five assists.