They were dominant when it mattered.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball Mocs outscored rival East Tennessee State by 15 points in the second half Saturday night, holding the Buccaneers without a field goal for 12:09, and won 67-60 in front of 5,179 fans at McKenzie Arena and an American Sports Network television audience.
The win gave the Mocs their first 20-win regular season since 1993-94 and their first 20-win season since 2004-05 campaign. It also secures them of no less than second place in the Southern Conference heading into the final weekend of the year.
Ronrico White led the Mocs (20-9, 13-3) with 20 points in his final home game, with four 3-pointers. Casey Jones had 17 points and seven rebounds, while Justin Tuoyo had 12 rebounds to go along with eight points and six blocked shots. The block number gave him 93 for the year and set a school record for blocks in a season, topping Zaccheus Mason’s 92 last season.
Jalen Riley scored 31 points for the Bucs (16-11, 8-8). He had 16 in the first half, which ETSU led 30-22. The visitors limited UTC to 29 percent shooting from the floor in the first 20 minutes, and if it wasn’t for Jones’ 10 points and Tuoyo’s six, it could have been worse.