UTC 84, The Citadel 78
UTC (12-2, 1-0 SoCon)Ester 3-3 0-0 7, Tuoyo 4-6 1-2 9, Pryor 5-13 6-8 16, Robertson 2-8 2-4 7, McLean 7-13 4-5 18, Oldham 3-6 2-2 8, Burroughs-Cook 2-7 1-2 6, Ethridge 4-5 4-4 13. Totals 30-61 20-27 84.The Citadel (7-7, 0-1)White 1-6 1-2 3, Marshall 5-11 0-0 12, Najdawi 5-7 3-5 15, Boutte 1-6 2-2 5, Sledge 4-6 0-0 10, Williams 2-4 1-2 5, Frierson 4-6 0-0 12, Broom 0-1 0-0 0, Henry 3-11 8-9 16, Duncan 0-0 0-0 0, Schroeder 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-58 15-20 78.Halftime—Citadel, 39-38. 3-point goals—UTC 4-16 (Ester 1-1, Ethridge 1-2, Burroughs-Cook 1-3, Robertson 1-4, McLean 0-1, Pryor 0-5); Citadel 13-37 (Frierson 4-6, Sledge 2-3, Najdawi 2-4, Marshall 2-7, Henry 2-8, Boutte 1-4, Williams 0-1, Broom 0-1, White 0-3). Rebounds—UTC 44 (Ester 9, McLean 9); Citadel 26 (Boutte 5, Henry 5). Assists—UTC 8 (Pryor 5); Citadel 17 (Marshall 4, Boutte 4). Turnovers—UTC 17 (Pryor 4, Burroughs-Cook 4); Citadel 17 (4 with 3 each). Blocks—UTC 2 (Ester, McLean); Citadel 4 (Najdawi 2). Steals—UTC 6 (McLean 3); Citadel 8 (Najdawi 2, Henry 2). Total fouls—UTC 18, Citadel 23. Fouled out—Najdawi. A—1,332.
UTC coach Matt McCall talks to Tre’ McLean after the game against Radford Tuesday, December 22, 2015 at McKenzie Arena.CHARLESTON, S.C. – Tre’ McLean got the last laugh.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga junior guard/forward from nearby West Ashley, S.C., was told by a Citadel assistant coach during Saturday’s game that he wasn’t “tough enough” to play for the military school.
But he was tough enough to help spark a 10-0 run late in the game as the Mocs outscored the Bulldogs 18-6 in the final 3:59 to win their Southern Conference opener 84-78 over The Citadel in front of 1,332 fans at McAlister Fieldhouse.
The Mocs (12-2 overall) got their first win in which they trailed at halftime this season, this time 39-38. They will host Mercer at 7 p.m. Tuesday at McKenzie Arena.
McLean finished with a team-high 18 points, adding nine rebounds and three steals.
“I’m always excited to come home,” said McLean, who had 50 or so supporters in attendance. “Sometimes when I make a big play, I’ve got to tone myself down, or get focused, but I see myself level-headed as the game goes on. I wear my emotions on my sleeve, but now I’m used to it and Coach (Matt) McCall and my teammates keep me level-headed.”
Greg Pryor had 16 points and five assists, while Duke Ethridge scored 13 points in 18 minutes for UTC. Justin Tuoyo had nine points and seven rebounds and Chuck Ester matched McLean’s rebounding total and scored seven points.
The Bulldogs (7-7, 0-1) had five double-figure scorers, led by Derrick Henry with 16 points. Zane Najdawi scored 15 before fouling out, while Quinton Marshall and Matt Frierson each had 12 and Warren Sledge tallied 10.
McLean started the game’s final run with a three-point play coming out of the media timeout, and then he and Eric Robertson had back-to-back dunks as the Mocs erased the deficit in 47 seconds and built a four-point lead by the 2:28 mark.
Frierson hit a 3-pointer from the left wing with 1:05 to play to cut the UTC lead to 80-78, but the Mocs hit four free throws down the stretch to hold off the Bulldogs.
It wasn’t a pretty performance by the Mocs. They turned the ball over 17 times and allowed The Citadel to make 13 3-point shots (in 37 attempts) while making only 4 of their own 16 trey tries. But they outrebounded the Bulldogs 44-26 and turned 15 offensive rebounds into 18 second-chance points.
The Citadel averages a nation-best 93.1 points per game but was held 15 points below that.
“We tried to slow them up and stop them in transition,” McCall said. “I thought we did a decent job of that. Too many times we got caught in rotations, getting beat on the baseline, but when you give up 13 3s and hold a team in the 70s, you’re doing something right.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.