It’s possible fatigue was a factor for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball team Sunday afternoon, but coach Matt McCall wasn’t hearing any of it.
The Mocs trailed Arkansas State by 22 points in the second half, and though they were able to close the gap to single digits, they lost 73-67 in the championship game of the Maui Mainland event in West Point, N.Y.
The next game for the Mocs (3-2) is at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Kennesaw State.
Behind 18 points and five assists from Johnathan Burroughs-Cook, 16 points, six rebounds and six assists from Justin Tuoyo and 13 points from Tre’ McLean, the Mocs defeated Central Arkansas 75-64 in the semifinals Saturday night. That game didn’t end until around 10:30, and the team returned to its hotel around midnight, leaving little recovery time before Sunday’s noon tipoff.
That could have led to a slow start, but the Wolves’ hot shooting was also a factor. Arkansas State (4-1) missed just one of its first nine 3-pointers, making its first five while building a 39-25 halftime lead.
The lead maxed out at 53-31 on a layup by Rashad Lindsey with 14:43 to play, but the Mocs were able to chip away, with the last of three Greg Pryor free throws making it 66-57 in the final minute.
Pryor added 10 more points before the final buzzer, with his 3 with two seconds to play providing the game’s final points.
“Arkansas State is a good team, a good ballclub that plays with a lot of energy,” Pryor told gomocs.com after the loss. “It was a long two days with a late game last night and an early game today, but that’s no excuse for the way we played today. They played with a lot more energy than us for 40 minutes, there’s no doubt about it.
“They just flat-out beat us.”
Tuoyo led the Mocs with 24 points, adding 10 rebounds and four blocks. Pryor had 22 and three assists, but UTC had only five assists and allowed Arkansas State to shoot 55 percent from the field.
Forward Casey Jones missed his third consecutive game with an ankle injury. McCall said he hopes to have the 6-foot-5 senior back this weekend.
“We got off to a good start and then just didn’t have enough energy and lost to a team that played harder,” the coach told gomocs.com. “We didn’t compete the right way and need to compete a lot harder We have to get better. We have some time this week to get better, and our guys understand that.
“It’s really hard to win giving up 67 percent from 3(-point range) and 55 percent from the field.”
Donte Thomas led the Wolves with 18 points and 10 assists, Devin Carter had 16 points and a team-high seven rebounds and Jahmiah Simmons scored 12 points in 17 minutes.