Eventually, the game opened up for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball team.
With execution leading to 58 percent shooting from the field, the Mocs finally were able to pull away Saturday against Western Carolina. UTC won the Southern Conference game 77-65 in front of 5,449 at McKenzie Arena.
Next for the Mocs (17-6, 8-3) is an important three-game road stretch: at Furman on Thursday, at Wofford next Saturday and at Virginia Military Institute – which beat UTC 80-64 last month – on Feb. 15.
Casey Jones led the way against Western Carolina with 19 points, a season best for the 6-foot-5 senior, who also had six rebounds and three assists. Justin Tuoyo scored 15 points – going over the 1,000 mark for his college career – while Tre’ McLean and Johnathan Burroughs-Cook added 12 each.
The Mocs shot 22-for-30 (73 percent) from the foul line, while the Catamounts (7-18, 2-10) were 10-for-13 and turned the ball over 19 times, leading to 20 UTC points. Fifteen of UTC’s second-half points came off nine WCU turnovers.
“We feel like if we stay connected and we keep playing hard, they’re going to break down before us,” Jones said. “That’s what got us a win tonight. Just keep playing hard and kept pounding the rock. Tonight, we got two really good plays that just sparked some energy in us and helped us pull it out.”
Jones was referring to back-to-back 3-pointers, one by him and another by McLean that bumped the lead to 10 points with 6:40 remaining, but he also could have been talking about consecutive 3s by McLean and Makinde London that helped turn a 44-42 Catamounts lead into a six-point Mocs advantage midway through the second half.
The Catamounts, who have struggled offensively all season but seem to have found a formula for success, battled to stay in it. Haboubacar Mutombo – nephew of Hall of Fame center Dikembe – and Devin Peterson continued to make tough shots to keep the visitors close, but after the second set of back-to-back 3s, they got no closer than seven.
“You have to give Western Carolina credit for hitting a lot of tough shots,” UTC coach Matt McCall said. “We fought tonight when it wasn’t going well, and I thought that was the difference. We said that everyone needs to bring the energy and get through the tough spots.
“I’m proud of our effort tonight. We didn’t get rattled and we kept playing. I’m proud of that.”
Mutombo led the Catamounts with 17 points. Kyle Rhoades added 13, Peterson 12 and Onno Steger 10.
“I’m very proud of my basketball team,” WCU coach Larry Hunter said. “We are getting better. To people who think we are going to be an easy out at the end of the year, we’re getting better, competing better.
“We’re starting to understand how to play. We’re still wet behind the ears, but we’re getting there.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.