NASHVILLE – The foundation of Lamont Paris’s fourth University of Tennessee at Chattanooga team has been toughness.
A roster that has largely dwindled throughout the early part of the season, to the point where the player count usually fluctuates between eight and nine players, the Mocs haven’t had much easy throughout the back half of their non-conference slate. In the past three games alone, UTC has trailed in the second half of each.
Tuesday was no different, as UTC rallied from down 13 points to claim a 66-63 win at Tennessee State and improve to 9-0 on the year, becoming the first team in Division I to reach nine wins and setting a new standard for best start in school history.
How? The Mocs won despite shooting 36% from the floor, with Tennessee State being whistled for 23 fouls which led to 33 UTC free throws. While the Mocs made 26 of those, it also prevented them from getting into an offensive rhythm as they were constantly being paraded to the foul line, and as a result they shot just 36% from the field.
But down the stretch when it mattered, the shots started falling. Of the 10 shots UTC hit in the second half, six came in the final 9:25 after the Mocs had fallen behind 54-41. It was two of Jamaal Walker’s three 3s, the second from about 24 feet out cutting the lead to 58-57 with 3:43 to play. It was a lot of Malachi Smith, who scored 20 points in the second half, including 13 of the team’s final 16 and the final nine.
It was Stefan Kenic, who had 16, most coming at the foul line. It was K.C. Hankton, and Josh Ayeni, and A.J. Caldwell. It was Trey Doomes.
This team talks a lot about “team efforts.” Tuesday was most certainly that.
So the Mocs keep playing. Figuring out ways to win, sometimes in improbable fashion.
Mocs star
Fresh off being named Southern Conference Player of the Week, Smith made every play down the stretch. In the final 2:34, he had nine points, two rebounds and a steal, part of his career-high 29-point effort. He knocked down a pair of free throws to give the Mocs the lead for good, then for good measure and some breathing room, put back his own miss to make it 64-61. He added two more free throws to provide the final margin of victory.
Key stat
Kenic made as many free throws (11) as the Tigers attempted. Smith made 10 of his 11 attempts, compared to TSU’s 5-for-11 output, which included some key misses down the stretch of a game it largely controlled. UTC led for only 2:37, compared to the 34 minutes and 19 seconds that the Tigers led.
Turning point
The Mocs just made plays down the stretch that TSU didn’t. It was a pair of Smith free throws with 1:06 remaining that gave UTC the lead. The Tigers responded by getting fouled, but with Mark Freeman missing the front end of the 1-and-1 opportunity. Smith then scored again, this time posting up his smaller defender and scoring on a putback of his own miss and making it 64-61, then he knocked down a pair of free throws after a TSU basket that led to an errant 3 at the buzzer.
Quotable
“I knew I could get to the rim whenever I wanted, and being in the bonus early and being a good free-throw shooter, I knew that would put us in the position to come back.” – Smith
“We try to instill confidence in everybody that’s on the floor, whoever’s on the floor, you’re out there for a reason.” – Paris
“I honestly don’t know why I shot it. I didn’t know how far back I was until people told me and thought it would be short. I couldn’t even see it (go in) because of the big guy.” – Walker on his clutch second-half 3
Final thought
There’s no clear answer as to how the Mocs are undefeated in non-conference play, especially under the circumstances of a limited roster. But that’s where they stand as the focus shifts to the Southern Conference and a home date with preseason favorite Furman on Dec. 30. Toughness is probably the best response if someone asks “How?”, but even that doesn’t tell the entire story of this team, which just continues to find ways to make plays when it counts.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.