The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball team rebounded from a disappointing loss to Furman in a big way Saturday at McKenzie Arena. The Mocs improved to 11-6 overall and 2-2 in the Southern Conference with a scoreboard-busting 105-67 win over Samford.
Coach Lamont Paris called his team’s defensive execution “pristine” following the blowout win, crediting his players’ execution in ball-screen situations with both shutting the Bulldogs down and creating easy points. The Mocs created 15 turnovers, turning them into 22 points.
Offensively, forward Ramon Vila had a career-high 24 points and led a 43-37 edge in rebounds with eight. Matt Ryan added an efficient 20 points, including a 6-of-7 output from 3-point range, while David Jean-Baptiste had 19 points and a career-high eight assists. Stefan Keninc was 5-for-5 on 3s and scored 17 points.
UTC led 41-30 at halftime after Samford (8-10, 2-2) cut into what was a 23-point deficit at one point with a 15-3 run. The Mocs, though, raised the lead back to 20 in the first five minutes of the second half and kept going.
UTC shot 60.5% in the second half, going 10-of-15 from 3-point range, while holding Samford to 31.4% shooting (11-of-35) in the final 20 minutes.