Whether it’s perceived as an excuse or a reason, a limited roster has caused problems for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball team this season.
It’s not that the Mocs aren’t capable of competing with only eight or nine players available; it’s that the eight or nine players have differed from game to game recently, preventing the team from developing any sort of consistency. It also limits the ways UTC can play in any game, and when things start going wrong, there isn’t much coach Lamont Paris can do about it from a substitution standpoint.
Saturday’s 84-79 loss at Virginia Military Institute was no different. Junior guard Trey Doomes didn’t make the trip to Lexington; junior forward K.C. Hankton did but was in street clothes. Paris said both absences were due to “decisions made within the training staff.”
In addition, junior Mark Tikhonenko and sophomores Grant Ledford and Prosper Obidiebube aren’t currently available, giving Paris just seven players who could take the floor against the Keydets.
Regardless, the Mocs didn’t play well as they took their second straight loss overall and in Southern Conference play after a program-record 9-0 start, with all the wins outside league play. The Keydets, who led 37-35 at halftime, improved to 6-5, 1-1.
The Mocs did a decent job of defending the interior but not the perimeter as VMI made 10 3-pointers (on 17 attempts) against UTC, which had ranked among the top 10 in the country and led the SoCon in 3-point defense.
“You should be able to defend,” Paris said. ” You should be able to do reasonably well. There’s making great shots, and then there’s giving up stuff that is scouting report material. We did not take anything away from them at all.”
VMI shot 51% from the field, a season high against Division I competition, as the Mocs were carved up in a way they hadn’t been this season.
Fifth-year senior guard David Jean-Baptiste had a career-high 29 points in his second game back after withdrawing his name from the NCAA transfer portal. Malachi Smith, who played all 40 minutes, had 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Stefan Kenic finished with 19 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and a team-high five assists.
For VMI, Jake Stephens and Greg Parham each scored 25 points – Parham with nine rebounds and three blocks – and Kamdyn Curfman added 17 with five assists.
Mocs star
Most of Jean-Baptiste’s production came in the second half, when he poured in 19 points. More importantly, among the Mocs who played more than 10 minutes, he was the only one who had a positive plus-minus rating, as UTC was two points better than the Keydets in the 27 minutes Jean-Baptiste was on the court.
Key stat
In three-plus seasons under Paris, UTC has done a solid job of defending against the 3, but the Mocs took nothing away from the Keydets. And when an opponent shoots almost 59% from outside the arc while also shooting 64% inside it, you’re not going to win very many games.
Turning point
Despite rallying to tie twice in the second half, at 37 and 39, the Mocs weren’t able to make a stop and give themselves a chance to take the lead. After the second tie, the Keydets outscored UTC 11-4 over the next 2:37 to assume control.
Quotable
“Playing with seven is definitely a challenge, but we can’t use that as an excuse. All that matters is that we’re going out there, lacing them up and playing the same way they are, and we didn’t play hard enough. We’ve won with limited numbers before, so when we lose, we can’t say, ‘Well, we don’t have enough numbers.’ We just have to play better.” – Smith, who has played at least 32 minutes every game this season
Final thought
Smith’s words do matter – nobody will feel sorry for the Mocs, and especially not in the SoCon – but context matters as well. With a full roster, or at least a couple more options than Paris has right now, a player could sit if he’s not being effective. Until players come back, UTC is going to be forced to endure some things, and at some point, conditioning may become a concern. At least four Mocs played 33 minutes Saturday, and with fast-paced Samford coming to Chattanooga on Wednesday, can this team hold up through 16 more league games as presently constructed?
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.