Even as the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball team goes through another roster makeover, a concerning trend continued for the Mocs in their most recent game, a 74-66 home loss to UNC Greensboro.
Saturday second-half collapses.
It was supposed to be different this time. For the second straight game, the Mocs had their deepest bench (with quality factored in) this season because junior K.C. Hankton is back from injury, giving coach Lamont Paris eight players to work with and devise rotations.
That group was successful for much of the Southern Conference matchup with the Spartans at McKenzie Arena, helping build a nine-point UTC lead late in the second half. For the third straight Saturday, though, the Mocs got overwhelmed and went more than four minutes without a basket, allowing the Spartans (10-5, 5-2) to finish the game on a 26-7 run and push their overall winning streak to four games.
The Mocs (12-5, 3-5) are 0-4 on Saturdays in league play this year, having allowed more than 14 more points per game in the second half of losses to Virginia Military Institute, The Citadel, Wofford and now UNCG. Those four teams combined to shoot 53% in the second halves of those games compared to 43% in the first halves.