In the midst of a shooting skid, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior guard Jamal Johnson kept his confidence to keep letting the ball fly from 3-point range.
Johnson's resilience showed in the second half of the Mocs' 69-66 home victory over Murray State in front of nearly 3,000 fans Saturday at McKenzie Arena. With great ball movement provided by Jake Stephens and Dalvin White, he drilled three consecutive 3-pointers in a span of less than three minutes.
After hitting a go-ahead 3 with 3:58 to play, the former Auburn starter pumped up a lively crowd, clenching his fists at midcourt and yelling as the Racers called a timeout.
"I love my teammates" said Johnson, who ended a 6-of-36 start from 3-point range this season as he scored 11 of his 13 points after the break. "They kept motivating me and giving me positive feedback. Just to keep going and keep shooting. It felt good to finally hit a couple. They inspire me to be the best player I can be."
Johnson nailed all four of his free throws, which included two with seven seconds left for the final margin. He soon after corralled his seventh rebound on the Racers' last-second 3-point shot that bounced off the right side of the rim.
The Mocs (3-3) trailed 34-30 at intermission despite Stephens scoring 20 of his 27 points in the first half, when the graduate transfer center made a trio of 3s. Stephens also finished the game with 11 rebounds and three steals and has scored at least 15 points in eight straight games dating back to last season.
Stephens took advantage of man-to-man defense in the first half as the 7-footer imposed his will down low while also showing off the range that allowed him to shoot better than 49% from 3-point range for Virginia Military Institute last season.
Jamaal Walker made two big 3-pointers in the second half, the first cutting Murray State's lead to three and his last providing UTC its biggest lead at 65-57 with 2:08 left.
Murray State (3-3) was led by Rob Perry, who scored his team's final nine points, including a 7-0 run to cut the score to 65-64 with 23 seconds left. Perry finished with 22 points, while Jamari Smith had 15 of his 17 in the first half for the visitors from Kentucky.
UTC's 13 makes behind the arc included a pair from Dalvin White, who had a game-high six assists.
The Mocs, who have 17 wins in their past 19 nonconference games at home, visit Tennessee Tech at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
"This was big for Jamal tonight," UTC coach Dan Earl said. "You could see the excitement his teammates had for him. He is a great shooter, and we've known that. We just kept telling him to keep shooting, and hopefully tonight can springboard him and our team forward."
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.