Led by its two true freshmen and a dominant second-half defensive performance, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball team pulled away to defeat Mercer 73-56 on “Gold Rush” day at McKenzie Arena.
Saturday’s 3,680 spectators — the largest home crowd of the season — saw UTC hold the Bears scoreless for the final 7:54, when the Mocs went on a 13-0 run and clamped down on the other end as Mercer missed its final 11 shots. UTC was decked out in gold uniforms for a Southern Conference matchup that was nationally televised by CBS Sports Network.
The Mocs (14-13, 6-8) won for the second straight game and the third time in their past five since dropping four in a row. With two weeks remaining in the regular season, next up is a trip to Virginia Military Institute (6-21, 1-13) at 7 p.m. Wednesday before returning home to face UNC Greensboro next Saturday.
The crowd also saw standout performances from first-year UTC players Sam Alexis (26 points, six rebounds) and Brody Robinson (10 points, five assists). The Mocs got off to a slow start on offense, with six misses and a turnover on their first nine possessions to trail 11-2 before Robinson made a driving layup 7:14 into the game for their first basket. Robinson and Alexis then combined for a trio of 3s to cut Mercer’s lead to 16-13 halfway through the period, which jump-started the offense.
Mercer (12-15, 5-9) led by five at halftime and built a 44-35 lead early in the second half, but the Mocs outscored the visitors 38-12 the rest of the way, limiting the Bears to four makes on their final 22 shots.
“It was not our best basketball in the first half and the first few minutes of the second half, so we had a little bit of a spirited timeout, and I thought our guys responded really well,” UTC coach Dan Earl said. “It’s a lot more fun when things are going your way, and we still had a little lull the first four, eight minutes of the second half because we let not making shots or things not going well affect our defense. I just didn’t think we had enough intensity.
“I thought our guys really responded in the last 12 or 15 minutes. It was some of the best basketball we’ve played, and guys were in it. If the guys can buy in like that, I think we’ve got better days ahead.”
Graduate transfer Jamal Johnson continued his solid play, scoring 17 points and grabbing 11 rebounds for his first double-double with the Mocs. Demetrius Davis finished with just a pair of points, but the Mocs outscored the Bears 44-27 in his 20 minutes and 15 seconds of play.
Mercer’s scoring was led by Jalyn McCreary (16 points) and Luis Hurtado (10). UTC completed a sweep of the regular-season series, having also beaten the Bears 80-51 on Dec. 31 in Macon, Georgia.
Compiled by Gene Henley. Contact him at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.