Despite a much better effort in the finale of a three-game homestand, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball team dropped its fourth straight contest, falling 85-80 to Wofford on Wednesday night at McKenzie Arena.
Now 11-11 overall this season and 3-6 in the Southern Conference — having faced every team in the league — the Mocs hit the road this weekend for a quick rematch with East Tennessee State University, which shot 79% in the second half of a 78-62 win in Chattanooga last Saturday. ETSU (8-14, 4-5), which lost 71-67 in overtime at Mercer on Wednesday, will host UTC this Saturday at 4 p.m. in Johnson City.
Wednesday was UTC's second game for the team without the services of standout 7-footer Jake Stephens, who is out indefinitely with a hand injury, and the output against the Terriers looked better than it did four days earlier against the Buccaneers. But the result was the same as defense let the Mocs down in some inopportune moments.
In the final 20 minutes, Wofford (12-10, 4-5) shot 55% from the field and was 12-for-13 on free throws to hold off the Mocs' rally attempt. The Terriers began the second half with a 36-30 lead.
"I think our guys competed," first-year UTC coach Dan Earl said. "We did have some stretches where we didn't execute on offense and score the ball, but for the most part, we were competing; we just could not get stops.
"It's another frustrating loss, but I told the guys to keep their heads high. There's a lot of season left, and we've got to continue to get better."
Jamal Johnson led the way for the Mocs with 22 points and Dalvin White had 13 as each went over the 1,000-point mark in his collegiate career Wednesday.
The Mocs also got a boost off the bench from junior guard Khristion Courseault, who had 14 points and a team-high four assists in 29 minutes, while Demetrius Davis chipped in 10 points. Freshman forward Sam Alexis gave the Mocs six points and a team-high nine rebounds, while KC Hankton — the starter in place of Stephens — had nine points and five rebounds.
Wofford's Jackson Paveltezke had 21 points and six assists as one of five scorers in double figures for the visitors. He was joined by Carson McCorkle (15), B.J. Mack (14 with eight rebounds and three steals), Messiah Jones (13 with six rebounds) and Kyler Filewich (10).
Courseault had a three-point play with 12:33 to go in the second half to give UTC a 50-49 lead, then found White for a 3-pointer in the corner to put the Mocs up four. Wofford responded with a 17-6 run to assume control of the game.
Still, UTC cut the lead to 80-78 with 28 seconds to go on a layup by Johnson, who was fouled on the play. He missed the free throw and the Terriers rebounded, then went 5-for-6 at the foul line in the final seconds to secure the win.
"At the end of the day, we just have to do what we've got to do defensively," Courseault said. "We just have to do whatever it takes to get that stop. I believe we're a good defensive team and we'll be able to get those stops moving forward.
"It seems like every game we're one stop away or one bucket away from winning that game, so we're excited moving forward, and hopefully we can get one on Saturday."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.