The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball team couldn’t stop the Samford onslaught Wednesday night, falling 89-74 to the Bulldogs in the Southern Conference opener for both teams at the Pete Hanna Arena in Birmingham, Alabama.
Samford shot 50% from the field and was 17-for-34 from 3-point range, and the hosts used a 14-2 second-half run to pull away from the Mocs, who dropped their third consecutive game to fall to 8-6 overall this season. The Bulldogs improved to 12-2.
The Mocs were led by Trey Bonham’s 21 points. Honor Huff added 18, while Sam Alexis chipped in 10 and tied Bonham and Tyler Millin with a team-high six rebounds.
UTC made 55% of its attempts from the field in a hot-shooting first half, dominating points in the paint 20-8 and turning the ball over just seven times. Those stats were essentially reversed in the final 20 minutes as the Mocs turned the ball over 14 times, shot just 32% from the field and saw Samford score 16 points in the paint to UTC’s six. In addition, the Bulldogs turned those 14 turnovers into 15 points.
“In the first half, I thought we moved the ball as well as we’ve moved it all year,” UTC coach Dan Earl said. “We shared it extremely well, made the right plays. Not every shot fell, but we were moving. Defensively, we were OK. Not great, obviously, because they made some 3s, but it was right there as a three-point game (at halftime).”
Bonham knocked down a 3 with 13:10 remaining to cut the Samford lead to 64-63, then hit a layup to make it 71-65 a couple minutes later. But turnovers and missed shots started to lead to easy baskets for the Bulldogs, and UTC was never able to stop the bleeding.
“That’s what they do — they try to speed you up, and we kind of fell into that trap today,” Bonham said. “It’s about making the right play over and over and over again, and that’s where we failed at today, making the right play throughout the whole game.”
A.J. Staton-McCray scored a game-high 29 points for Samford, shooting 6-for-6 from 3-point range, and was joined in double figures by Achor Achor (20 points), Chandler Leopard (12) and Garrett Hicks (11).
The Mocs are back at home Saturday, hosting reigning league champion Furman — which lost 79-68 in its league opener at UNC Greensboro to fall to 6-8 — at 7 p.m. at McKenzie Arena.
Compiled by Gene Henley. Contact him at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.