If the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball team’s 70-54 loss to UNC Greensboro on Saturday night could be summed up in a word, “overwhelmed” would seem to be a good one.
Offensively, the Mocs were never able to get into a rhythm in the Southern Conference matchup at McKenzie Arena. Even when it was tied at 23 at the 9:15 mark of the first half, it felt like UTC’s early success was largely because of dynamic shotmaking from junior guard Trey Bonham, who had 16 of the team’s points to that point.
As the game went on, even those shots were taken away. There were times when a UTC player was wide open, but it was as if he heard footsteps and hesitated, which allowed a defender for the Spartans to get back into the play and affect the shot.
“That was kind of a grown man’s game,” said UTC coach Dan Earl, whose team was coming off back-to-back wins, adding that the Spartans “play with tremendous toughness. I did not think we were nearly tough enough tonight. Give a ton of credit to UNCG. They just put it on us, and we have a lot to learn and grow from.”
The Mocs (10-7, 2-2) never let the game get too far out of control in the second half while simultaneously never really posing a threat to the Spartans (12-5, 3-1), who were 14-of-26 from 3-point range in the win.