INDIANAPOLIS — Honor Huff saw the switch and sized up the Loyola-Chicago defender.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga junior guard knew exactly what he was going to do. In fact, anyone who has watched a UTC basketball game — especially in the National Invitation Tournament — knew what Huff was going to do, which was rise up and fire a 3-pointer.
“I guess they didn’t learn that you’ve got to step up a little closer,” Huff said. “The rest is history.”
Huff was able to create just enough space to get the shot off, which hit nothing but net, and proved to be the dagger in the Mocs’ 80-73 win over the Ramblers inside Hinkle Fieldhouse to advance to the NIT championship game. UTC (28-9) will face UC Irvine, which defeated North Texas 68-65 in Tuesday’s other semifinal, Thursday night at 9.
The Anteaters point guard is sophomore Myles Che, who played the 2023-24 season at UTC.
The Mocs also followed a familiar game plan that’s been successful for most of the postseason, one of falling behind early, keeping the game relatively close then figuring out how to rally back in the second half. It was Trey Bonham who kept the Mocs within striking distance Tuesday, making 6 of 10 shots and scoring 13 of the team’s first 27 points.
But UTC seemed to struggle early against a Loyola Chicago team that appeared far superior athletically at every single position. The fact that the Mocs trailed just 38-34 at the break was remarkable, but it also meant that UTC knew it was in the game.
“I told the guys at halftime that the game was too close and they (Loyola Chicago) messed up,” Bonham said. “We’re a second-half team so I knew we were good.
“If we’re not down 20 at halftime I feel like we’re going to win.”
The Mocs fought their way back, using a 13-4 run to start the second half to build a five-point lead. From the moment that Latif Diouf made a layup in the paint with 17:51 to play in the game, the Mocs actually never trailed again.
They built as much as a 10-point lead before the Ramblers rallied, cutting the margin to 74-73 with 2:37 to play.
The next basket came two minutes later, when Huff rose up over 6-foot-10 sophomore Miles Rubin, nailing a shot on the right wing to put the game away.
Bonham had 23 points to lead the Mocs, making 10 of 16 attempts. All 12 of Huff’s points came off four 3-pointers, while Bash Wieland also had 12. Makai Richards contributed 10 points off the bench, making all five of his shot attempts.
Garrison Keeslar finished with just five points, but added seven rebounds and five assists, while Sean Cusano had seven points and five rebounds.
The Mocs had 22 assists on the evening to just eight turnovers.
“I love the fact that our guys have confidence that we’re not out of games because we’ve been in a lot of those games where we’re down pretty big or down a little bit and the guys know that we can rally,” UTC head coach Dan Earl said. “They don’t lose composure, which is awesome, but I would much prefer to come out of the gate strong and have a halftime lead and make it easier on ourselves.
“We’ll see what happens next game and I’m rolling with these guys regardless.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.