Shoes were squeaking when the sun started peeking.
The Mocs began practice at 6:15 a.m. on Wednesday due to conflicting class schedules then re-gathered in the afternoon to board the team bus headed to Appalachian State.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga begins its final road trip of the season today and will cap the regular season on Saturday at Western Carolina.
"Everybody is in a good mood and pumped again," sophomore Ricky Taylor said. "We have a lot of fuel in our system. We didn't have any gas when we were on a five-game losing streak. We'll play on a full tank for these next two games."
The games will determine whether the Mocs finish in third place of the Southern Conference North Division or lower in the standings.
Their seed for the Southern Conference tournament is based on their spot in the standings. But if they finish third or sixth, they'll begin playing next Friday in the first round.
"You always want to finish higher, especially when you look at seedings," point guard Keegan Bell said. "I think third would put us in a better position. It also helps to know that you're third rather than last."
The Mocs' confidence has been shaky for most of the season. A 78-74 win over Davidson on Monday brightened their spirits and outlook on the rest of the season. Winning two more would provide them with plenty of confidence and momentum heading into Charlotte.
"We need momentum and there's no doubt," coach John Shulman said. "It would mean that we're playing better.
"I think everybody had them dead in the water, so I think they're proud we beat a good Davidson team and they're proud they woke up at 5:30 and had one of our best practices of the year."
But road hasn't been kind to the Mocs. They're 1-6 in SoCon road games with the one win coming on Jan. 6, at last-place Georgia Southern.
"I don't think we've gone into a road game real confident and believing in ourselves," Bell said. "This is a huge test because they tournament isn't at home this year and we have to get used to playing well on the road which we haven't done this year."
In fact, the Mocs' highlights of the season may have been their two home victories over first-place Appalachian State (18-11, 11-5) and second-place Western Carolina (19-10, 9-7).
The Mocs beat ASU 85-80 despite letting Donald Sims score 24 points. But the SoCon player of the year candidate shot 2-of-15 from the 3-point line.
"He's a Chattanooga killer," Shulman said. "We'll have to do a variety of different things against him. "We showed a variety of different defenses on Monday and we'll continue to do that."