UTC 78, Kennesaw State 66
Kennesaw State (3-10)Jones 4-10 0-0 8, Morena 5-5 3-3 13, Ray 5-12 1-1 12, Brown 7-14 6-6 24, Masterson 3-6 0-0 7, Clarke 0-5 2-4 2, Williams 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-53 12-14 66.UTC (9-2)Ester 5-10 1-1 11, Tuoyo 10-14 1-4 21, McLean 4-6 5-8 14, Pryor 1-6 4-4 6, Robertson 5-10 0-0 15, Oldham 2-3 0-0 5, Burroughs-Cook 1-6 2-2 4, Bran 0-0 0-0 0, Ethridge 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 29-58 13-19 78.Halftime—33-33. 3-point goals—KSU 6-15 (Brown 4-8, Ray 1-3, Masterson 1-3, Clarke 0-1); UTC 7-18 (Robertson 5-9, Oldham 1-1, McLean 1-2, Tuoyo 0-1, Ethridge 0-1, Pryor 0-2, Burroughs-Cook 0-2). Rebounds—KSU 25 (Jones 8); UTC 38 (Tuoyo 12). Assists—KSU 14 (Ray 3, Brown 3); UTC 19 (Pryor 9). Turnovers—KSU 12 (Morena 4); UTC 12 (Pryor 4). Blocks—KSU 5 (Morena 3); UTC 4 (Ester, Tuoyo, McLean, Ethridge). Steals—KSU 6 (Jones 2); UTC 6 (Ester 2, Pryor 2). Total fouls—KSU 21, UTC 13. Fouled out—Masterson. A—2,421.
Justin Tuoyo entered halftime of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball game against Kennesaw State with no fouls. So he had no excuses to not be effective when the Mocs needed him down the stretch Friday night.
When it counted most, he provided.
The 6-foot-10 Tuoyo scored a career-high 21 points and added 12 rebounds as the Mocs improved to 9-2 with a 78-66 win over the Owls in front of 2,421 fans at McKenzie Arena. The start is the program's best since 2002-03, and UTC can continue to improve on that Tuesday at home against a tough Radford team.
Tuoyo had 17 of his points in the second half and 10 in the final 5:25. Eric Robertson added 15 points on 5-for-9 shooting from 3-point range. Tre' McLean added 14 points, while Chuck Ester had his best all-around game as a Moc with 11 points, seven rebounds and a career-high five assists.
"I've got great players around me, and I can't do it without them," Tuoyo said. "Them finding me made it a lot easier."
Tuoyo has spent most games this season in foul trouble, which has limited his production. The gloves were off once he realized he had no fouls at halftime.
"I had zero fouls which was a shock to me, so Tre' and Casey (Jones) came to me and told me I had no excuse now," Tuoyo said. "Even though Casey isn't playing, he's in my head, so I just did what I knew I could do in the second half."
Greg Pryor scored only six points for UTC, but his nine assists were a career high.
"Once Tuoyo got going toward the end and we realized their big couldn't guard him, we were telling each other to get the ball to Tuoyo," Robertson said. "We knew he was feeling it."
UTC shot 56 percent from the field in the second half with only three turnovers, finishing the game on a 25-8 run. The game was won on the defensive end, where the Mocs were able to slow the Owls' flex offense.
"I'm just really proud of the team," UTC coach Matt McCall said. "They found a way down the stretch to get stops and grind out a win."
Kennesaw State (3-10) has proven to be a thorn in the Mocs' side, with wins the previous two seasons. The Owls led 52-44 with 13:58 to play after KSU guard Yonel Brown lost control of the ball with the shot clock winding down, retrieved it and flung up a prayer from about 35 feet out that glanced off the top of the backboard and angled down into the net.
From that point forward, it was all Mocs. They tied the game at 58 on a 3-pointer by McLean with 7:21 to go, and then after a Tuoyo rebound Pryor pushed the ball up the court and found Robertson in the corner for a 3 that gave the Mocs their first lead of the second half.
Tuoyo then scored 10 of the final 17 points.
"Tonight was a really big game for us considering we lost to the them the last two times," Robertson said. "We talked about it and in the locker room and at practice. We had to make sure we were locked in, because this team had been beating us. It's a pride thing: You don't want to let a team beat you over and over and over and over."
Brown, who had 32 points last year against the Mocs, scored a game-high 24 while playing all 40 minutes Friday. Bernard Morena had 13 while Kendrick Ray added 12.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.