UTC guard Johnathan Burroughs-Cook shoots against La.-Monroe during the Mocs' victory on Dec. 3 at McKenzie Arena. They take a 9-3 record into their Southern Conference opener next Saturday.Adversity is nothing new to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball program.
Yet for the second straight season, the Mocs have persevered heading into Southern Conference play.
They have at least nine wins in nonconference play for the second straight season. The 9-3 record they'll take into their New Year's Eve game at Western Carolina easily could have been a 10-2 mark had it not been for a last-seconds loss at Vanderbilt on Dec. 17.
UTC's other losses were at eighth-ranked North Carolina and 8-2 Arkansas State, which also counts Georgetown among its victims.
"I feel like we're in a pretty good spot," senior guard Johnathan Burroughs-Cook said after the Mocs' 73-57 win over Jacksonville State on Wednesday. "We've lost to some pretty good teams.
"I feel like we're in a really good position to jump straight into conference play with a good record and level head."
This season's team has had to deal with losing Chuck Ester to a knee injury and Casey Jones being hampered by an ankle injury. The Mocs received good news five hours prior to the season opener against Tennessee, however, when Makinde London's transfer hardship waiver was granted by the NCAA, allowing him to play immediately.
The 6-foot-10 Xavier transfer is averaging 7.4 points and 4.5 rebounds while shooting 33 percent from 3-point range in his first season with the program, and he could slide back into the starting lineup if Jones' ankle injury sidelines him for an extended period of time.
In addition to beating Tennessee, UTC has defeated Coastal Carolina and Marshall, two teams expected to contend for their respective conference championships. The win over the Volunteers was the Mocs' second against a Southeastern Conference opponent in the last three seasons.
"I couldn't be prouder of this group," coach Matt McCall said after Wednesday's win. "We have had a really tough schedule and played some high-level teams that will win a lot of games in their league. There's been a lot of adversity we've faced in these first 12 games, and I felt like we have handled it the right way.
"We have to continue to get better and we'll get back to work right after Christmas, because this is a really important time for our team."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.