UNC Greensboro 79, UTC 64
UNCG (12-17, 8-8 SoCon)Smith 1-1 0-0 2, Locke 2-3 1-3 5, White 11-12 3-4 26, Alonso 5-8 1-2 14, Baldwin 8-13 5-6 22, Lamot 1-2 0-0 3, Troy 2-6 0-0 5, Collins 0-0 0-0 0, Burgess 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 31-46 10-15 79.UTC (24-5, 13-3)Ester 5-8 1-2 12, Tuoyo 2-4 10-13 14, McLean 3-9 2-2 9, Pryor 1-9 3-4 5, Robertson 0-9 0-0 0, Oldham 5-9 0-0 12, Burroughs-Cook 0-1 0-0 0, Bran 3-3 0-0 8, Ethridge 1-5 2-2 4. Totals 20-57 18-23 64.Halftime—UNCG, 34-26. 3-point goals—UNCG 7-14 (Alonso 3-5, White 1-2, Baldwin 1-2, Lamot 1-2, Troy 1-3); UTC 6-29 (Bran 2-2, Oldham 2-5, Ester 1-2, McLean 1-4, Burroughs-Cook 0-1, Ethridge 0-2, Pryor 0-5, Robertson 0-8). Rebounds—UNCG 30 (Locke 7); UTC 29 (Ester 6). Assists—UNCG 14 (Baldwin 5); UTC 11 (Ester 3, McLean 3, Pryor 3). Turnovers—UNCG 14 (Locke 2, White 2, Troy 2); UTC 8 (Tuoyo 2, McLean 2, Pryor 2). Blocks—UNCG 1 (White); UTC none. Steals—UNCG 5 (Baldwin 3); UTC 4 (Pryor 2). Total fouls—UNCG 21, UTC 19. Fouled out—Tuoyo. A—5,718.
R.J. White and UNC Greensboro made sure there wasn't going to be any sharing on the McKenzie Arena floor Saturday.
White had 26 points and his Spartans shot 67 percent from the field in a 79-64 Southern Conference basketball victory over the first-place University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in front of 5,718 fans at McKenzie Arena. That ended a 19-game home win streak for the Mocs.
Had the Mocs won, they would have clinched a share of the regular-season championship. UTC now has a one-game lead over East Tennessee State - which defeated Mercer 77-74 on Saturday - and Furman also could be a game behind with a win over Wofford later Saturday.
The Mocs host Samford next Saturday for senior day, when Alex Bran, Duke Ethridge, Dee Oldham and Eric Robertson will be honored.
Justin Tuoyo scored 14 points for UTC (24-5, 13-3) before fouling out late. Chuck Ester and Oldham added 12 each, but the Mocs shot only 35 percent from the floor and 6-of-29 from 3-point range.
UNCG (12-17, 8-8) outscored UTC 48-20 in the paint.
"Our lack of preparation had something to do with how we played tonight," Oldham said. "But still, hats off to UNCG: They came in and played a good game tonight."
UTC coach Matt McCall attributed some of his team's performance to a lack of focus in Friday's practice. He called the Mocs out on it then, but it didn't make much of a difference in things the coaches emphasized. One was doubling the 6-foot-8 White, and that never materialized as he made 11 of his 12 field-goal tries.
"You can't put that guy on an island. He's too good," McCall said. "You have to double him. The game was too easy. We worked on that yesterday in practice, but for some reason we didn't do it a single time tonight."
UNCG point guard Diante Baldwin had 22 points, five assists and three steals. Francis Alonso added 14 points on 3-for-5 shooting from 3-point range.
The Mocs trailed only 34-26 at the break despite shooting 31 percent from the floor to UNCG's 58 percent. The Spartans only got better in the second half, making 17 of their 22 shots, including 14 of 16 from inside 3-point range.
"This was a big win for us," UNCG coach Wes Miller said. "The year UTC is having, the team they are, we knew it would be a difficult one and that's why this is a big win for our program, because of the kind of team they are.
"R.J. was terrific for us, and Diante set the tone early getting in the paint, but it was a team effort and hopefully something we can build on."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.