The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball team shot out to a 12-0 lead Sunday afternoon and never looked back in a 99-51 defeat of Tennessee Wesleyan at McKenzie Arena.
The Mocs (6-4) were coming off a disappointing loss Tuesday at Western Carolina in their Southern Conference opener and wasted little time getting the bad taste out of their mouths. Twelve Mocs scored in the nonconference victory, led by the outside-inside duo of Matt Ryan and Ramon Vila, who combined for 34 points in just 27 minutes.
UTC shot 65% from the field in the first half and finished with its best mark of the season, 57.6%.
The bench, which had a poor game in Cullowhee, was stout Sunday, with Trey Doomes getting a season-best 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting while adding four steals, Justin Brown adding nine points and a team-high nine rebounds and Stefan Kenic contributing eight points.
Lawrence Castor led the Bulldogs (4-6) with 12 points.
SUNDAY'S STAR
Ryan, a graduate transfer from Vanderbilt, played only 16 minutes but made the most of them. The forward hit six of eight field-goal attempts, including a 4-of-6 effort from 3-point range, while leading the Mocs with 18 points. He also had a hand in UTC's 46-to-19 rebounding edge by grabbing four.
STANDOUT STAT
29. Assists for the Mocs, their most since dishing out 28 versus Alabama State in 2015. Twelve UTC players recorded at least one, with forward Rod Johnson leading the way with five - all in the first half. Doomes, David Jean-Baptiste and Jonathan Scott each added four. It was the program's most assists in a game since 32 against Toccoa Falls in 2004.
TURNING POINT
Based on the hot start, the turning point likely was in practice. That opening run featured a pair of Ryan treys and a couple of layups from junior Vila off nice passes. UTC coach Lamont Paris started subbing at the 17-minute mark, and in all 13 Mocs appeared in the game. Sophomore Alex Tostado, out sick, was the only non-freshman who didn't play.
WHAT IT MEANS
After losing a double-digit lead in Tuesday's defeat, Sunday's rout was a nice tonic for the Mocs. The level of competition, though, goes up a great deal Wednesday with a trip to Atlantic Coast Conference program Virginia Tech. The outcome against the NAIA's Bulldogs was a foregone conclusion, but with Paris still tweaking the regular rotation, nice games from reserves Brown, Doomes and Kenic, among others, could mean a lot in the coming games.
QUOTABLE
Paris on the assists: "That's ultimately how we need to play. It means you're getting higher-quality shots when it's coming from someone else's hands. I think we generally play better when we're coming off a screen, off a cut or off something where we're making a play for someone else. I thought in the Western game where they went on their run, we didn't distribute the ball to each other like we needed to. We really wanted to make sure we were getting a high-quality shot every time."
Ryan on the preparation: "We competed really hard and watched a lot of film from that (Western Carolina) game. There were a lot of things that should have happened for us that we should have done, but we didn't and we had to learn from it. It was good that a lot of guys got a lot of minutes today."
Vila on the performance: "This is a game we had to win. We did our homework. How we started was really important because lately we haven't been starting well. It's important because when you go to a place like Virginia Tech and you get behind early, it's over. We can't allow that to happen."
NOTABLE
The Mocs' rebounding advantage is the best for the program since the having the same plus-27 edge against Hiwassee on Nov. 14, 2014. Nineteen is the lowest rebound total for an opponent since Samford managed just 17 on Jan. 5, 2013. .. UTC also had season highs for points (99), field goals made (38), field-goal percentage (57.6%), steals (11), points in the paint (54), points off turnovers (26), fast-break points (22) and bench scoring (44).
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.