University of Tennessee at Chattanooga junior guard David Jean-Baptiste turned in a career performance Friday night at McKenzie Arena while leading the Mocs to an impressive 90-72 win over South Alabama.
Jean-Baptiste scored 18 of his 25 points in the second half to lead three Mocs in double figures. Matt Ryan had 20 points and six rebounds, and Ramon Vila added 17 and six. Three days after a hard-fought win against Troy, UTC improved to 3-1 by outscoring South Alabama 40-22 in the paint, putting up 22 second-chance points and finishing with a 36-30 advantage in rebounds.
"It's really great to see this team come together," Jean-Baptiste said. "This team shows a lot of fight, and we come out and compete in practice every day, so it's just great to see the team come together tonight."
Facing an opponent that came within a point of beating No. 22 Auburn on Tuesday night, the Mocs set the tone with their early response to the Jaguars (2-2). After falling behind 8-3, UTC went on a 19-1 run over the next eight minutes to take a 22-9 lead with 8:50 remaining in the half.
"It was a tale of two parts of the half," Mocs coach Lamont Paris said. "One part was the first minute, and then there were the other 19. We quickly got back into what we were doing, and by the time we got two-thirds of the way through the half I felt so confident in what we were doing. Not because of the score but because of what we were doing and how guys were grasping concepts."
A 7-0 run by the Jaguars was answered by Vila's layup and a 3-pointer by A.J. Caldwell, and then the Mocs kept up the pressure, with Jean-Baptiste's 3-pointer at the buzzer giving them a 41-23 halftime lead.
The last two games, we had a bad first half and a solid second half, but that's just being solid for 20 minutes," Vila said. "I think today is the first time we've played solid for 40 minutes.
"We're really happy because that's something we're looking for."
The Mocs maintained control after the break, stretching their lead to 28 on a couple of occasions midway through the half. The Jaguars continued to press and were able to cut into the lead at times, but big UTC shots kept the visitors from getting any closer than 15.
"Handling pressure is usually one of the last things to come around for a team," Paris said. "I think we've been getting better at it. Our turnover numbers have been coming down, so all in all I think we did a good job against that tonight."
Andre Fox scored 24 points and Chad Lott added 18 with seven rebounds to lead South Alabama, but the Jaguars shot 43.4% from the field as the Mocs shot 54.8%.
"I think the biggest part was for us to not get complacent and to stay aggressive," Jean-Baptiste said. "We were taking smart shots and not-too-quick shots and just always trying to stay aggressive."
UTC's next five games are on the road, with Wednesday's contest at Florida State followed by a Nov. 25 visit to Tennessee, back-to-back matchups at the Emerald Coast Classic in Niceville, Florida, and the Southern Conference opener Dec. 3 at Western Carolina.
Paris said the confidence gained Friday will help his players as they prepare for one of the toughest stretches of the 2019-20 season, his third as UTC's coach.
"Can't say enough about this team for a couple of reasons," he said. "One, how we competed physically, and two, how we stuck to the game plan. The first half, we did a phenomenal job. The best thing we've done since I've been here. I'm really happy for the guys."
Contact Jim Tanner at JFTanner@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @JFTanner.