The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga clinched a top-six seed and a first-round bye for next week's Southern Conference men's basketball tournament with a 71-64 win Wednesday night at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington.
The Mocs (18-12, 9-8) never trailed on their way to the victory that completed a regular-season series sweep of VMI, racing out to a 12-0 lead and leading by 20 in the second half before the Keydets (8-22, 3-14) surged to make the score respectable at the end.
Matt Ryan led UTC with 18 points, eight of them coming during the opening run, and had a team-high eight rebounds.
Maurice Commander shook off a recent shooting slump to add 15 points and six rebounds for the Mocs, while reserve Trey Doomes had 13 points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes and Ramon Vila contributed 12 points and seven boards.
The win, coupled with Wofford's 60-54 loss to East Tennessee State University, put the Mocs in sixth place in the SoCon standings and a game up on Wofford with one to play. With a series sweep of Wofford on its side, UTC, which hosts UNC Greensboro at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at McKenzie Arena to close the regular season, will not drop below sixth in the standings.
ETSU clinched the top seed with its win, while Furman needs only a win at last-place The Citadel on Saturday to earn the No. 2 seed, which would relegate UNCG to the No. 3 spot. If those seeds hold, the Mocs and UNCG would meet in the SoCon quarterfinals at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 7.
The women's tournament starts March 5 at Harrah's Cherrokee Center in Asheville, North Carolina, with the men's event starting the next day and continuing through the following Monday's title game. The women's bracket does not have a Saturday game, with its final on Sunday.
UTC's win Wednesday came despite shooting only 39.6% (21-of-53) from the field, with VMI shooting 42.9% (27-of-63). The Keydets, however, were 0-of-12 from 3-point range in the first half and just 4-of-25 behind the arc overall. The Mocs' biggest edge came on free throws as they were 23-of-35 to just 6-of-10 for the Keydets.
Sean Conway and Kamdyn Curfman led VMI with 15 and 12 points, respectively. Travis Evee, the Keydets' leading scorer this season, was held to just six points on 3-of-11 shooting.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.