Mark WiedmerTechnically speaking, Wofford's 80-54 dismantling of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball team ended at 8:46 Thursday night.
That's when the final buzzer sounded and the No. 24 Terriers' winning streak reached 16 games, which is currently second nationally to No. 1 Gonzaga's 18 in a row.
But this game really ended about 7:30 Thursday morning, when Wofford guard Fletcher Magee rose early from bed and headed to the YMCA to carry out a 30-minute shooting drill.
"The rest of us are just coming down to get something to eat," Terriers coach Mike Young said, "and Fletcher's sweating like a billygoat. He puts the time in. I can't tell you the number of times he's bailed my tail out."
It would be tough to credit Magee with such a save against the Mocs, despite his game-high 18 points and five made 3-pointers in seven attempts. After all, by the time this one ended, only No. 6 Michigan had beaten UTC by a larger margin this year (28 points) than Wofford beat the Mocs.
But to return briefly to the final seconds of the first half, UTC within seven points, Magee delivered the kind of dagger that should earn him serious consideration from NBA teams and just might advance Wofford past the first weekend of the NCAA tournament.
With the game clock swiftly ticking toward zero, with Mocs freshman guard Donovann Toatley draped all over him more than 22 feet from the basket, Magee somehow hit a leaning 3-pointer just ahead of the horn to put the Terriers up 41-31 at the break.
"He jumped up," Toatley recalled afterward, "and I thought, 'There's no way on God's earth he's making this shot.' Then I turned around and it's nothing but net. A shot like that, there's nothing you can do. He's one of the best shooters I've ever seen."
Added UTC coach Lamont Paris: "Think about how many hours Stevie Wonder put in to learn to play the piano as a blind person. How many hours and hours and hours he must have practiced. When you see Fletcher Magee hit a shot like that, it's not luck. He does it all the time. But think how many hours and hours he's practiced to hit that shot."
Certainly it was just one shot in an avalanche of 3-pointers (11 total) the Terriers sweetly swished against the Mocs. Nor are triples the only weapons at Wofford's disposal. Its first four made baskets of the second half were 2-pointers near the goal, the first three coming from chiseled 6-foot-8 senior forward Cameron Jackson, who had scored all of three points in the opening period but finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
"We challenged them a little bit at halftime," Young said. "Cameron was flopping around like a goldfish (the first half). I've got a post player who has a rear end the size of the front of a Buick.We need to get him the ball."
And all that inside muscle early in the final half coupled with all that long-range firepower throughout finally got to the Mocs with about 15 minutes to play, the Wofford lead having swelled to 28 (61-33).
"With about 15 to go, we lost hope, we lost fight," Toatley said. "When you lose fight, the game's over."
But Paris felt Magee's basket just before the break was at least partly responsible for the eventual collapse.
"It's a big play," he said. "Donovann did a great job, but he hits the shot anyway. You and I may see a 10-point hole and know that's nothing. But from our guys' standpoint, going from seven down to 10 behind on a shot like that is tough. That's a significant play."
How significant this loss is may never be known. UTC, now 12-18 for the season and 7-10 in the Southern Conference, hosts talented Furman on Saturday afternoon, then heads to Asheville, North Carolina, next week for the conference tournament.
Asked if there were any positives to take from this, Paris replied, "Not many."
But then the program builder in him took over. Perhaps because 12 of his 13 players weren't around a year ago, or because his last two league setbacks before this one had come by a total of nine points, Paris said of the Mocs' late charge to cut a 32-point deficit to 26: "I've always felt that if you lose by 30 or more that someone in your camp quit. Do I feel better that we lost by 26? Not really. But we did make some plays late."
They have made enough good plays through a long, tough season to possibly finish fifth in the SoCon heading into the tournament.
"I've never fought for fifth place," said Paris, who was an assistant coach on two straight Final Four teams at Wisconsin. "But right now I'm excited to fight for fifth place."
And if his returning players can learn from Magee's early morning workout at the Y, the Mocs could be fighting for a lot higher finishes from this point forward.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.