The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball team used a solid defensive effort and a balanced attack on the offensive end to score a 76-59 win over Long Island in the second game of the Dr Pepper Classic at the McKenzie Arena tonight. The Mocs improve to 7-6 on the year while LIU falls to 4-7.
It was an exciting opening minutes of the game with both teams shooting well and the Mocs playing aggressive defense. Chattanooga forced LIU into eight turnovers in the first eight minutes of the game while recording five steals.
However, when the Blackbirds got good looks at the rim, they were knocking down shots. They hit six of their first 10 tries, including 4-7 from 3-point range. Michael Culpo came off the bench to nail all five of his shots in the first half, including 4-4 from long range.
Despite missing their first seven shots from behind the 3-point line, the Mocs went up 19-16 on a 3-pointer from Dontay Hampton with 11 minutes left in the half. Junior Jeremy Saffore had three nice moves inside, capped by a jump-hook in the lane to increase the lead to 21-16 a minute later.
Culpo tied it at 24 with his fourth straight long-range bomb, this time finding the seam in the Mocs' zone defense in the far corner. The game went back and forth over the next four minutes in a first half that saw five ties and eight lead changes.
UTC built a 34-28 lead at the 3:30 when freshman Sam Watson, who started his first career game, got an offensive rebound off a missed Safford free throw. Watson found fellow freshman Josh Odem at the top of the key for the 3-pointer. Watson was starting in place of junior Ridge McKeither, who was attending to a death in his family and not at the game tonight.
Saffore got loose for a slam inside to give the Mocs' their largest lead of the half at 36-28. Long Island closed on a 5-2 run to make the halftime margin 38-33. Chattanooga made its last three shots from 3-point range to shoot 3-11 (27.3%) and 15-33 overall (45.5%). The Mocs were 12-22 from inside the arc and outscored the Blackbirds 22-8 in the paint in the opening half.
LIU kept is close by shooting 13-27 (48.1%) from the field and 6-11 (54.5%) from 3-point land in the first 20 minutes.
The Blackbirds closed the gap quickly in the second half, tying the game at 42 on a 3-pointer from Corey Wright less than two minutes into the period. Leading 48-47, the Mocs scored 10 straight points in just over a minute to go up 58-47 with 14:30 on the clock.
Culpo cut the lead to 58-53 on a jumper in the paint at 13:17. From that point on, the UTC defense locked down on Long Island and it went cold from the field. Chattanooga did not allow a field goal and just two points from the free throw line over the next eight minutes. LIU would only score six total points for the rest of the game.
The Mocs held the Blackbirds to 10-31 (32.3%) from the field and 2-11 (18.2%) from 3-pt. range in the second half.
Chattanooga was led by sophomore Ricky Taylor's 21 points on 8-14 shooting, 4-7 from 3-pt. range and 1-1 from the FT line. He also added four assists and no turnovers in the game. Saffore has a solid outing, scoring 12 points on 6-8 shooting to go with a pair of blocks.
Sophomore Chris Early also had a strong presence inside, scoring a season-high nine points and grabbing a team and season-high eight boards to go with two steals in the game.
Senior Ty Patterson struggled from the field, going 2-9 and 1-6 from behind the arc. However, he got his teammates involved with a career-high nine assists, no turnovers and five boards. Chattanooga had the most assists (25) and the fewest turnovers (9) in a game this season.
The Mocs will face Eastern Kentucky in the championship game of the Dr Pepper Classic tomorrow following the consolation game between Morgan State and LIU at 6:00 p.m. (E.S.T.). EKU defeated Morgan State 76-52 in the first game tonight.
Catch all of the Mocs' action on ESPN Radio 105.1 FM with the Voice of the Mocs, Jim Reynolds, providing play-by-play. Live stats and live audio is also available on GoMocs.com.
