CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball team dropped an 82-63 Southern Conference contest to Elon in the McKenzie Arena tonight. The Mocs fall to 4-4 on the year and 0-1 in SoCon action. Elon improves to 3-6 and 1-1 on SoCon play.
The Mocs were led by freshman Josh Odem's season high 20 points and five rebounds. He was 8-12 from the floor, 2-5 from 3-pt. range and 2-3 from the free throw line. Junior Jeremy Saffore tied a career-high with 13 points on 4-7 shooting, 5-8 from the free-throw line.
Chattanooga fell behind early in the game, shooting 28.6% from the field and committing 10 turnovers in the first half. Elon's 1-3-1 zone frustrated the Mocs into 2-10 shooting from 3-pt. range and just three field goals in the last 10 minutes of the first period.
Elon used a 17-4 run late the first period to take control of the game. The Phoenix took a 38-28 lead into the locker room.
UTC opened the second half with five quick points in the first minute on a layup by sophomore Keegan Bell and a 3-pointer from Odem to cut the lead in half. However, every time the Mocs got close, Elon had an answer.
The Phoenix took an 11-point lead 47-38 with 15:58 left in the game on a jumper by T.J. Douglas. The two teams traded baskets for the next five minutes with Elon holding a 7-10 point lead during that stretch.
The Phoenix started to pull away at the 10-minute mark behind eight-straight points from Chris Long off the bench. He mixed in a pair of free-throws with two 3-pointers to give Elon a 66-49 lead. Another three from Drew Spradlin gave the Phoenix a 20-point cushion 49-69 with 8:42 left in the game and they cruise to the win from there.
Long scored a career-high 20 points on the night, shooting 5-10 from three-point range and 5-6 from the free throw line. He also had a game-high nine assists and five steals tonight.
Chattanooga shot just 4-19 from behind the arc for the game. After Odem's three-pointer to start the second half, the Mocs missed their next seven attempts from long range. UTC was able to score from inside the arc in the second half, shooting 14-19 (73.7%).
However, the Mocs allowed Elon to hit 50.0% of their attempts in the second half, including 6-13 (46.2%) from deep.
The Mocs are back in action next Saturday, Dec. 12, when they host Mississippi Valley State at 5 p.m. (E.S.T.) in the McKenzie Arena. The game will broadcast live on ESPN Radio 105.1 FM in Chattanooga and online on Chattanooga All-Access on GoMocs.com. Live stats and live video are also available on GoMocs.com, the official website of Chattanooga Mocs Athletics.
GoMocs.com is the official website of the Chattanooga Mocs. The Mocs can also be followed on their official Face book page, www.facebook.com/ChattanoogaMocs, or on Twitter, www.twitter.com/GoMocs.
