CHARLESTON, S.C.--- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball team dropped its second straight on the road in Charleston 68-60 at The Citadel Saturday night. The loss dropped the Mocs to 13-12, 5-7 in the Southern Conference North Division, while The Citadel moves to 12-12, 6-6 in the South.
It was the first Bulldogs win in the series since January 19, 2002, snapping the Mocs' 11-game win streak over that span.
Ridge McKeither's fourth double-double was wasted as he scored 13 points and grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds. The 18 boards ties for third in the Division I era and is the most since Mindaugas Katelynas pulled down 21 in the March 4, 2005 SoCon Tournament semi-finals win over Appalachian State during the Mocs' run to the title.
Cameron Wells had an off shooting night, 1-10 from the field, but he posted a double-double of his own with 11 points, 10 boards and seven assists. Zach Urbanus led all scorers with 24 points for the Bulldogs making seven of his 16 three-point attempts.
The Citadel jumped out quickly to a nine-point lead, 41-32, in the second half on a three-pointer from Harrison DuPont from the left corner. Down 49-40, the Mocs cut it to three on a Ricky Taylor jumper at 6:40. It was a one-point game, 50-49, on a Ty Patterson three at 4:52.
It was a bizarre sequence as Chris Early was called for a foul boxing out on the shot as it went through the basket. During Bo Holston's first free throw, Early was fouled by Wells. Holston hit both ends of his one-and-one as did early making it 52-51 with seven points scored at 4:52, five by the Mocs.
Back-to-back Austin Dahn three-pointers put The Citadel up five, 58-53, with 3:56 remaining. Holston's old-fashioned three-point play at 2:46 made it 61-53.
Patterson cut it to 61-57 at 1:25 on a steal by Keegan Bell in the frontcourt and nice feed by Josh Odem on the break for the easy lay-in. The Mocs' pressure caused three Bulldogs timeouts in a span of 3.3 seconds. But the Mocs could not hit the big shot and The Citadel made its free throws when it needed them to secure the win.
The Bulldogs had a 28-25 lead at the break on a flurry of three-pointers from Urbanus with four in the first frame. McKeither kept the Mocs close with nine points and 11 rebounds prior to intermission. Both teams struggled shooting 32.1 percent (UTC) and 31.0 percent (The Citadel), respectively.
Patterson scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half. His defense early was pivotal in limiting Wells early on. Early came off the bench for 10 points and five rebounds. Dahn had 11 points and four assists for The Citadel.
Chattanooga returns home Wednesday, Feb. 10, against Samford at 7 p.m., and Saturday, Feb. 13, at 7:30 p.m., against Furman. UTC will introduce the 2010 Athletics Hall of Fame class.
Catch all of the Mocs' action on ESPN Radio 105.1 FM with the Voice of the Mocs, Jim Reynolds, providing play-by-play in his 30th season behind the microphone. Live stats, live video (selected games) and audio are also available on GoMocs.com.
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