SPARTANBURG, S.C. --- A slow start turned into a long night for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball team Thursday night losing 88-56 at Wofford (9-9/6-1).  Chattanooga (11-9/7-1) missed its first six shots and 14 of the first 17.

Senior Troy Cage (Baton Rouge, La.) paced the Mocs with a career-high 19 points.  Cage made 6-10 from the field and 4-6 from three-point range.

A trio of Terriers topped 20 points on the night as Noah Dahlman, Jamar Diggs and Cameron Rundles combined for 69 of the 88 points.  Diggs' 24 led the way, while Rundles and Dahlman added 23 and 22, respectively.

The Terriers scored on their first three possessions en route to a 15-0 start.  That run was stopped by Chris Early's (Huntington, W.Va.) layup at 15:03.  It began as a rebound on the defensive end for Early as he started and ended the break.

Wofford kept the pressure on hitting six of its first nine shots including four for five from three-point range.  Dahlman, Rundles and Diggs keyed the Terrier attack as they built the lead to 21 twice.  It was 28-7 on a Rundles jumper at 9:30 and 30-9 at 6:20 on another Rundles basket.

The Mocs made it interesting going on a 12-2 run to cut the lead to 11, 32-21, with a Ricky Taylor (Brownsville, Tenn.) layup at 2:09.  Four different UTC players combined to spark the squad and give it a chance to get closer before the break.

Diggs scored the final seven points of the half for the Terriers to extend the lead back to 16, 39-23 at intermission.  The trio of Dahlman, Diggs and Rundles tallied all 39 of Wofford's points.

The Terriers closed the door on any comeback attempts from the very beginning of the second half with a 10-0 run right out of the gate.  Early once again stopped a run with a free throw at 16:26 followed by a Cage three-pointer at 15:50.

Another Cage trey at 14:10 had the Mocs within 21, 51-30, but Wofford pulled away from there. A Diggs three-pointer at 10:13 made it 65-35 and pretty much ended any UTC hopes for a comeback.

The Terriers out-rebounded Chattanooga, the SoCon's leading rebounding team, 35-27.  Early, Keegan Bell (Hazel Green, Ala.) and Jahmal Burroughs (New Orleans, La.) each had four to lead the Mocs.  Tim Johnson had a game-high nine for the Terriers.

Wofford shot 57.6 percent from the field (34-59), 57.1 percent from three-point range (12-21) and 72.2 percent (8-11) from the charity stripe.  The Mocs struggled at 36.2 percent (17-47) from the floor, 31.8 percent (7-22) on threes and 57.7 percent (15-26) at the free throw line.

UTC finishes its visit to South Carolina's upstate region Saturday afternoon at Furman.  Game time is 4 p.m.  Fans can access live audio and stats via Chattanooga All-Access on GoMocs.com.  The game will also broadcast on the Mocs Sports Network on ESPN 105.1 FM in the Chattanooga area with the "Voice of the Mocs" Jim Reynolds.