Moctoberfest is a month-long celebration of Chattanooga Mocs men's basketball. It includes historical moments, social media interactions and introduction to UTC's freshmen among the myriad of video tributes and stories.

Day 24 focuses on that magical NCAA Tourney Run of 1997 as the Mocs magic extended to the Sweet 16. There were not many around the nation who filled out their brackets with the Chattanooga Mocs going to the Sweet 16, but Mocs Madness proved that those who had long runs for Georgia or Illinois would have theirs turned upside down.

First up was No. 17 Georgia in Charlotte, N.C. The Bulldogs came into the contest at 24-8 and was award the three seed in the Southeast Regional. UGA was coming off a runner-up finish in the SEC Tourney. The Mocs were unimpressed.

Johnny Taylor and company scored the first 15 points of the game with his three-point play on slam over Lorenzo Hall staking UTC to a 15-0 advantage just three minutes into the game. The lead reached 20 as Willie Young buried a three from way downtown, 34-14, with 8:53 to go in the half. Georgia regrouped and limped into the locker room down 15, 46-31, at intermission.

It took a while, but Tubby Smith's smelling salts worked late in the second half. UGA closed to within four, 65-61, at 4:12 for the first time since Wes Moore's three-pointer dropped a little more than a minute into the game to put the Mocs up 5-0. The lead got down to one before Young and Marquis Collier closed out the win in the final minute. Game Stats

No. 19 Illinois was next for Chattanooga and it was a much tighter game at the start. The Mocs led by five early but trailed by six going into the final minute of the first half. Collier and Isaac Conner combined for five points in the last 40 seconds to make it a one-point game at the break.

The Illini led by four with 7:48 left in the game when UTC took over. Mack McCarthy's charges closed the game with a 20-4 run for a 12-point win, 75-63. The free throw line was kind as the Mocs hit nine of 10 from the charity stripe in the final minutes. Game Stats

The Sweet 16 was a short jaunt down I-59 to the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center for a matchup with 10-seed Providence.  The Friars upset Marquette and Duke en route to its date with the Mocs.

Providence was the first team to get a strong jump out of the gate on the Mocs. It led by seven a couple of times in the first half before taking that margin, 31-24, into halftime.

Austin Croshere made it a 10-point game with a three-pointer to start the second half. It was a seven-point game, 42-35, when the Mocs got hot. Taylor's layup capped a 9-0 run to put UTC up two, 44-42, with 11:33 to go.

The lead see-sawed from there until a 13-2 spurt gave the Friars another 10-point lead, 61-51, at 5:41. It swelled to 13, 66-53, on Ruben Garces' dunk inside two minutes. The Mocs feverishly worked get back into the game but would get no closer than five. Game Stats

It was a special week for Chattanooga - the team, school and community. The Mocs graced the cover of local, regional and national outlets and were front and center throughout. March Madness became Mocs Madness and the program added a couple of more pages to its storied history.

NOTES:
 - UTC was joined on the No. 14 line that season by Butler, Old Dominion and St. Mary's...Mocs were the only 14 to advance...was not the biggest first round upset as 1997 is the year Coppin State beat South Carolina 78-65 in the East...Texas and Providence, both 10 seeds, were the only other double upsets to advance to Sweet 16.
 - Mocs are one of two No. 14 seeds to reach Sweet 16 (Cleveland State - 1986)...at that time, it was just the fifth time a 14th-seed topple a three.
 - Chattanooga's 12-point win over the Illini was the 6th largest margin of victory in the 16 round two matchups...Utah's 19-point triumph over Charlotte, (77-58) and Minnesota's 76-57 win over Temple were first.
 - UTC held the Illini to just one field goal over the final 10 minutes...last dozen possessions: eight missed shots, five turnovers and a meaningless three-pointer with 15 seconds remaining.
 - The Mocs won 19 of last 23 games of the season.
 - Willie Young (Norfolk, Va.) led UTC with 39 points in the two wins...24 came against the Bulldogs and 14 vs. Illinois.
 - Johnny Taylor (Chattanooga, Tenn.) had the most for all three games combined averaging 17.7 points and 6.0 rebounds per contest.

Chattanooga opens the season Monday, November 12, against Tennessee Temple in McKenzie Arena at 7 p.m. Season tickets for a school-record 18-game home slate are available. Call 266-MOCS (6627), go online here at GoMocs.com or stop by the Gate One McKenzie Arena Ticket Office. Single-game tickets are also on sale now.

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