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KNOXVILLE---The Chattanooga Mocs made it interesting tonight before falling short in a 58-46 loss at No. 17 Tennessee. It was the fewest points allowed to their hosts this season.
 
The Mocs fell behind by as many as 16 in the second half but clawed their way back to relevance late. It was a 10-point affair, 56-46, after a Jonathan Scott jumper. The next possession, the ball made its way into the post. Ramon Vila's shot wouldn't fall giving comfort to the Vols who were held without a field goal over the final five-plus minutes of the contest.
 
"We were right there," Coach Lamont Paris explained. "If we're able to score there, maybe an and-1 to cut it to seven and they're getting tight. It's basketball. You put yourself in position to maybe do something down the stretch."
 
It was a night with a lid fixed atop the Mocs basket. They shot just 33.9 percent (19-58) from the floor and 31.9 percent (6-19) behind the 3pt line. David Jean-Baptiste and Matt Ryan combined for team-high honors with nine points with Scott adding eight off the bench. He and A.J. Caldwell (7) combined for 15 points, nearly one-third of tonight's output.
 
Lamonte Turner paced the Vols with 17 points and 12 assists. Jordan Bowden chipped in 13 points and 12 rebounds as the hosts held a 13-board advantage (43-30) on the glass.
 
Down 10, 28-18, at the break, Chattanooga scored on two of its first three possessions of the second half. Vila's layup on a nice look from Maurice Commander got it started. Ryan backed his defender down and then shot over him from 12 feet to cut it to six, 28-22, with 18:21 remaining.
 
The two teams traded jabs over the next eight minutes with a three from Rod Johnson cutting it to six again, 38-32, at 13:57. Jean-Baptiste's free throw with 9:50 to make it an eight-point game, 44-36. The Vols went on an 8-0 run in 4:17 of clock time to extend it to 16, 52-36, on John Fulkerson's alley-opp finish.
 
Scott answered with a three at 5:22. That started the Mocs working their way back. It just wasn't enough to get all the way back.
 
The Mocs traveling road show heads to the Florida panhandle for Thanksgiving weekend. They take on Alabama State on Friday before meeting either Chicago State or Jacksonville State on Saturday in Emerald Coast Classic (Nov. 29-30). The 5-game tour of the southeast concludes with the Southern Conference opener at Western Carolina on Dec. 3.
 
After approximately 2,000 miles of travel over a two-week period, the Mocs come home on Dec. 8 to take on Tennessee Wesleyan. Tickets are available on GoMocs.com or by calling (423) 266-MOCS (6627).
 
RECORDS
Chattanooga 3-3 | No. 17 Tennessee 5-0
 
QUOTABLE
"I'll lead off with that's a very good team. They're really solid and sound, and committed to what they do, especially on the defensive end. I think you could see that wasn't our best offensive day, but a lot of that was due to them. They did a good job pressuring the ball, they took us out of some things offensively that we wanted to do, in conjunction with the fact that a couple of guys had poor shooting days, and I thought one of the biggest factors was at the rim. They did a great job of challenging shots at the rim with their length and athleticism, and the fact that they play really hard. They're not afraid to be physical. It's a good basketball team. I felt pretty good about what we did defensively for the most part. There were three or four possessions here and there, but it's basketball. Not too many people pitch shutouts in basketball, but I thought we did a pretty good job defensively. We just struggled mightily on the offensive end tonight." – Paris' opening statement in the post-game press conference.
 
"We were a lot more solid against Tennessee tonight.  We stuck to the game plan for the most part.  There were a few I wish we could have back, but we were solid on the defensive end." – Jonathan Scott on the difference from last week at Florida State to tonight.
 
Check out all we heard at the link above.
 
3 NOTES TO KNOW

• 12-point margin of defeat is the closest an opponent has come to Tennessee this season. The Vols beat No. 20 Washington by 13, UNC Asheville by 15, Murray State by 19 and 35 over Alabama State.
• Fewest points allowed to a Power 5 opponent since the 67-57 win at Alabama on Dec. 1, 1993. Closest margin against a ranked opponent since the Nov. 20, 2008 loss to No. 13 Memphis (12, 71-83).
• Fewest turnovers (9) this season. +1 in TO margin with Tennessee committing 10, a season low for an opponent.

Check out all the notables at the link above.
 
3 STATS TO KNOW

• Made just three of 16 (18.8%) over the first 12:21 of the contest. Hit 40 percent (16-40) the rest of the way.
• The Vols were +13 at the foul line making 15 of 23 attempts (65.2%) compared to just two of four (50%) for the Mocs.
• 58 points for Tennessee is the program's fewest since a 58-46 home win over Vanderbilt last season. Lowest total in the Rick Barnes era (dates back to 2015-16 campaign) against a non-conference opponent. Last time with 58 or fewer against outside SEC competition? 58 vs. N.C. State on Dec. 18, 2013 in Knoxville.

Take a deeper dive into the numbers at the link above.
 
MBB UPCOMING GAMES
Nov. 29: vs. Alabama State (Niceville, Fla.), 2:30 p.m. | Current Rec.: 0-4 | Next Opp: at VCU (Nov. 25)
Nov. 30: vs. Chicago State or Jacksonville State (Niceville, Fla.), 11 am/1:30 pm | Records: 3-4/1-3
Dec. 3: at Western Carolina | 7 p.m. | Current Rec.: 4-2 | Next Opp: Bryan (Nov. 27)
 
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