NOTES | QUOTES | PHOTOS

CHATTANOOGA (Jan. 27, 2024) – Sporting its fresh "black-out" themed jerseys, the Chattanooga Mocs men's basketball team earned its fourth-straight win by controlling The Citadel by a comfortable 90-62 margin during Southern Conference action inside McKenzie Arena on Saturday afternoon.
 
After the win, Chattanooga improves to 14-7 overall and sits a game behind first place at 6-2 in league play. The Citadel falls to 9-12 overall and 1-7 in SoCon action after the loss.
 
"Really proud of the guys, in particular for our response in the second half. We were very concerned about The Citadel. They're big and physical and can really drive the ball downhill. You saw that in the first half, our defense wasn't where it needed to be," said head coach Dan Earl after the game.
 
"But we responded in the second half really well. We responded with maximum energy, we pushed in transition, and we shared the ball unbelievably well. It might have been the best team basketball I've seen. When we do that, I think we're fun to watch and be the best we can be. I'm really proud of the guys."

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Citadel opened the game knocking down its first four attempts from the field including a pair of triples to hold a slight 10-9 lead at the first media timeout (15:50). Chattanooga answered the hot-shooting start from its opponent as Honor Huff knocked down consecutive threes and scored 10-straight points to give the hosts a 27-21 lead with 9:52 left in the half.
 
Jan Zidek knocked down a corner three to up the lead to nine, 32-23 (6:51), forcing the Bulldogs into calling a timeout. The Citadel slowly cut into its deficit over the next few minutes, getting it down to four (38-34, 2:29), before the Mocs eventually entered the break holding a 45-36 advantage.
 
UTC kicked off the second half with a quick 8-2 run highlighted by four finishes at the rim by the combination of Sam Alexis, Tyler Millin and Trey Bonham to extend the lead to 53-38 (17:19). Chattanooga would force another Citadel timeout behind an 11-0 run with two threes from Huff and another by Zidek, ballooning its lead to 18, 63-45 (13:35).
 
The Mocs continued to hold a sizeable 22-pointlead, 74-52, with 9:13 left in the contest behind a spirited effort on both sides of the floor. UTC earned its largest lead of the game, 28 (88-60), with under two minutes to go, eventually capping off its 90-62 final tally moments later.
 
Chattanooga shot a blistering 60.3% (35-of-58) from the floor during the win while earning a +16 difference on the glass, out-rebounding The Citadel by a 39-23 margin. The Mocs bench provided 26 points on Saturday while limiting the Bulldogs reserves to just two.

RECORDS/SERIES – Chattanooga 14-7, 6-2 SoCon · The Citadel 9-12, 1-7 SoCon · Series: UTC now leads the all-time series 71-22.

THREE KEY NOTES | MORE
1. Chattanooga earned a massive +16 rebounding margin after collecting 39 boards to the Bulldogs' 23… largest rebounding margin against a SoCon opponent since a +26 tally against Samford on January 24, 2018… second-largest positive rebounding margin of the season against a DI opponent (17, Bellarmine).
 
2. UTC finished the game shooting 60.3% (35-of-58) from the field in the win… went 11-of-25 (44.0%) from three… improves to 16-0 under Dan Earl when shooting 50.0% or better from the field.
 
3. Honor Huff led the way for UTC with a team-high 19 points on 5-of-7 shooting… went 4-of-6 from deep… 5-of-5 at the line… added three rebounds, two assists and three steals… now at 60 career steals.

QUOTABLE | MORE
HC Dan Earl on first half to second half adjustments.
"Nothing overly specific other than sharing the ball, moving the ball. And that's hard for teams because guys think they can drive a certain guy, or have an open shot, it's not easy. In the second half we were pushing it and sharing the ball. That was our biggest thing. And defensively, we really just wanted to stay locked in and keep them out of the paint. I thought we did both really well."
 
HC Dan Earl on returning home after three-straight road wins.
"Whenever you can get three road wins in-a-row, it says a lot about your team. Then you come home, I was concerned about this game. The Citadel is very physical and can get downhill. Sometimes human nature, you know, you play a team that's not in first place so you might get complacent. I was really proud of the guys for getting off to a strong start and finishing well in the second half."

NEXT UP – at Western Carolina – Wednesday, January 31 – 7 p.m. ET – Cullowhee, N.C. – ESPN+

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