NOTES/QUOTES | PHOTOS

CHATTANOOGA (November 14, 2024) – Led by a career-high 26 points from graduate guard Bash Wieland, the Chattanooga Mocs men's basketball team earned its first win of the season with a 76-62 victory over Morehead State in its home opener inside McKenzie Arena on Thursday night.
 
Tied 37-37 at the break, Chattanooga (3-1) held Morehead State (1-3) to just 25 second-half points while forcing the guests into nine turnovers and a lowly 12.5% (1-of-8) mark from deep during the half. Wieland scored 18 of his career-best 26 in the second half to help spark the surge.
 
Outside of Wieland, Honor Huff reached double figures yet again with 13 points and also notched a new career high with eight assists on the night. Sean Cusano added to the career marks with nine points and five rebounds over 20 minutes of action.

RECORDS/SERIES – Chattanooga 1-3 · Morehead State 1-3 · Third Meeting · UTC is now 1-2 in the series.
 
GAME FLOW/INSIDE THE BOX
1H 16:58 – Trey Bonham finished a downhill drive with an easy lay-in to tie the game early, 8-8.
1H 14:59 – Noah Melson found Makai Richards on a pick-and-roll that finished with a wide-open dunk, giving UTC an early 13-10 lead.
1H 11:15 – Bash Wieland knocked down back-to-back threes to help the Mocs build its largest lead at that point, 19-14.
1H 8:11 – Morehead State went on a 10-2 run following the second Wieland triple to jump back ahead, 24-21.
1H 4:21 – The visiting Eagles continued to make things tough on the Mocs offense, holding its lead over the next few minutes, 37-29.
1H 2:00 – Garrison Keeslar stopped the guests' scoring run with the team's fourth triple of the half before two Latif Diouf free throws cut into the deficit, 37-34.
1H 1:20 – Honor Huff drilled his second deep ball of the half to tie the game 37-37 as the UTC defense clamped down on the half's final possession.
HALF – Chattanooga 37, Morehead State 37

HALFTIME NOTES: Chattanooga ended the half on an 8-0 run; went 5-of-16 (31.3%) from 3PT; 12-of-28 (42.9%) from the floor in total; Huff & Wieland combined for 19 of the team's 37 points.
 
2H 19:00 – Wieland found the bottom of the net from deep yet again to give the Mocs a 40-38 lead early in the final half.
2H 16:26 – Wieland continued his stellar debut inside McKenzie Arena with a successful and-one followed by a floater in the lane, allowing the Mocs to grow a nine-point lead, 47-38.
2H 14:15 – The run went all the way to 14-0 after a Collin Mulholland lay-in forced MSU into calling a timeout with the hosts leading 51-38.
2H 8:18 – Chattanooga went scoreless over a three-plus minute span to allow Morehead State to pull within nine, 56-47, before Noah Melson snapped the scoring drought with a corner three.
2H 3:49 – Wieland again finished through contact with a lay-in and foul to put UTC ahead 65-51 with just under four minutes left.
2H 1:48 – Bonham hit the dagger three as the shot clock was winding down to put the Mocs up 72-57.
FINAL – Chattanooga 76, Morehead State 62
 
KEY NOTES | MORE
- The Mocs have now won five-straight home openers… 3-0 under Dan Earl….37-7 all-time in McKenzie Arena home openers… 42-7 in home openers during the Division I era (since 1977-78).
 
- Streak of 5+ 3PT FGs extends to 72-straight games… began at 2022-23 season opener… every game under Dan Earl… second-longest active streak (Oral Roberts, 129)… 18th longest streak all-time in DI.
 
- Bash Wieland scored a career-high 26 points on 9-14 FG (3-6 3PT, 5-6 FT)… three 3PTM is also a career-high… 18 points came in the second half… added five rebounds and a career best three steals.

POSTGAME QUOTES | MORE
Wieland on his excitement of finally being able to get on the court with this team.
"I've mostly just been focused on being thankful that I'm out there. I've had a lot of injuries in the past, and to get our first win is the most important thing. Mostly I'm just thankful that I'm able to contribute to a win. It's harder to lead when you're not playing. That's just the nature of how it is. To be able to be out there and be able to win as a team is just awesome."
 
HC Dan Earl on tonight's win over Morehead State.
"Obviously a tale of two halves to some degree. I didn't say a whole lot of strategic things at halftime, but kind of got on the guys a bit. Super proud of their response in the second half and obviously you can see that we're a work in progress. We have to realize that we're young and just starting to get minutes, so there might be some nerves there, but at the end of the day we have to play much harder. It's been challenging with all of our injuries now, but I assure you we'll play harder than we did in that first half and we'll continue to get better. Again, was proud of their response and we'll continue to improve and win some basketball games. Also Bash (Wieland) had an outstanding night so super proud of him as well."

UP NEXT – Chattanooga at SEMO – Sunday, Nov. 17 – 3 p.m. ET – ESPN+ – Cape Girardeau, Mo.
 
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