2024-25 Chattanooga Mocs Men's Basketball
Game 2 – at Saint Mary's – November 7, 2024
University Credit Union Arena – Moraga, Calif.
Postgame Notes & Quotes
 
GENERAL NOTES
Game Duration: 2:01
Attendance: 3,188
Officials: Marques Pettigrew, Tony Padilla, Jason Garretson
 
TEAM NOTES
- Chattanooga drops to 0-2 on the season after the 86-74 defeat… Saint Mary's (CA) improves to 2-0… just the second time since the start of the 2012-13 season starting a new campaign 0-2 (2017-18).

- All-time program record 1,426-1,146… 878-576 in Division I era (since 1977-78).
 
- All-time record against programs from California after tonight's result?... 6-6… most frequent opponent is UC Irvine… 3-0 all-time against UCI with the last matchup coming in 2007.
 
- Streak of 5+ 3PT FGs extends to 70-straight games… began at 2022-23 season opener… every game under Dan Earl… second-longest active streak (Oral Roberts, 127)… 22^nd longest streak all-time in DI.
 
- Game featured six lead changes and nine ties… UTC led for 4:30 while SMC controlled the tally for 28:53… SMC took advantage of a 13-5 count in second-chance points… 13 offensive rebounds for the Gaels.
 
- Chattanooga featured a solid assist-to-turnover ratio… finished with 19 assists to just nine turnovers… seven different Mocs recorded at least two assists.
 
- Saint Mary's entered the game receiving votes in both the AP Top 25 and Coaches poll… 110-39 (.738) against non-conference opponents over last 10 years… 17-straight postseason appearances (10 NCAA Tournaments, 7 NIT)… fourth-longest active streak behind Kansas, Michigan State and Gonzaga.
 
- The Gaels are the highest "ranked" team the Mocs played since Auburn (12/30/23) last season… Tigers were similarly receiving enough votes to just sit outside the first 25.
 
- Chattanooga entered the game 2-3 all-time against West Coast Conference opponents before tonight's contest… last matchup was a 75-64 win at Loyola Marymount on November 9, 2021.
 
PLAYER NOTES
- Honor Huff finished with 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting… went 2-of-5 from deep.
- Makai Richards scored a team-high 19 points on an efficient 8-of-12 night from the floor… set new career high in points… tied career high in FGM… last 8FGM game came against Portland on February 1, 2024 as a member of Pacific.
- Trey Bonham added 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting… 11 of the 13 came in the second half… posted six rebounds, two assists and three steals.
- Garrison Keeslar reached double digits with 12 points… shot 4-of-6… 1-of-3 from three… four rebounds and three assists.

SERIES NOTES
Overall: 0-1 (.000)
at SMC: 0-1
at UTC: 0-0
Neutral: 0-0
vs. WCC: 2-4 (.333)
 

UTC All-Time vs. SMC	Record	Pct.
Overall (First Meeting)	0-1	.000
at Saint Mary's	0-1	.000
at Chattanooga	0-0	.000
Neutral Games	0-0	.000

 
COACH NOTES

Dan Earl (Penn State '97)	Record	Pct.
Overall (10th)	112-170	.391
at Chattanooga (3rd)	39-31	.557
vs. Saint Mary's	0-1	.000

 
POSTGAME QUOTES
Dan Earl, Head Coach
On the team hanging in there against a tough Saint Mary's team.
"I thought our guys did show some fight, which is good. Saint Mary's is a very good basketball team. Their point guard, No. 3 (Augustas Marciulionis), gets Player of the Year in their conference for a reason. 23 (Paulius Murauskas) is really good. Both of their Lithuanian kids were solid. I thought our guys competed. We started making shots at the beginning of the second half, but one of the things we have to learn is we have to have competitive maturity. When you score couple buckets, you don't need to keep it going with a barrage. Just stay solid. If you get and steal and a layup, you don't have to turn around and try to get another steal right away. Just be solid and stick to the game plan. So yeah, some growing pains and still things we have to learn, but our guys fought and I'm proud of the growth we showed since the USC game. We still have a lot of getting better to do but we fought hard tonight against a very good team."
 
On having another physical battle tonight.
"They're an unbelievable offensive rebounding team so we knew that going in. They have a lot of size and they do that really well. They crash hard and they had a major size differential. I thought our guys fought, but 13 offensive rebounds is just too much. The other part of it is we just got into foul trouble. We fouled them quite a bit and then they went 24-for-32 from the free throw line. You obviously want to keep them off the line the best you can. A really good ball club, Saint Mary's is. It wasn't for a lack of effort tonight, we just need to be more solid throughout the game."
 
On the team getting more contributors than just Trey Bonham and Honor Huff.
"I thought Makai (Richards) had an excellent game. He played really well, was slow in the post and played under control and took his shots around the basket. Trey and Honor can obviously score the ball, but they need to cut and wrap screens. They get the attention of the other team and they know that those two can score the ball, so we have to be able to use screens even better. They both played well and gave us a good effort. Garrison Keeslar I thought gave us great minutes as well. He's a tough, strong kid that plays the game the right way. Multiple guys helped us but unfortunate that once we got it close we kind of let them pull back ahead. Just a lot to learn from."