NOTES | QUOTES | PHOTOS

CHATTANOOGA (Feb. 28, 2024) – Typically living behind the arc, the Chattanooga Mocs men's basketball team reversed course and featured a highly efficient attack from two-point range during a key 84-75 victory over Mercer in late-season Southern Conference action on Wednesday night inside McKenzie Arena.
 
Following the win, Chattanooga earns its 20^th win of the season and improves to 20-10 overall and 12-5 in the league. With a Furman loss at Western Carolina, UTC clinches either the No. 2 or No. 3 seed in the SoCon Tournament next weekend. Mercer drops to 14-16 overall and 7-10 in conference play after the defeat.
 
Chattanooga struggled from behind the arc during the victory (7-of-29, 24.1%), but finished the contest 20-of-25 (80.0%) on two-point attempts while knocking down a season-high 23 free-throws. UTC finished the game shooting an even 50.0% (27-of-54) to notch its eighth 50%+ FG effort in SoCon play this season.
 
"I was really proud of our guys tonight. I thought we played tough, which is hard to say when they had 17 offensive rebounds, but I thought we competed throughout," said head coach Dan Earl.
 
"I also thought we shared the ball well tonight. Sometimes you miss shots, and you lose because of it, but I thought it was good that we missed some open shots after sharing the ball the right way and still were able to pull out a win. Happy for the guys."

HOW IT HAPPENED
After a cold shooting start from the hosts, Mercer grabbed an early 8-3 lead the game's first media timeout at the 14:57 mark of the opening half. The Mocs found an offensive stride over the next four-plus minutes and claimed a 22-19 lead (10:27) after six unanswered points, capped off by a Demetrius Davis and-one.

UTC ended its scoring run on a 13-0 tally and built a 29-19 lead after a Sam Alexis spinning layup and a Trey Bonham steal and score forced Mercer into a timeout with 7:32 left in the half. The Bears responded with five-straight to cut it back to five, 29-24 (5:49), before trimming it down to three, 31-28 (4:25), moments later.
 
Chattanooga held Mercer scoreless over the final 2:05 of the first half which ultimately led to a 41-33 halftime lead. After a 1-of-5 start from the floor, the Mocs ended the first 20 minutes shooting an efficient 58.4% (14-of-24) which included a 9-of-10 (90.0%) mark from inside the arc.
 
Mercer opened the second half with a quick 6-1 run to pull within three, 42-39 (17:45), before an Honor Huff layup nearly two minutes later made it 48-42 in favor of the home team with 16:13 left in the contest. Leading 50-48 (12:42), Chattanooga used a 7-2 spurt with all seven points coming from Jan Zidek and Huff to up its lead to seven, 57-50 (10:55).
 
The Mocs continued to find stops on the defensive end and translated it into points on the other end as a Bonham steal and Huff layup helped push the advantage to 12, 65-53 (8:27). It was Mercer's turn to make a run, amounting seven-straight points to bring it back down to five, 65-60 (5:30), before Zidek's second three of the game stopped the run and gave UTC a 68-60 lead (4:13).
 
The lead stretched to as many as 12, 74-62 (1:59), in the game's final moments before the Mocs eventually put away the 84-75 victory. UTC finished 9-of-11 from the free-throw line over the final two minutes to help seal the win.

RECORDS/SERIES – Chattanooga 20-10, 12-5 SoCon · Mercer 14-16, 7-10 SoCon · Series: UTC now leads the all-time series 47-41.

THREE KEY NOTES | MORE
1. Dan Earl joins his brother Brian Earl (Cornell) in the 20-win club this season… the Earl's are the second NCAA DI HC brother duo to each win 20+ this season (Scott Drew, Baylor & Bryce Drew, Grand Canyon)… five total sets of brothers in DI (Hurley/Miller/Jones).
 
2. Honor Huff recorded his fifth-straight 20+ scoring effort with 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting… went 3-of-10 from deep… became the fourth Moc to ever surpass 100 3PT FGs in a single season… entered with 98 (T3rd in NCAA DI)… his 531 points this season passes Jake Stephens for 23^rd most in program history… five-straight with 20+ is longest since Malachi's six-straight from January 5-22, 2022.
 
3. Sam Alexis recorded a career-high 17 rebounds (seven offensive) and picked up his eighth double-double this season with 13 points… he ties UTC's single season and career record of 15+ rebound games (DI era only since 1977-78) with four… Clifford Morgan (1984-85) and Nicchaeus Doaks (2006-09) are the only other two Mocs with four… finished with two blocks to reach 81 in his career and 62 on the season… 62 is 7^th most in program history.

QUOTABLE | MORE
HC Dan Earl on Sam Alexis' play tonight.
"I thought it was awesome. When he's playing with that type of energy, and toughness, and pop, whatever word you want to use, he's incredible. Obviously the 17 rebounds are first and foremost. He was aggressive. That's the thing he's growing in to, when he's one-on-one we want him to be aggressive. I thought tonight he was able to be aggressive and was able to make some moves before that double or extra big came. It was good to see him be aggressive, but when you see 17 rebounds, you know he's doing something right."
 
F Sam Alexis on playing with Jan Zidek.
"I love playing with Jan [Zidek]. He can stretch the floor. When we're in the game at the same time, I feel like there's a lot more space out there. I love watching him play when he's on the court."     

NEXT UP – vs. Western Carolina – Saturday, March 2 – 2:00 p.m. ET – McKenzie Arena – ESPN+ – SENIOR DAY – BUY TICKETS

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