NOTES | QUOTES | PHOTOS

CHATTANOOGA (March 2, 2024) – The Chattanooga Mocs men's basketball team wrapped up regular season play with a tough 82-63 defeat to Western Carolina in Southern Conference action on Senior Day Saturday afternoon inside McKenzie Arena.
 
After the loss, Chattanooga concludes regular season play at 20-11 overall and 12-6 in league play. The Mocs wrap up the No. 3 seed in next week's SoCon Tournament and will face No. 6 seed Wofford on Saturday night at 6 p.m. on ESPN+. WCU ends at 22-9 overall and 11-7 in SoCon while claiming the No. 4 seed.
 
"That was disappointing, obviously. That was as poorly as we could play in the first half. We did not put it together as a team. It was disappointing," said head coach Dan Earl after the game.
 
"We're going to rip up this stat sheet and move on to the Southern Conference Tournament. I was just disappointed in the way we attacked that first half … but I was proud of the guys for turning the page in the second half."

HOW IT HAPPENED
A slow pace in the game's opening moments saw Western Carolina hold a 9-3 lead at the 15:58 mark before UTC worked the deficit back to three, 15-12, with 11:05 left in the half. The Catamounts built their lead back to seven, 22-15 (9:15), with the help of the long ball.
 
Western Carolina put together a lengthy rally over the next few minutes and grew its advantage to 18, 37-19 (5:21), capped off by back-to-back triples from Tre Jackson. WCU would end the half with a sizable 43-29 lead after UTC struggled from the field, shooting just 35.3% (12-of-34) in total and 29.4% (5-of-17) from three.
 
Tyler Millin provided a spark for the Chattanooga offense in the early stages of the second half as back-to-back threes forced WCU into calling a timeout while cutting the deficit to nine, 47-38 (16:36). The Mocs and Catamounts went back-and-forth over the next three-plus minutes with the separation settling at eight, 53-45 (13:03).
 
UTC kept its deficit in the single digits with a few opportunities to cut it within two possessions, but ultimately trailed by nine, 62-53, with 8:14 left in the game. WCU took advantage of an offensive lull from the hosts and built back a sizeable lead, 69-55, with just over five minutes remaining.
 
The Catamounts would close things out down the stretch in comfortable fashion, eventually wrapping up the 82-63 victory behind its continued attack from behind the arc. WCU dominated UTC on the glass with a +13 (42-29) rebounding margin and a +18 (32-14) edge in points scored in the paint.

RECORDS/SERIES – Chattanooga 20-11, 12-6 SoCon · Western Carolina 22-9, 11-7 SoCon · Series: UTC now leads the all-time series 71-32.

THREE KEY NOTES | MORE
1. Chattanooga suffered a -13 (42-29) rebounding margin in the defeat… WCU won the points in the paint battle 32-14… largest deficit in paint points during SoCon play this season… 29 rebounds are second fewest in league action this year.
 
2. Chattanooga turned the ball over just six times on Saturday… back-to-back games with only six turnovers… first time with six or fewer in consecutive games since the 1979-80 season.
 
3. Honor Huff scored a team-high 16 points on an even 50.0% shooting day… went 5-of-10 from the floor… 4-of-8 from deep… snapped five-game 20+ scoring streak… has made three or more 3PT FG's in 10-straight games… his 537 points this season is tied for 17^th most in program history (Derrick Kirce, 547, 1990-91).

QUOTABLE | MORE
HC Dan Earl on dealing with the absence of guards Trey Bonham & Myles Che (injury).
"It changes a lot. A lot of guys are in different positions. But that wasn't our mindset going into the game. I couldn't even tell you what planet we were on. What was disappointing was the first four minutes. It was like, "what are we doing?". It certainly changes things not having those two, but it's no excuse the way we performed in the first half. Not necessarily the results, but the way we performed."
 
G Honor Huff on the game's slow start.
"I'm trying to calm everyone down, there's a lot of emotions on senior night. For some of them, it's their last home game, last couple college games, and I think the emotions might have taken over early in the game. It wasn't a great start at all, and it really hindered us."

NEXT UP – Southern Conference Tournament Quarterfinals – vs. No. 6 Wofford – Saturday, March 9 – 6 p.m. ET – Harrah's Cherokee Center Asheville – ESPN+

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