LOUISVILLE, Ky. (December 17, 2025) – The Chattanooga Mocs men's basketball team went cold from the floor and was held scoreless for more than five minutes during the second half, ultimately suffering a 79-64 defeat to Bellarmine during non-conference action on Wednesday night inside Knights Hall in Louisville, Ky.
 
Bellarmine (5-6) outscored Chattanooga (5-7) by a wide 52-28 margin in the second half after the Mocs originally took a nine-point (36-27) lead into the halftime break. The Knights shot a blistering 71.4% (15-of-21) from the field in the second half while UTC was held to a lowly 25.0% (8-of-32) mark including a 19.0% (4-of-21) tally from deep over the final 20 minutes.
 
Quick Records/Series
Chattanooga: 5-7 | Bellarmine: 5-6
Series: Fourth all-time meeting in the series… Chattanooga now leads the series 3-1.

Dan Earl, Head Coach
Chattanooga (4): 73-45 | Overall (11): 146-184
 
Details: Stats | Notes | Quotes
 
Game Breakdown
After Bellarmine opened with a quick 5-0 lead, Chattanooga responded with a long scoring run highlight by an eight-unanswered point stretch to build a 19-10 advantage with 12:04 left in the half. Parker Robison later knocked down a pair of free throws following a flagrant foul situation before the Knights ultimately trimmed its deficit to five, 24-19, at the 7:41 mark.
 
Jordan Frison converted back-to-back buckets around the paint ahead of Brennan Watkins' third triple that pushed the Mocs lead to double digits, 31-19, with 4:01 left in the opening frame. Bellarmine's Sam Donald hit a deep three before the halftime buzzer to allow for a 36-27 Chattanooga lead at the break.
 
Teddy Washington Jr. scored the first four points of the second half for UTC, but the host Knights countered with an aggressive scoring spree that trimmed the difference to just four, 46-42, with 14:32 remaining. Bellarmine continued to storm back and ultimately tied the game twice before Watkins knocked down a career-high sixth three to put the Mocs back in front, 49-46 (12:31).
 
The Knights took its first lead since the early stages of the contest, 53-51 (9:43), and continued its surge by holding the Mocs scoreless for more than five minutes to create a sizable 66-53 lead with just 4:17 remaining. Chattanooga struggled to hit shots down the stretch before ultimately falling 79-64.
 
Inside the Stats | Box Score
Jordan Frison: 20 points, 8-17 FG, 4 assists, 3 rebounds
Brennan Watkins: 20 points, 6-12 3FG (all FGA), career-high 3PM, 5 rebounds, 3 steals
 
3 Notes to Know | More

• Chattanooga shot a season low 32.8% (21-64) from the field… also a season low 21.7% (10-46) from 3PT… finished the second half shooting just 25.0% (8-32) overall and 19.0% (4-21) from deep… allowed Bellarmine to shoot 71.4% (15-21) over the final 20 minutes.
• Chattanooga finished with a season low nine assists during the defeat… fewest assists in a game since eight against Tennessee State on November 25, 2024… fewest in a non-conference road game since seven at Murray State on December 18, 2021.
• Chattanooga was held to a season low 18 points in the paint… Bellarmine finished with 30 in the paint while earning a 41-33 rebounding edge… Knights also won the fast-break battle 15-3 and points off the bench 19-9.

Quotable | More
Dan Earl on moving forward to Alabama A&M – "We're going to have our work cut out for us again. We'll go see who's healthy and who's not, and you have to move on, right? Nobody feels sorry for anybody on this team. It's not like, oh, it's tough, you have some injuries or it's tough that you didn't shoot the ball well, or it's tough, this, that, the other. You have to move on and get better and that's where you have to be strong mentally as well as physically and have perseverance to do so."

Up Next
Chattanooga wraps up non-conference play with a Sunday, December 21, road matchup against Alabama A&M inside the Event Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. (ET) / 2 p.m. (CT) on ESPN+.

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