2024-25 Chattanooga Mocs Men's Basketball
Game 23 – Mercer – February 1, 2025
McKenzie Arena – Chattanooga, Tenn.
Postgame Notes & Quotes
 
GENERAL GAME INFO
Game Duration: 2:15
Attendance: 3,551
Officials: Arthur Vaulk, Nick Meyer, Kyle Bowen
 
TEAM RECORDS
Chattanooga: 15-8, 7-3 SoCon
Mercer: 11-12, 4-6 SoCon
 
SERIES HISTORY
90th All-Time Meeting

• Chattanooga leads 48-42; H: 27-13; A: 18-28; N: 3-1.
• Chattanooga leads 14-8 in SoCon regular season games.

COACHES RECORDS
Chattanooga: Dan Earl (Penn State '97)

• Overall (10): 127-176, 60-108 SoCon
• at UTC (3): 54-37, 26-20 SoCon
• vs. MER: 9-11; H: 6-3; A: 3-7; N: 0-1

Mercer: Ryan Ridder (Embry Riddle '08)

• Overall (7): 107-105
• at MER (1): 11-12, 4-6 SoCon

 
HISTORIC RECORDS

• All-Time Program Record: 1,440-1,152 (.554)
• Division I Era (since '77-78): 894-583 (.605)
• All-Time SoCon Record: 480-295 (.617)
• Record in UTC/McKenzie Arena: 494-152 (.764)

 
TEAM & GAME NOTES

• Chattanooga improved to 15-8 overall and 7-3 inside SoCon play after a 93-84 win over Mercer inside McKenzie Arena… Mocs have now won three-straight… six of the last seven.
• The 93 points scored were the second-most this season for UTC (94 in OT loss at Mercer on 1/1)… the Mocs are now 12-1 under Dan Earl when scoring 90 or more points.
• UTC fell behind by as many as 12 (46-34) with 2:30 left in the first half… fourth double-digit comeback in SoCon play… all four were double-digit deficits in the first half.
• The Mocs led for just 7:55 while the Bears led the contest for 29:51… six lead changes and five ties… UTC grabbed a 72-71 (6:28) lead and outscored Mercer 21-13 until the final horn… earned a 52-36 edge in the second half alone.
• Chattanooga finished the game 28-of-36 (77.8%) from the free-throw line during the win… ties a season high in both FTM (28) and FTA (36)… also finished 28-of-36 (77.8%) in a win over Tennessee State back on November 25.
• Chattanooga trailed 48-41 at the halftime break… most points allowed in the opening half this season (46, Wofford)… allowed Mercer to shoot 63.3% (19-30) from the floor during the half.

 
PLAYER NOTES
Bash Wieland, G-Gr.

• Scored a game-high 22 points on 7-17 FG (2-9 3PT, 6-6 FT)… finished a team-best +14 in 25 minutes of action.
• Sixth game this season of 20+… 10 of the last 11 games scoring in double figures… surpassed 800 career points.

Honor Huff, G-Jr.

• Scored 16 points on 4-9 FG (3-8 3PT, 5-5 FT)… added two rebounds and two steals.
• Played all 40 minutes for the third time season… one of the games includes 45 minutes in an OT game vs. Wofford (1/15/25).

POSTGAME QUOTES
Dan Earl, Head Coach
Overall thoughts after 93-84 win over Mercer.
"I'm really proud of the guys for continuing to fight today. Unfortunately, it wasn't a great first half again. Credit to Mercer, they are an extremely tough cover and we struggled to figure them out defensively in the first half. Our guys kept fighting and I thought we did a great job of executing plays down the stretch. A lot of good minutes from so many guys and it was a hard-fought victory."
 
On the home crowd today.
"I want to thank the crowd today, they were awesome. It was really loud in there, the students came out, the community came out, and we're so appreciative for that."
 
On making things tough for Mercer.
"I think we switched defenses up a little bit, some zone and some man. We just wanted to make it difficult and make them think. We really wanted to focus on their tendencies. We didn't keep them off the boards like we needed to in the second half, but I thought it was just a gritty victory. A victory where we got the necessary stops down the stretch to win."
 
Trey Bonham, Sr.-G
On attacking in the second half.
"I was just trying to let the game come to me. I knew they were going to play me aggressively and hard, if they were up, I wanted to get by and get downhill. I just didn't want to think too much and make smart plays for my teammates and myself."
 
On the team showing maturity in tight situations.
"I think the experience on this team, we have guys who have played a lot of basketball. People who are willing to make the winning plays over and over again. We're all willing to make the winning play and put our body on the line out there. It's a lot to do with experience."