BOX SCORE | NOTES/QUOTES | SEASON STATS | NIT/BRACKET INFO

INDIANAPOLIS, IND. (April 1, 2025) --- The incredible and dramatic postseason run continues. The Chattanooga Mocs men's basketball team punched its ticket to the 2025 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) Championship after rallying for a thrilling 80-73 victory over Loyola Chicago in the semifinals on Tuesday night inside historic Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.
 
Chattanooga (28-9) moves on to face UC Irvine (32-6) in the NIT Championship Game on Thursday, April 3 inside Hinkle Fieldhouse. Tip-off is set for 9 p.m. ET while the game will be televised nationally on ESPN.
 
More information regarding Chattanooga fan events, championship information, and everything in between will be available in the coming days. Stick to GoMocs.com and all social channels for the most up-to-date information as well as the NIT homepage HERE.
 
Quick Recap
The Chattanooga Mocs kept the postseason train steaming ahead with an 80-73 win over Loyola Chicago Tuesday night in the NIT semifinals at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Trey Bonham led four double figure scorers for the good guys with 23 points.
 
The Mocs trailed by as many as nine in the first half, 36-27 at 3:04. That got flipped with an extended run. It turned into an 8-point advantage after the 28-11 spurt over 11-plus minutes was capped by Honor Huff's three at 11:51.
 
The lead reached eight twice and 10 once on a Collin Mulholland follow, but the Ramblers would not fold. It closed to within two on Des Watson's three and again at 4:16 on a Miles Rubin jumper, 72-70. But the Mocs kept finding answers whether it was Sean Cusano free throws or a Makai Richards layup. The drama just increased.
 
Watson came up big again with another three at 2:37 to cut it to 74-73. On the ensuing possession, the Ramblers were called for goaltending but after official review, it was overturned. The teams traded stops as the clock ticked inside the final minute.
 
Huff came up big in the clutch. He drilled a trey as the clock bypassed 35 seconds, his fourth of the game to give his crew some breathing room. The Mocs got yet another stop with Garrison Keeslar grabbing a huge board before getting fouled with 15.7 to go. He made one of two for a 78-73 advantage.
 
Keeslar came up with a smart play with 11.3 on the clock. With a foul to give, he let the Ramblers up court but stopped momentum into a play call. A missed three was again rebounded by Keeslar who kicked it up the floor to Bonham who put the exclamation point on the 7-point triumph.
 
Chattanooga moves onto the NIT Championship game Thursday night in Hinkle Fieldhouse. The matchup is UC Irvine on ESPN at 9 p.m.
 
RECORDS – Chattanooga: 28-9 | Loyola Chicago: 26-11
 
INSIDE THE BOX – SCORE
Scoring Leaders – UTC: 23-Trey Bonham | LUC: 19-Jayden Dawson
Rebounding Leaders – UTC: 7-Garrison Keeslar | LUC: 6-Des Watson/Miles Rubin
Assist Leaders – UTC: 5-Keeslar | LUC: 6-Dawson
Largest Leads – UTC: 10 (67-57 – 7:33 2nd) | LUC: 9 (36-27 – 3:04 1st)
Lead Changes: 8 | Times Tied: 8

• Two teams both shot 50 percent or better tonight with the Mocs hitting 52 percent (32-61) to 50 percent by the Rambler (25-50).
• +7 rebounding advantage (29-22) led to a 12-5 margin in second chance points.
• Outscored the taller Loyola squad 38-30 on points in the paint.
• 22 assists on 32 made shots.
• 14-8 advantage on points off turnovers.
• Led the final 17:51 after Latif Diouf's layup.
• The Mocs held the Ramblers scoreless over the final 2:37 of the game. There were four instances of 2:37 or more without a FG for Loyola in the contest: 5:03 (4:36 1st-19:23 2nd), 3:17 (14:08-10:51/2nd), 3:12 (18:11-15:59/2nd) & the final 2:37.

 
NIT HISTORY

• 5th appearance but first since 1987. The program made four straight NITs from 1984-87. That was in the middle of the first eight DI postseasons for the Mocs going to the NCAA Tournament in 1981, 1982, 1983 and 1988.
• 7-4 all-time in the event (3-2 road).
• Matches the longest postseason run in school history. The 1977 squad won the NCAA Division II National Championship a year after finishing as runner-up in 1976 in the same event.
• 4-1 against Illinois teams in the postseason: 1976 DII Final Four (93-84 win over Eastern Illinois); 1997 NCAA 2nd Round (75-63 win over Illinois), 2022 NCAA 1st Round (54-53 loss to Illinois) & 2025 NIT Quarterfinals (67-65 win at Bradley).

 
SERIES HISTORY
Meetings: 3
Record: 1-2
Neutral: 1-0
Postseason: 1-0
Streak: +1
 
NOTES TO KNOW

• 1st SoCon team to play in April in an NCAA postseason event.
• Third time in four NIT games that Bonham topped the 20-point mark with 27 at Middle Tennessee, 25 vs. Dayton to go with 17 at Bradley. That's a 23.0 point-per-game average.
• Huff's final three was his fourth of the game. That was No. 128 which is the most in the NCAA this season. He is seven shy of Stephen McDowell's 135 in 2008-09.
• Makai Richards scored 10 points off the bench tonight on 5-5 shooting. It was his fourth double-digit scoring game this season: 19 at St. Mary's, 17 vs. Bryant, 10 vs. Mercer (SoCon T'ment) and tonight.
• Richards, Collin Mulholland and Latif Diouf combined for 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists from the five position.
• 67 wins for Coach Dan Earl is a program record for the first three years of a coaching tenure ahead of Mack McCarthy (62), Murray Arnold (61) and Ron Shumate (59).
• 10 straight wins when trailing at the half.
• Won 16 of the last 17 games. 20-4 since the calendar shifted to 2025.
• Won 12 of the last 13 in games outside of Chattanooga.
• 28 wins for the second time in school history: 29 (2015-16).
• 23rd postseason appearance in school history: NCAA DI (12) & DII (5) tournaments, NIT (5) and CIT (1).
• 43rd postseason contest: 21-22 record: 7-4 NIT | 3-12 NCAA DI | 11-5 NCAA DII | 0-1 CIT.

 
POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Dan Earl opening statement after 67-65 win at Bradley.
"First of all, ton of credit to Coach Wardle and Bradley. They're a heck of a team and hard to play. I played against Coach (Wardle) back in the day so we were joking around a little bit before the game, but they are a very good basketball team and in the first half, I wrote it up to the guys on our board, they manhandled us. Every which way they were more physical on the defensive end getting into us and then on the offensive end as well just doing what they wanted. I thought we showed a lot of heart and a lot of resiliency and a lot of toughness coming back and just competing in th second half. Super proud of our guys and it was another one of those games where I don't even know what happened and what scenario, but we did enough to get it done. We fouled late, which obviously worked out in our favor, and all around just proud of our guys."
 
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