2024-25 Chattanooga Mocs Men's Basketball
Game 37 – Loyola Chicago – April 1, 2025
National Invitation Tournament – Semifinals
Hinkle Fieldhouse – Indianapolis, Ind.
Postgame Notes
 
GENERAL GAME INFO
Game Duration: 2:03
Attendance: 3,288
Officials: Clarence Armstrong, Owen Shortt, Edwin Young
 
TEAM/SERIES RECORDS
Chattanooga: 28-9
Loyola Chicago: 25-12
 
COACH RECORDS
Chattanooga: Dan Earl (Penn State '97)
Overall (10th): 140-177
at UTC (3rd): 67-38
 
SERIES HISTORY
All-Time Meetings: 3
Chattanooga trails the all-time series 1-2 (H: 0-1; A: 0-1; N: 1-0).
 
HISTORIC RECORDS
All-Time Program Record: 1,452-1,153 (.554)
Division I Era (since '77-78): 907-584 (.605)
 
NIT RECORDS
NIT Appearance: 5th (first since four-straight from 1984-87)
NIT Record: 7-4 (.636)
Best NIT Finish/Run: 2025 NIT Title Game
 
TEAM & GAME NOTES
∙ Chattanooga reaches the NIT title game for the first time in school history after claiming an 80-73 victory over Loyola Chicago in the semifinal stage on Tuesday night inside historic Hinkle Fieldhouse… UTC is now 28-9 on the season after the win… Loyola ends 25-12.
 
∙ Chattanooga's 28 wins are the second most in school history… 20 wins have come since the flip towards the 2025 calendar year… 20-4 in 2025.
 
∙ Chattanooga marked its first ever trip to the NIT Final Four stage… bested its deepest run (quarterfinals) which occurred 40 years ago in the 1985… fifth all-time appearance in the event.
 
∙ Chattanooga is playing its first ever game in the month of April… longest season in program history in terms of games (37), days between first and current game (147) and date (April 1).
 
∙ Chattanooga trailed 38-34 at the halftime break… has now won 10-straight games when trailing at halftime… 11-7 on the season in such games.
 
PLAYER NOTES
∙ Honor Huff know leads NCAA Division I in total threes made (128) in 2024-25… knocked down four in the win… played all 40 minutes yet again… finished with 12 points, three assists and zero turnovers.
 
∙ Trey Bonham ended with a game-high 23 points on 10-of-16 FG… went 3-of-6 from deep… now 92 points scored in the 2025 NIT… most points scored by a Moc in the NIT… ties Jake Stephens (2023 SoCon Tournament) for most in a postseason tournament by a Moc.
 
QUOTES
Head Coach Dan Earl
Opening statement after 80-73 semifinal win over Loyola Chicago.
"Not to sound like too much of a cliché but everybody says this, but super proud of our guys. Another hard-fought win, competitive game, both teams going at it. Credit to Loyola Chicago. They are a very good team. Obviously their bigs were giving us fits, and they have a variety of different guys on the perimeter that can score the ball. We got stops when we needed to down the stretch, and just played with tremendous toughness, I thought, throughout. The fact that we took care of the ball, 22 assists, eight turnovers, is kind of who we are on the offensive end, and these two guys, again, were phenomenal. Total team win. Proud of the guys. Let's see if we can get one more."
 
On what this team means personally.
Again, I know everybody speaks highly of their team after they win. But if you're around and some of the reporters in here are around our guys quite a bit, it is an awesome, awesome group. High-character guys. Listen, coachable, mature, just fun to be around. And you pointed out, everybody's got a journey, right. Nobody goes all 31 games for 30-plus games and never has an injury or whatever. But we've had our fair share. We started off the season with a bunch of guys injured. Slow start. Obviously had a huge injury to Frank Champion in the Southern Conference Tournament or right before it, and the guys have battled through. Other guys have stepped up, some of our backup centers. And the guys have just continued to play hard, be coachable, and then they have enjoyed it, as well, which is really cool to see."
 
Honor Huff-Jr.,G
On feeling after the dagger three and win.
"Elated. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to show it too much. But it's not me; it's my teammates. It's him. It's everybody. Garrison Keeslar, five assists, and I think two of those is to me. So just my teammates having belief in me and my coaches throughout the whole season, and believing in my jumpshot and my three-pointer. And obviously the work I put in my whole life shooting the ball. So I mean, it's a great feeling but again I couldn't get here without my teammates."
 
Bash Wieland-Gr., G
 On how fun the 80-73 win was for him.
"There is no doubt, that was fun. Honor (Huff) and Trey (Bonham) are playing unbelievable. It's just so much fun; even when I'm out on the court I just feel like I'm watching them. Just the shots they're making are incredible. 74-73 and Huff hits that sidestep three from the right wing, these dudes are just unreal. Just unreal talent. It feels great and honestly, it feels surreal."
 
On him coming out aggressive to start the night.
"I definitely was, and I kind of just wanted to almost make sure my teammates knew that this wasn't something to be nervous about. Like, I get nervous before games but you've gotta push through it and I wanted my teammates to see that we were taking this game head on."