Photo by: Chris Carter (Getty Images)
11/2/2026 6:12:00 PM | Men's Basketball
2026-27 CHATTANOOGA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Postgame Notes & Quotes
Game 1 | at Louisville | Monday, Nov. 2, 2026
Final: at #11 Louisville 84, Chattanooga 70
GAME DETAILS
TEAM RECORDS
SERIES RECORDS
HEAD COACHING RECORDS
GAME NOTABLES
Team / Coach Notes
POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Dan Earl
Opening statement:
"We turned the ball over way too much in the first half and allowed some offensive rebounds. Their size and athleticism, they really get in your face, that's tough to handle. Part of that is my fault, we were trying to thread the needle a little bit and weren't that 'smart' with it. I thought we moved the ball and took care of it so much better in the second half. I'm really proud of their fight and we have a lot to work on, but that was encouraging, especially the fight."
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On the performance overall:
"We really had some bright moments in the second half. We kept the ball in front of us, and really just slowed down our style to get more in system. A lot of guys were playing their first game and you know there's some nerves there, but I thought they all played relatively calm for the most part. They were truly figuring things out on the fly out there, and there's definitely things we need to work on, but it was a positive performance from a lot of the guys."
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Postgame Notes & Quotes
Game 1 | at Louisville | Monday, Nov. 2, 2026
Final: at #11 Louisville 84, Chattanooga 70
GAME DETAILS
| Site | KFC Yum! Center (Louisville, Ky.) |
| Game Duration | 2:07 |
| Attendance | 13,017 |
| Officials | Bert Smith, Kellen Miliner, CJ Middlebrooks |
TEAM RECORDS
| Team | Overall | Home | Away | Neutral |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chattanooga | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-0 |
| #11 Louisville | 1-0 | 1-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
SERIES RECORDS
| 13th All-Time Meeting | Chattanooga now trails the all-time series 6-7 |
| Home / Away / Neutral | 2-0 / 4-7 / 0-0 |
| Streak | L1 |
| Previous meeting | W, 81-71 at Louisville (11/10/23) |
| Today's result | L, 70-84 |
HEAD COACHING RECORDS
| Coach | Overall | Current School | Vs. Opponent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dan Earl (Penn State '97) |
154-197 (12th season) |
81-58 (5th season) |
vs. Louisville: 1-1 |
| Pat Kelsey (Xavier '98) |
313-141 (14th Season) |
52-19 (3rd season) |
vs. Chattanooga: 3-0 |
GAME NOTABLES
- Chattanooga opened the 2026-27 campaign and its 50th season as a DI program with an 84-70 loss at No. 11 Louisville… UTC opens 0-1 while the Cards sit at 1-0 after the initial contest.
- Louisville takes the all-time series lead in the 13th meeting… Cards now lead 7-6 after the win… UTC claimed an 81-71 win in their last visit to Louisville back on 11/10/2023.
- Chattanooga opened its 50th season as a Division I program on Monday night… No. 11 Louisville marked the team's highest ranked opponent in a season opener since traveling to No. 6 Kansas (L, 76-90) on 11/21/2003… first overall ranked opponent in an opener since at No. 20 Tennessee (L, 62-82) on 11/12/2010.
- Second time in the Dan Earl era at Chattanooga opening a new season against a Pat Kelsey-led squad… Earl's first career game as the UTC bench boss came against Kelsey's Charleston squad (L, 78-85) on 11/7/2022.
- Chattanooga finished the game shooting 25-of-57 (43.9%) from the floor… 12-of-33 (36.4%) from 3FG… struggled at the line going 8-of-14 (57.1%)… held Louisville to a 9-of-35 (25.7%) mark from 3FG for the game… Cards shot 30-of-68 (44.1%) in total.
- After being outscored 56-35 in the opening half, Chattanooga won the second half split 35-28… the 56 points allowed marked the most allowed in an opening half since 56 against Charleston on 3/6/2010… the 28 second-half points surrendered marked the fewest by a 'Power 4' opponent since 28 against Alabama on 12/21/1990.
- The Mocs held the Cards to a lowly 9-of-31 FG (29.0%) shooting mark over the final 20 minutes including a 1-of-16 (6.3%) tally from deep.
- Zach Bleshoy and Yonatan Levy led all Chattanooga scorers with 14 points each… Bleshoy grabbed a team-high seven rebounds while Levy totaled six… Lenny Anigbata (12) and Christian Matos (10) both reached doubled figures in scoring in their debuts.
- Chattanooga featured 10 players (Bleshoy, Powell, Hampton, Fleeman, Anigbata, McDowell-White, Matos, Moungalla, Hardaway, Swift) making their NCAA Division I debut on Monday… seven were making their overall collegiate debut (Bleshoy, Fleeman, Anigbata, McDowell-White, Matos, Hardaway, Moungalla).
POSTGAME QUOTES
Opening statement:
"We turned the ball over way too much in the first half and allowed some offensive rebounds. Their size and athleticism, they really get in your face, that's tough to handle. Part of that is my fault, we were trying to thread the needle a little bit and weren't that 'smart' with it. I thought we moved the ball and took care of it so much better in the second half. I'm really proud of their fight and we have a lot to work on, but that was encouraging, especially the fight."
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On the performance overall:
"We really had some bright moments in the second half. We kept the ball in front of us, and really just slowed down our style to get more in system. A lot of guys were playing their first game and you know there's some nerves there, but I thought they all played relatively calm for the most part. They were truly figuring things out on the fly out there, and there's definitely things we need to work on, but it was a positive performance from a lot of the guys."
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Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
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