Mocs Beat Wofford For Rare 3 Game SoCon Road Winning Streak

(gomocs.com) SPARTANBURG, S.C. (Jan. 24, 2024) – The Chattanooga Mocs continued its impressive play away from home after controlling Wofford 79-65 in a key matchup of Southern Conference contenders on Wednesday night inside the Richardson Indoor Stadium in Spartanburg, S.C.
 
Following the win, Chattanooga improves to 13-7 overall and 5-2 inside SoCon play while picking up three-straight SoCon wins on the road (consecutively) for just the second time since the start of the 1997-98 campaign. Wofford moves to 11-9 overall and 4-3 inside SoCon action after the defeat.
 
Although it wasn’t technically a wire-to-wire victory with an early 2-2 tie, Chattanooga led the contest for a whopping 39:26 and held a lead as large as 20 coming down the stretch. A solid effort on both sides of the floor helped continue the team’s momentum.
 
“That was a huge key to the game, getting off to a good start, we really brought energy. We were able to knock some balls free and get out in transition early which really helped us,” said head coach Dan Earl following the win.
 
“I thought we followed the game plan almost perfectly, we communicated on defense really well, and we held them to only five threes. Overall, I thought we did a really good job.”

HOW IT HAPPENED
A fast start saw Chattanooga jump out to a 15-8 lead at the first media timeout (15:54) after three of the first six three-point attempts found the bottom of the net. The game continued to roll at a fast pace over the next few minutes as the Mocs built a 23-10 edge (12:28) following a pair of driving layups from Trey Bonham and Honor Huff.
 
UTC continued to hold an early double-digit lead at the under eight media (7:57), 28-17, after limiting Wofford to a 1-of-9 start from deep during the span. The Terriers found its spark after forcing a pair of turnovers and ultimately closed the gap to five, 33-28, with 4:17 left in the opening half.
 
The Mocs immediately responded with an 8-0 run to close the first half and took a 13-point advantage, 43-30, into the break. Seven different Mocs scored in the opening half as the squad shot an efficient 53.1% (17-of-32) from the field, in addition to earning a 19-11 (+8) margin on the glass.
 
Wofford opened the second half on an 8-2 run to cut into its deficit, 45-38, before Chattanooga rattled off a 9-2 run in response to up its lead to 54-40 with 15:56 left in the contest. Scoring stalled for both teams over the next two-plus minutes as UTC continued to hang on to a double-digit lead, 56-42, at the 13:20 mark.
 
Fueled by an efficient inside attack from Sam Alexis, the guests held a 64-48 lead (8:48) after six-straight points in the paint. Bonham’s first triple of the game gave Chattanooga its largest lead of the game, 67-50 (7:53), before the Terriers found momentum with an 8-2 run and pulled within 11, 69-58, with 5:00 remaining.
 
Myles Che came up with a huge three to immediately thwart Wofford’s run at the 4:38 mark before key buckets down the stretch from Tyler Millin, Alexis and Randy Brady eventually paved way for the 79-65 victory. UTC ended the game shooting 56.1% (32-57) from the floor including a 76.7% (23-of-30) tally on two-point attempts.

RECORDS/SERIES – Chattanooga 13-7, 5-2 SoCon · Wofford 11-9, 4-3 SoCon · Series: UTC now leads the all-time series 31-22.

THREE KEY NOTES | MORE
1. Chattanooga featured its eighth different starting lineup combination of the season in tonight’s game… one of 16 NCAA DI programs at the moment this year with eight or more different starting fives… now one of six NCAA DI programs to win seven or more times with different combos.
 
2. Following the win, Chattanooga has now won three consecutive road games in Southern Conference play for just the second time since the start of 1997-98… streak consists of three-straight on the road without anything in between… other time was 2020-21.
 
3. Sam Alexis nearly notched a program record in SoCon road games after a perfect 7-of-7 night from the field… record is 8-of-8 (Alphonso Pugh, Ga. Southern, 1/17/2005)… finished with 15 points, five rebounds, three assists and a block… team-best +21 in +/- category.

QUOTABLE | MORE
HC Dan Earl on getting into the paint & sharing the ball.
“That was a big key for us tonight. We didn’t want to be relying on the three-point, we wanted to get downhill against their size. You saw early on, we got up early, and then we got kind-of trigger happy and took some just OK shots in the middle of the first half. You have to be OK with one night having four, the next maybe having 22, it’s whatever it takes to win. I thought we did a good job of that tonight with five guys in double figures.”
 
G Honor Huff on setting the tone early.
“I think we really set the tone in the first four minutes of the game. I thought we came out with a sense of urgency on both ends, especially the defensive end, we came in with a big emphasis on guarding and paying attention to the scout. I thought we did a great job of that tonight and even on their little runs, we stayed in control.”

NEXT UP – vs. The Citadel – Saturday, January 27 – 2 p.m. ET – McKenzie Arena – ESPN+ – BLACK OUT