Mocs Beat Union 92-39 For 500th Career Victory at McKenzie Arena

10 hours ago

Rick Nyman,

(gomocs.com) – After celebrating last season’s historic NIT championship run with a pre-game ceremony, the Chattanooga Mocs men’s basketball team opened its new campaign with a convincing 92-39 victory over NAIA-member Union Commonwealth (Ky.) on Monday evening inside McKenzie Arena.

The win marked the 500^th all-time for the Chattanooga program inside the famed Roundhouse. The Mocs are playing in its 44^th season inside the building, which opened its floor to the team for the 1982-83 season, and now carries a 500-162 (.767) all-time record.

Quick Records/Series

Chattanooga: 1-0 | Union (Ky.): 1-2

Series: Chattanooga leads the all-time series 1-0.

Dan Earl, Head Coach

Chattanooga (4): 69-38 | Overall (11): 142-177

Breakdown

Both teams got off to a rather slow start before Tate Darner knocked down a trio of triples in his collegiate debut over a two-plus minute stretch, capping off a 22-5 scoring run and giving the Mocs a 25-7 lead with 9:11 left in the half.
The Mocs surrendered just four points over the final nine-plus minutes of the half to claim a 46-11 lead at the halftime break. The 11 points were the fewest allowed by UTC in an opening half since allowing 13 to Johnson (TN) on 12/10/2022.
Chattanooga scored the first 12 points of the second half to extend its lead to 58-11 with 16:51 left in the contest before continuing its dominance with a 48-point lead, 70-22, at the under 12-minute media timeout (11:45).
UTC saw its reserves consume most of the game’s final moments as the squad rolled its way to a 92-39 victory, its largest margin of victory since a 61-point rout (W, 112-51) of Tennessee Wesleyan on December 10, 2023.
True freshman guard Tate Darner led Chattanooga in scoring with a game-high 15 points… went 5-of-7 from the floor (all 3FGA)… tied for a team-high with seven rebounds… recorded two blocks.
Graduate guard Jikari Johnson posted 14 points and seven rebounds in his Chattanooga debut… became the first known collegiate men’s basketball player to play at all four levels including JUCO, NCAA DIII, DII and now Division I.