Mocs Drop Regular Season Finale to Western Carolina 82-63
(gomocs.com) CHATTANOOGA (March 2, 2024) – The Chattanooga Mocs men’s basketball team wrapped up regular season play with a tough 82-63 defeat to Western Carolina in Southern Conference action on Senior Day Saturday afternoon inside McKenzie Arena.
After the loss, Chattanooga concludes regular season play at 20-11 overall and 12-6 in league play. The Mocs wrap up the No. 3 seed in next week’s SoCon Tournament and will face No. 6 seed Wofford on Saturday night at 6 p.m. on ESPN+. WCU ends at 22-9 overall and 11-7 in SoCon while claiming the No. 4 seed. “That was disappointing, obviously. That was as poorly as we could play in the first half. We did not put it together as a team. It was disappointing,” said head coach Dan Earl after the game. “We’re going to rip up this stat sheet and move on to the Southern Conference Tournament. I was just disappointed in the way we attacked that first half … but I was proud of the guys for turning the page in the second half.”HOW IT HAPPENEDA slow pace in the game’s opening moments saw Western Carolina hold a 9-3 lead at the 15:58 mark before UTC worked the deficit back to three, 15-12, with 11:05 left in the half. The Catamounts built their lead back to seven, 22-15 (9:15), with the help of the long ball. Western Carolina put together a lengthy rally over the next few minutes and grew its advantage to 18, 37-19 (5:21), capped off by back-to-back triples from Tre Jackson. WCU would end the half with a sizable 43-29 lead after UTC struggled from the field, shooting just 35.3% (12-of-34) in total and 29.4% (5-of-17) from three. Tyler Millin provided a spark for the Chattanooga offense in the early stages of the second half as back-to-back threes forced WCU into calling a timeout while cutting the deficit to nine, 47-38 (16:36). The Mocs and Catamounts went back-and-forth over the next three-plus minutes with the separation settling at eight, 53-45 (13:03). UTC kept its deficit in the single digits with a few opportunities to cut it within two possessions, but ultimately trailed by nine, 62-53, with 8:14 left in the game. WCU took advantage of an offensive lull from the hosts and built back a sizeable lead, 69-55, with just over five minutes remaining. The Catamounts would close things out down the stretch in comfortable fashion, eventually wrapping up the 82-63 victory behind its continued attack from behind the arc. WCU dominated UTC on the glass with a +13 (42-29) rebounding margin and a +18 (32-14) edge in points scored in the paint.RECORDS/SERIES – Chattanooga 20-11, 12-6 SoCon · Western Carolina 22-9, 11-7 SoCon · Series: UTC now leads the all-time series 71-32.
NEXT UP – Southern Conference Tournament Quarterfinals – vs. No. 6 Wofford – Saturday, March 9 – 6 p.m. ET – Harrah’s Cherokee Center Asheville – ESPN+
