Mocs Roll Over Hiwassee in Home Debut at McKenzie Arena
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.—The Chattanooga Mocs men’s basketball team rolled to a 94-55 win over visiting Hiwassee tonight. The defense stifled the Tigers forcing 25 turnovers while making 18 steals. Coming off the overtime win at Georgia, the Mocs answered some questions with their performance tonight.
"I constantly talk to these guys about fighting their circumstance," coach Matt McCall explained. "It would have been easy to be complacent, especially the last two days of practice. You’re walking around here and everyone’s telling you congratulations and how great you are, and the bottom line is you’ve won one game.
"We really had to refocus and stay locked in on the next opponent, and the next team that was in front of us and continue to get better with this whole process."
The Mocs broke open a five-point game at the mid-point of the first half. Johnathan Burroughs-Cook sparked a 16-0 run with a layup at 12:24. Justin Tuoyo finished it nearly five minutes later with two free throws at 8:14.
A 3pt play by Burroughs-Cook pushed the lead to 29, 48-19, before the Tigers cut it to 25 at the break, 51-26. The squad continued the onslaught in the second frame.
The lead grew to 31, 57-28, shortly after intermission on an Eric Robertson layup at 18:28. It swelled to 41, 82-41, a little more than eight minutes later with a triple from Alex Bran at 10:14. Rich Kalina’s dunk on an alley loop from ZaQwaun Matthews gave the squad its largest advantage of 42, 91-49 with 4:03 to play.
"It’s good watching them on the court together," Tuoyo stated mentioning watching the reserves play a majority of the second half’s minutes. "We tease them every day at practice. To see them out there get a chance to hoop together and finally get the feel of a real college game, it felt great.
"Big Rich, when he got his first dunk in a college game, I lost my mind. It felt good on the sidelines."
Tuoyo led all scorers with 16 while also blocking four shots. He was 5-6 from the field and 6-7 from the free throw line. He was joined in double digits by freshman Peyton Woods with 14 points powered by a 4-7 performance beyond the arc.
Six other Mocs scored at least eight led by Dee Oldham’s nine points and seven boards in 12 minutes. Casey Jones added eight points and a game-high eight rebounds. He was joined by Tre’ McLean, Eric Robertson, Johnathan Burroughs-Cook and Alex Bran with eight apiece.
Chattanooga native Demetrius Kitchens led the Tigers with 12 points, three assists and three steals. D.J. Graves chipped in 11 points in reserve.
The Mocs hit the road for the next five. It starts Saturday with a Big 10 matchup against Illinois in Springfield. Game time is 8:30 p.m., on the Big 10 Network.
"I constantly talk to these guys about fighting their circumstance," coach Matt McCall explained. "It would have been easy to be complacent, especially the last two days of practice. You’re walking around here and everyone’s telling you congratulations and how great you are, and the bottom line is you’ve won one game.
"We really had to refocus and stay locked in on the next opponent, and the next team that was in front of us and continue to get better with this whole process."
The Mocs broke open a five-point game at the mid-point of the first half. Johnathan Burroughs-Cook sparked a 16-0 run with a layup at 12:24. Justin Tuoyo finished it nearly five minutes later with two free throws at 8:14.
A 3pt play by Burroughs-Cook pushed the lead to 29, 48-19, before the Tigers cut it to 25 at the break, 51-26. The squad continued the onslaught in the second frame.
The lead grew to 31, 57-28, shortly after intermission on an Eric Robertson layup at 18:28. It swelled to 41, 82-41, a little more than eight minutes later with a triple from Alex Bran at 10:14. Rich Kalina’s dunk on an alley loop from ZaQwaun Matthews gave the squad its largest advantage of 42, 91-49 with 4:03 to play.
"It’s good watching them on the court together," Tuoyo stated mentioning watching the reserves play a majority of the second half’s minutes. "We tease them every day at practice. To see them out there get a chance to hoop together and finally get the feel of a real college game, it felt great.
"Big Rich, when he got his first dunk in a college game, I lost my mind. It felt good on the sidelines."
Tuoyo led all scorers with 16 while also blocking four shots. He was 5-6 from the field and 6-7 from the free throw line. He was joined in double digits by freshman Peyton Woods with 14 points powered by a 4-7 performance beyond the arc.
Six other Mocs scored at least eight led by Dee Oldham’s nine points and seven boards in 12 minutes. Casey Jones added eight points and a game-high eight rebounds. He was joined by Tre’ McLean, Eric Robertson, Johnathan Burroughs-Cook and Alex Bran with eight apiece.
Chattanooga native Demetrius Kitchens led the Tigers with 12 points, three assists and three steals. D.J. Graves chipped in 11 points in reserve.
The Mocs hit the road for the next five. It starts Saturday with a Big 10 matchup against Illinois in Springfield. Game time is 8:30 p.m., on the Big 10 Network.
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