Mocs Thump Covenant College 89-44 in Season Opener

(gomocs.com)

CHATTANOOGA (Nov. 6, 2023) – The Chattanooga Mocs men’s basketball team raced out early and saw newcomer Jan Zidek score a game-high 25 points to amount an 89-44 wire-to-wire victory over Covenant in the 2023-24 season opener on Monday night inside McKenzie Arena.
 
Chattanooga opens the season 1-0 for the ninth time in the past 12 seasons following the victory in which it led for 39:36 of 40 total minutes. Covenant remained at 0-0 after the game was designated an exhibition for the NCAA DIII members.
 
Despite the 45-point margin of victory, there were multiple facets of the game that head coach Dan Earl and company would like to tidy up before next Friday’s contest at ACC-member Louisville. In the end, a win is a win.
 
“It’s good that we got the win, but if you watch that game, there’s a lot to learn from, to say the least. I don’t think our guys handled the game well,” said Earl in his post-game presser.
 
“I give a ton of credit to Covenant; they played hard, they moved the ball, they set a bunch of screens, and I didn’t think that we were solid on either end of the floor … we try to play a style where it’s unselfish and the ball finds the open man, but we did not do that tonight. We’ll have to learn from it.
 
Zidek, a 6’9 graduate transfer forward from Pepperdine, led all scorers with a game-high 25 points on 11-of-13 shooting including a 3-of-4 mark from deep. The 11 field goals made tied a career-high for the veteran who appeared in his 94^th career collegiate contest tonight.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Chattanooga raced out a 13-5 lead at the game’s first media timeout after five different Mocs recorded points in the first four-plus minutes of action. The lead grew to 24-7 with 11:55 left in the opening half on the help of three-straight triples from Jan Zidek, Rudy Fitzgibbons III and Tyler Millin.
 
Covenant hung tough over the next few minutes and minimized the early UTC offensive attack, eventually forcing nine turnovers during the first half of play. Zidek connected on a corner three before the buzzer to send the Mocs into the locker room with a 42-20 halftime lead.
 
UTC shot a highly efficient 57.1% (16-of-28) mark from the floor over the first 20 minutes while limiting Covenant to a 22.6% (7-of-31) number. The 22-point separation at the break marked the sixth 20+ halftime lead for UTC under coach Earl.
 
After a slow start for the Mocs to begin the second half, the hosts put together a 19-4 run over an eight-plus minute stretch in the middle of the period to break things open, 68-33, with 7:50 remaining. During the stretch, Zidek went a perfect 4-of-4 from the field which included a triple to provide nine of the 19 points.
 
Chattanooga would continue an efficient attack throughout the final minutes of the season opener, ultimately coming away with the 89-44 decision.

RECORDS/SERIES – Chattanooga 1-0 · Covenant 0-0 (Exh.) · Series: Chattanooga leads the all-time series 5-0.

THREE KEY NOTES | MORE
1. Jan Zidek finished with a game-high 25 points while adding six rebounds, an assist and a block… went 11-of-13 from the floor including 3-of-4 from deep… 11 made FG’s ties a career high… made 11 at Loyola Marymount back on 1/20/22 with Pepperdine… eighth career 20+ scoring effort.
 
2. Sam Alexis stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, a career-high 13 rebounds, five blocks and four assists… just the ninth different player in NCAA DI since the start of the 2021-22 season to reach those totals in each category… 13 rebounds surpasses career total set twice last season.
 
3. The Mocs are now 9-3 in season-opening games over the last 12 dating back to 2012-13… third time defeating Covenant in a season opener… November 9, 2007 (W, 120-59) & November 8, 2013 (W, 119-56).
 
QUOTABLE | MORE
F Jan Zidek on the opening night nerves tonight for the team.
“Not everybody is going to always have a good night. In basketball there are always going to be ups and downs, especially when it’s the first game of the season. The preseason is long, the summer is long, all you do is practice against each other and then all of a sudden you have to perform on this stage in front of fans. There’s definitely some nervousness there, but we handled it pretty well tonight. Now we get ready for Louisville on Friday which is going to be a way bigger challenge for us.”
 
HC Dan Earl on having the opportunity to learn despite the win.
“You don’t get stung with a loss, but you could feel the vibe out there where we’re just dribbling, trying to do too much and turn the ball over. We had 17 turnovers, they had 14 offensive rebounds as well, so I give a ton of credit to Covenant, but we didn’t control the things we need to control, so hopefully we get their attention while still getting the win. There’s plenty to improve upon, but we’ll watch film and get that figured out.”

NEXT UP – at Louisville (1-0) – Friday, Nov. 10 – 7:00 p.m. ET – Louisville, Ky. (KFC Yum! Center) – ACC Network Extra