NOTES | QUOTES | PHOTOS
CHATTANOOGA (Nov. 24, 2023) – Leading 62-42 with just over 11 minutes remaining, the Chattanooga Mocs men’s basketball team was outscored 43-15 down the stretch and ultimately dropped an 85-77 overtime decision to Evansville on the first day of the Coke Zero Sugar Classic inside McKenzie Arena on Friday.
Following the loss, Chattanooga drops to 4-1 on the season. Evansville remains unbeaten in non-conference play at 5-0 after the comeback victory.
“Obviously, a tough game. One of those games you see it happen, when we go up 20, you could feel the momentum was tangible and it started going their way,” said head coach Dan Earl.
“We couldn’t get stops nor execute on offense. It was a very difficult game. This is something we have to learn from.”
HOW IT HAPPENED
Chattanooga and Evansville opened the game by trading the first 14 points, locking at 7-7 at the first media timeout (15:58). The trend continued over the next three-plus minutes before Jan Zidek broke a 14-14 tie with a three to put UTC ahead 17-14 at the 12:53 mark of the opening half.
The Purple Aces created some separation after finding its stroke from deep which helped build a 24-20 lead with 10:13 left before the break. Chattanooga held Evansville scoreless for over five minutes to jump back in front 27-24 before holding a 29-26 lead 4:49 on the board.
A frantic finish down the stretch saw the Mocs take a four-point lead into halftime, 40-36, following a Zidek putback in the final seconds. The first half featured seven ties and five lead changes as all four media timeouts saw deadlock tallies on the scoreboard.
Chattanooga opened the second half with a 5-of-8 start from the floor including a 3-of-3 mark from deep and capped off an 8-0 run with a Tyler Millin three, forcing Evansville into a timeout with UTC leading 54-40 (14:52). The scoring run continued as Honor Huff knocked a three in transition to up the lead to 62-42 with 11:21 left in the contest.
The Purple Aces responded with a 10-0 run over the next four-plus minutes to cut its deficit to 10, 62-52, at the 6:57 mark. Rudy Fitzgibbons III snapped the scoring run with his first three of the game to make it 65-52 (6:23) before Evansville continued its monumental comeback.
UE held the Mocs to just eight points over the final 11-plus minutes of regulation and briefly held a 70-68 lead with 53 seconds left before Huff knocked down a pair of free throws to tie things 70-70 with 33 seconds on the board. UTC earned a defensive stop in the last possession of regulation to force overtime.
It was all Evansville in the extra period as UTC finished the final five minutes just 2-of-10 from the field and 1-of-7 from three as UE knocked down 11 of its 13 free-throw attempts during that span, ultimately amounting to the 85-77 comeback victory.
RECORDS/SERIES – Chattanooga 4-1 · Evansville 5-0 · Series: Today’s contest marked the first ever meeting between the two programs.
THREE KEY NOTES | MORE
1. Sam Alexis finished with his second-straight double-double after notching 10 points on 5-of-10 shooting while grabbing 15 boards… back-to-back 15-rebound efforts… first Moc with back-to-back 15+ rebounds since Nicchaeus Doaks on November 20 and 21, 2008 (vs. Memphis & vs. USC in San Juan)… first to do it in consecutive home games since Chris Morgan in 1985.
2. Chattanooga finished with a 40.6% (28-of-69) mark from the field… UE shot 42.6% (29-of-68)… UTC went just 2-of-10 (20.0%) from the field and 1-of-7 (14.3%) from three in the second half and OT periods… finished the last 15-plus minutes 3-of-18 (16.7%) from deep.
3. Chattanooga’s bench was outscored 32-19 during the loss… the UTC reserves have been outscored 43-19 over the last two games… outscored 66-35 against the four DI opponents this year.
QUOTABLE | MORE
G Honor Huff on the overall message.
“I said in the locker room, we weren’t going undefeated. You’re going to take some on the chin, and you’d rather not, especially this early and in this way, but it’s time to take it, learn from it and not let it happen again. We’ll put it past us and continue to move.”
NEXT UP – vs. SEMO – Sunday, Nov. 26 – 2:00 p.m. ET – Chattanooga, Tenn. (McKenzie Arena) – ESPN+ – BUY TICKETS
FOLLOW CHATTANOOGA BASKETBALL
Follow @GoMocsMBB on Twitter & on Instagram for the most up-to-date information and news regarding Chattanooga men’s basketball.
GoMocs.com is the official website of the Chattanooga Mocs. Buy officially licensed gear in our online store. The Mocs can also be followed on their official Facebook page or on Twitter. Find out how to join the Mocs Club and support more than 300 student-athletes by clicking here.