Dominant day
Mocs remain unbeaten with impressive win
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball team improved to 5-0 on the season with a lopsided 100-39 victory over NCAA Division III Covenant College Tuesday.
A crowd of 8,910 in attendance at McKenzie Arena — mostly elementary school students for Hamilton County’s Education Day — saw the Mocs dominate from the opening tip to the final buzzer, eclipsing the 100-point plateau for the first time since scoring 105 against Samford on Jan. 11, 2020 in a 38-point victory.
Six players scored in double figures, led by Grant Ledford’s 18 points. He also had six rebounds. Josh Ayeni, Malachi Smith and Silvio De Sousa finished with 14 each, while Darius Banks and Avery Diggs chipped in 13. Ayeni added 10 rebounds for his first career double-double, while De Sousa was right behind him with nine.
Smith added six rebounds and six assists, the sixth game of his career with at least six helpers and third time this season.
The game started with a 13-0 Mocs run and the lead only dipped below double figures once from that point forward. By the half, the Mocs led 48-16 and De Sousa had 10 points.
The Mocs led in all of the “extra” stats as well, with 24 points off 13 Covenant turnovers, 15 second-chance points, eight fast-break points and 48 points in the paint.
The win showed no letdown from UTC’s big road win Saturday at Virginia Commonwealth University, when Smith knocked down a contested jumper with 0.4 seconds to play in the 54-52 win.
The Mocs will host College of Charleston Saturday at 4 in the second game of a doubleheader at McKenzie.
The UTC women, who faced Kennesaw State Tuesday night, will host Georgia State at 1:30.