Mocs don’t let quick exit spoil season
DES MOINES, Iowa — Players milled around the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga locker room Thursday night. There were some dejected looks but also some smiles as finality set in on the Mocs’ great season.
For most, it was the end of a season. For four seniors, it was the end of an era.
Alex Bran, Duke Ethridge, Dee Oldham and Eric Robertson finished their UTC careers in the Mocs’ 99-74 loss against Indiana in the first round of the NCAA tournament Thursday.
Bran and Robertson were part of 82 wins in four seasons with the program, while Ethridge had 48 wins in two seasons.
Oldham came on as a senior transfer from UT-Martin and was part of the program’s school- record 29 wins this season and its first Southern Conference championship since 2009.
Each entered the scoring column in their final game, with Ethridge scoring a team- high 14 points. Oldham had 10 points while adding five rebounds and a pair of assists, while Robertson and Bran made one shot each.
“It was a great season for us,” Ethridge said. “We played together as a team, we were united as one, a family, and we did what we wanted to do. We wanted to compete with other schools, and that’s what happened.
“The hard work paid off.”
The Mocs were able to land a number of punches in Thursday’s game, but not nearly at the level of the Hoosiers. Any little spurt UTC made was answered easily by the Hoosiers with a 3-pointer or a basket inside.
Yet that didn’t mess up the experience the Mocs had while in Des Moines or the road they took to get there.
“It was a heck of an experience for me, man,” Oldham said. “It was a good way to go out, for sure.”
That’s exactly the message coach Matt McCall wanted to convey to all of
“IT WAS A GREAT SEASON FOR US. WE PLAYED TOGETHER AS A TEAM, WE WERE UNITED AS ONE, A FAMILY, AND WE DID WHAT WE WANTED TO DO. WE WANTED TO COMPETE WITH OTHER SCHOOLS, AND THAT’S WHAT HAPPENED. THE HARD
WORK PAID OFF.”
– UTC SENIOR DUKE ETHRIDGE
his players, but especially the four seniors who won’t have an opportunity to return to the tournament.
“I thanked them,” McCall said. “I thanked them for welcoming me in, my family in, my staff in, because it’s not easy when there’s change and turnover. This was an unbelievable group.
“I don’t want this game to define them or this season, because it was a terrific year and it was an honor to be their coach.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress. com. Follow him on Twiutter @genehenleytfp.