Strong 2nd half not enough as Mocs fall to Milwaukee in OT
Coming off one of the worst first-half shooting performances of University of Tennessee at Chattanooga head coach Dan Earl’s tenure, the Mocs picked themselves up by their collective bootstraps and gave themselves a chance in the second half of their game against Milwaukee Friday.
But in the end, the Panthers made a couple more plays in an overtime period and picked up an 85-83 win, halting UTC’s three-game winning streak right before Christmas break.
The Mocs (8-4) finish the non-conference portion of their schedule on Dec. 30 at Auburn before hopping into Southern Conference play with an away game at Samford on Jan. 3 and the home opener against defending champion Furman on Jan. 6.
“We dug ourselves too much of a hole,” Earl said. “We came out and it looked like we were playing half-speed again and I have to figure out why that is. If you were to ask me, based upon the pop in their step the last two practices, the mood and all that, I would have said this group is ready to go. Then the ball is tipped and it takes us eight minutes to get into the flow of the game.
“I have to do a better job of getting them ready to play from the jump and not digging ourselves a hole.”
The Mocs were 0-14 from 3-point range in the first half Friday and trailed by as many as 16 before a quick 6-0 run led by guards Trey Bonham and Honor Huff cut the lead to 33-23 at the break. Led by the pair, along with forwards Tyler Millin and Sam Alexis, the Mocs tied the game at 64 with 4:51 remaining on a drive by Bonham, who had a team-high 25 points.
Milwaukee had a 6-0 run, but Huff nailed a 3-pointer with 1:41 to play, and Millin tied the game at 72 with 10 seconds to play with a 3-pointer from the left wing — his second consecutive game knocking down a clutch 3-pointer — to force overtime.
The Mocs took their first lead on a 3-pointer by Huff and led 82-81 with 39 seconds to play on another Millin 3, but Kentrell Pullian knocked down a pair of free throws and Millin missed a go-ahead 3.
Huff did hit a free throw with a second remaining for the final margin, but intentionally missed the second and the ball was called out on UTC.
Bonham added eight rebounds and five assists. Millin and Huff each added 19, with Millin adding 10 rebounds, while Alexis had 13 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks.
The rest of the Mocs shot 3-for-16.