Click on the title of this article to go to the boxscore for the game on ESPN.com.
Yes. This was satisfying.
After the loss that I called "humbling" to Texas-Pan America last Friday, this win felt just as good. After all, the Mocs were underdogs, playing on the road, where they had not performed well, against a team that had already hammered Georgia Southern and should have beaten Georgia. To win this game 80-71 is about as exilirating as it gets when playing a non-major program in December.
That was Keegan Bell. That was who we had been waiting for. He had 17 points, five rebounds, eight assists, and just two turnovers. He made 9 of 10 free throws. The Mocs as a team made 78.3 percent of their free throws in this one.
Ricky Taylor played great off the bench again. He scored 13 (with four of the Mocs six three pointers), had eight rebounds, and three assists. Taylor seems to be more comfortable coming off the bench at this point. If that's how he is more comfortable, how can we argue with it?
Jeff Smith played very well, too. He scored eleven points and had four rebounds. Josh Odem made a lot of big shots on his way to thirteen points.
Everything did not come up roses for the Mocs, though. They lost the rebounding battle 36-30 to a team that is probably not as big as they are. This is not a good sign. But clearly the focus was there today. The free throw shooting was sparkling, and they only committed ten turnovers, after committing four before the first media timeout.
The other major problem for the Mocs was that Dante Harvey, just back from one injury, went out with another injury. Coach Shulman said after the game that Harvey may have fractured his wrist. That would be fairly devastating to a team that is finally starting to get everyone on the floor.
Ridge McKeither did not have his best night. He scored seven points and had six rebounds. He appeared to take a step back tonight.
There are still puzzling things to me. Jasper Williams started a game earlier in the year. Tonight, he played one minute. DeAntre Jefferson has been a solid offensive weapon so far this year. Tonight, he played nine minutes. That is the second time in two games that he has not played double digits in minutes.
But, it is hard to be critical of much. On the night, the Mocs shot 49.1 percent from the floor. Fans have complained of poor offensive performance. This was a Gamecocks team that was allowing 43.4 percent shooting from the floor to start the year. So the Mocs played excellent on offense against a decent defensive team.
It's easy to forget that Jefferson and McKeither are both junior college transfers. JC transfers rarely look great before January. McKeither has looked very good so far for the most part, and Jefferson appears to me to be playing well, at least on the offensive end. Let's not forget that they will look even better during the second half of the season, more than likely.
All in all, this was a good night for Chattanooga basketball. The Mocs are 4-3, and are back to playing better basketball. The big early lead was erased, which was not good, but the Mocs responded well to the close game late. This was a big game for the Mocs to win, in a game that the Mocs could have easily folded in.
A LOOK AHEAD
No matter what anyone says, this was not the biggest game of the week. Obviously. The biggest game is still to come. The Mocs will be at home on Saturday night at 7:30 to take on the Elon Phoenix in the SoCon opener. Elon is just 2-5 at the moment, with a road win over Lipscomb and a home win over Farleigh Dickinson-Florham. The Phoenix lost Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, Hofstra, Yale, and UNC-Wilmington. They will play at Samford on Thursday before taking on the Mocs Saturday night in their second SoCon game. The Phoenix always seem to be a tough out in conference play, especially for the Mocs. The Mocs will need to be on top of their game and have a nice home crowd supporting them to get this very important win.
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