Murray State 73, Chattanooga 65

During the first half, the Mocs looked like a team that had taken finals all week and had not concerned themselves much with basketball. Of course, that might just be true.

Because of the horrid first half, the Mocs fell behind by as many as 19, and trailed by 15 at the half. That left a huge uphill battle to overcome. Amazingly, the Mocs almost overcame it, pulling within four with plenty of time left, and pulling within five in the final minute after a mini-Murray State run.

The most deadly shot of the night- BJ Jenkins was left open on a double team with the lead at 6, and drained a three. Can't leave Jenkins open.

The first half was dominated on the boards by Murray State. The Racers won the battle 17-11. After that, the Mocs won the battle 22-14, to take the overall edge, 33-31. They committed just fourteen turnovers, and forced sixteen. They held the Racers to 31.6% shooting in the second half, after allowing them to shoot 61.3% in the first half.

The Mocs shot just 54.5% from the free throw line. Of course, they shot 80% if you take out Jefferson and Watson, who combined for 4 for 12. Ouch. In reality, this free throw shooting didn't really cost them completely, because even if they made four more free throws, then they probably would still have been facing a smaller uphill battle.

In the end, this is a strange game. The Mocs played so bad in the first half, I was ready to come on here and write a scathing review of the game. But they played so well in the second half, I was ready with about five minutes left to come out and write about how good the Mocs comeback win was. But they couldn't complete it. So what are you left with?

You're left with Wattad scoring 23 points. You're left with the Mocs outplaying a good Murray State team in the second half. You're left with the Mocs outrebounding and committing fewer turnovers than Murray State. The Mocs were awful in the first half- but much better in the second half.

Here's what it all boils down to- the Mocs game against Elon becomes much more important. It always was more important. Getting to 3-0 in conference play is critical, and if the Mocs can win out this month (which is possible, especially if they beat Elon) then they will be back to .500 against D1 teams, and be 8-6 overall. That is critical. The Mocs need to win out this month.

This game against Elon has become critical. They need to look like a team that has focused on basketball at some time over the last week next week, after having six more days off before playing again.

The Mocs RPI may not be hurt too much by this loss. But if they want a good seed in the NCAA Tournament, they need to start winning some more games.

GO MOCS!