Chattanooga 89, Montreat 51
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga won for the fifth time in six games cruising to an 89-51 win over Montreat (4-7) Wednesday night. The win propels UTC (7-6, 3-0 SoCon) into the title game of the 21st Dr Pepper Classic.
Five Mocs scored in double digits, led by Troy Cage with a career-high 16 points to go with seven rebounds and three assists. Jeff Smith also posted a new career high with 15 as the duo combined for 31 points off the bench.
Terrell Mosley and Giles Mack paced the Cavaliers with 11 points apiece. Steve McBorrough grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds for Montreat.
The Mocs took control early jumping out to a 14-4 lead on a jumper by Chris Early with 16:47 to go in the first half. Montreat scored five of the next seven points to cut the lead to 16-9 on a Cameron Hayes three-pointer at 13:22.
Chattanooga answered the trey with a 19-2 run over the next five minutes capped by two DeAntre Jefferson free throws at 8:04. The lead rose to as many as 27 in the first half, 48-21, on two Dontay Hampton free throws at 2:51. The Mocs settled for a 22-point cushion at the break, 51-29.
Leading by 20 (55-35), UTC rattled off 12-2 run to take a 30-point lead, 67-37, on a Smith three at 12:13. A 23-4 run soon followed capped by a Cage trey at 3:55 to go up 40, 84-44. That led to the final of 89-51.
The Mocs won the battle of the boards for the seventh straight game out-rebounding the Cavaliers 50-45. Jefferson had 10 for UTC, his third double-digit board game of the season. All-in-all, five Mocs grabbed five or more rebounds for the third consecutive contest as Sam Watson had six, while Early and Jahmal Burroughs had five each.
Omar Wattad had 15 points, making four of six from three-point range. Ricky Taylor chipped in 13 for the Mocs, while Hampton recorded a career-best 11 points to go with three assists and two steals.
Bob Cousy Award candidate Keegan Bell continued his strong play at the point with eight assists and three steals. Jeremy Saffore tied a career high of his own with three blocks.
Chattanooga limited the Cavaliers to 25 percent (17-68) shooting from the floor and 23.5 percent (8-34) from three-point range. It's the fifth time in the last six games the Mocs have held their opponent under 40 percent from the field.
In the first game of the night, Georgia State claimed a 30-point win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 72-42. The Panthers jumped out to a 20-2 lead and never looked back.
Dante Curry came off the bench to hit six three-pointers in scoring a game-high 18 points for GSU. Devonta White added 14 points and five assists. The Islanders were paced by Demond Watt's nine points. Justin Reynolds chipped in eight points and nine rebounds.
The Dr Pepper Classic continues Thursday night. The consolation game features Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Montreat at 4:30 p.m. (E.S.T.), followed by Georgia State against the Mocs in the Championship contest at 7 p.m. UTC has won 13 Dr Pepper Classic crowns including the last two.
#19 Central Florida 71, Furman 53
ORLANDO, Fla. - Sophomore Keith Clanton tallied 21 points and 19th-ranked UCF held Furman to a season-low 33 percent shooting as the Knights topped the Paladins 71-53 in the opening game of the UCF Holiday Classic on Wednesday evening at the UCF Arena.
The loss snapped Furman's five-game winning streak and dropped the Paladins to 8-3 on the season. UCF remained unbeaten at 12-0 and improved to 8-0 at home. Furman will face either Northeastern or Princeton in the consolation game of the four-team tournament at 5 p.m. on Thursday while the Knights will play in the championship game at 7:30 p.m.
UCF led wire-to-wire to maintain its status as one of eight unbeaten teams in the country. Clanton, who connected on 8-of-16 shots and scored 14 first half points, led four Knights in double figures. Marcus Jordan came off of the bench to total 15 points, including 3-for-3 shooting beyond the arc, and Isaiah Sykes and Tom Herzog added 12 and 10 points, respectively, as UCF's bench outscored Furman's reserves 44-13.
The Knights fashioned the decisive run of the game late in the first half. Leading 31-25 with under four minutes left in the first period, UCF's Jordan buried a three-pointer and Herzog followed with a lay-in to up the margin to 11. Clanton converted a three-point play at the foul line a minute later to increase the lead to 39-25 with 1:37 to play in the first half.
Furman, who failed to get closer than 12 points in the second half, was limited to 33.3 percent (20-60) shooting from the field while UCF connected on 49.1 percent (26-53) of its field goal attempts. The Paladins earned a 38-36 edge on the glass and grabbed 18 offensive rebounds, but the Knights outscored Furman 38-28 in the paint and matched the Paladins with 20 second chance points.
Senior Amu Saaka paced the Paladins with 17 points on 5-of-16 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 at the charity stripe. The Decatur, Ga., native added seven rebounds in 29 minutes of action. Colin Reddick overcame early foul trouble to net nine points and grab a career-high 13 rebounds in 20 minutes of play. Jordan Miller added eight points for Furman.
#1 Duke 108, UNCG 62
GREENSBORO, N.C. - The lights seemed brighter, the crowd was undeniably larger and the opponent was more than appropriate for the atmosphere on Wednesday night. Top-ranked Duke got 53 points out of Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler in a 108-62 victory over UNCG that lifted Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski over North Carolina's Dean Smith in career triumphs with 880.
A Greensboro Coliseum crowd of 22,178 - the largest gathering to attend a UNCG athletics event -- stayed until the end to witness the result, which lifted Duke to 12-0 and dropped the Spartans to 0-12. Krzyzewski is 880-279 in 37 seasons overall; Smith retired in 1997 after going 879-254 in 36 seasons.
The defending NCAA champions shot 72 percent from the floor in the second half and recorded the highest point total against a Division I Spartan team in a regulation-time game.
UNCG coach Mike Dement, an assistant to Krzyzewski in 1982-83, admitted to mixed emotions.
"Congratulations to coach," Dement said. "He's been good to me over the years and I wish we had given him a better fight and a better game. You could tell this was something special to their players and they played really well and really hard, and boy, did they shoot it well."
Krzyzewski said he has considered Dement a member of his basketball family for 27 years, and he said the Spartans shouldn't dwell excessively on Wednesday's margin of defeat.
"When we were shaking hands before the game, I said, 'It's a long way since 1982-83.' And I think Mike's a really good coach," Krzyzewski said. "The schedule they have played has been crazy. I thought his kids played hard. They're very young. What they need to do is say, 'That was 2010 and we're 0-0 (in 2011).' And if they do that and play as hard as they did tonight, they're gonna be OK."
Krzyzewski is now second on the NCAA career victory list in Division I competition. He trails only his mentor, Bob Knight, who retired midway through the 2007-08 season with 902 victories.
Although it was their home game, the Spartans acknowledged Krzyzewski's achievement with two congratulatory public-address messages. The UNCG team remained on the floor for a few moments and joined the Blue Devils in gathering around halfcourt as the coach conducted a postgame interview with ESPNU.
Although it fell behind early, UNCG didn't seem especially flustered by the identity and skill of its opponent. The Spartans were determined to avoid being trapped near half-court even if that meant shots that might normally be deemed too hasty.
"With Duke, you don't get very many second opportunities - especially because they're so good on the boards," said Spartan guard Korey Van Dussen, who delivered 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting. "When we got open looks, coach wanted us to take it."
Freshman forward Aaron Brackett had a career-high 14 for UNCG, which is hardly the first team to be overwhelmed by the Blue Devils this season. Eight of Duke's 12 victories have come by 26 or more points. They're now shooting 57 percent from the floor in the second half of all games. Only once have they made fewer than half of their field-goal attempts after the break.
The Spartans are off until Jan. 6, when they host Samford to begin a stretch of five home games in six outings. UNCG's only remaining non-conference game is Miami's visit to the coliseum on Feb. 15.
The crowd broke the previous UNCG attendance record by more than 1,000. Another game between the No. 1 Devils and the Spartans, a meeting on Dec. 31, 2005, attracted 21,124.
VCU 75, Wofford 66
RICHMOND, Va. - On Wednesday night the Wofford College men's basketball team was defeated 75-66 by Virginia Commonwealth University in the Richmond Marriott Holidays on the Hardwood Classic at the Verizon Wireless Arena. The Terriers were down six at the half and tied the game early in the second, but the Rams scored the final six points for the win.
Wofford is 5-7 on the season and Virginia Commonwealth is 8-4 overall. The Terriers were led by Noah Dahlman and Jamar Diggs with 13 points each. Tim Johnson had nine rebounds. The Rams were led by Brandon Rozzell with 18 points, including four three-pointers.
"That might have been the best 40 minutes we played all season," said head coach Mike Young. "I am proud of our team. This was a great environment and a championship-level game and our guys stuck it in there and competed. The score is not indicative of how it played out. I feel good about our direction."
The Terriers scored first and then had a 10-9 lead at the 14:30 mark after a three pointer by Kevin Giltner. The Rams scored the next four points in the contest and had a 13-10 advantage with 11:45 on the clock. VCU continued the run and pushed the lead to 18-10 before Terry Martin hit a jump shot to make it 18-12 with 8:40 left in the first half.
VCU was able to extend the lead to 21-14 with a three pointer by Brandon Rozzell at the 7:05 mark. Wofford was able to make it a 24-20 game with two free throws by Brad Loesing at 4:28 in the first half. The Rams had a 33-24 lead with two seconds left, but Jamar Diggs hit a long three at the buzzer for a 33-27 score at the break.
Wofford opened the second half with the first five points to make it a one-point game before the Rams hit a three for a 36-32 lead. The teams traded three pointers, but the Terriers were able to take a 42-41 lead after a lay-up by Noah Dahlman with 14:28 on the clock. The game was tied at 42, 45 and 48 before another three by the Rams gave them a 51-48 lead with 11:30 left in the second half.
The Rams were able to keep a five-point advantage and were up 58-53 with 7:26 on the clock. Wofford used a three by Cameron Rundles and four straight points by Noah Dahlman to tie the game at 64 with just over four minutes left. Brandon Rozzell hit a three for the Rams for a 67-64 lead on their next possession. Down by five points with 1:24 left, Jamar Diggs hit a jumper to cut the lead to three points with 50 seconds on the clock and then Wofford forced a turnover. The Terriers missed two free throws and the Rams went on a 6-0 run to end the game for a 75-66 final score.
On December 30, Wofford will face Cornell at 5:00 pm in the third place game of the tournament. The Terriers return home on January 6 against The Citadel.
Auburn 88, Georgia Southern 84 (OT)
AUBURN, Ala. - With six seconds left in regulation against Auburn Wednesday night, junior guard Ben Drayton III launched a three-pointer to tie the game at 76 and send Georgia Southern to its second straight overtime game. The Eagles had erased a 27-point halftime deficit to force the extra period, but three straight free throws by the Tigers would preserve a four-point lead and the 88-84 victory at Auburn Arena.
Auburn's Earnest Ross was the game's top scorer with 20 points but Eric Ferguson registered a double-double with 19 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Auburn moved to 5-7 overall while Georgia Southern fell to 4-10 on the season.
"There are no moral victories in this program, we are here to compete at the highest level," said Eagles Head Coach Charlton "C.Y." Young. "We struggled in the first half and I challenged our team at halftime. Every time I challenge them, they respond. Most teams in this situation would've laid down, but we didn't. This is probably the most disappointed I've been since I was named head coach at Georgia Southern, but also the proudest I have been."
Two free throws by Drayton would put Georgia Southern within one point of the lead, 85-84, with 38 seconds left in overtime. A foul by Ferguson following a timeout sent Auburn's Josh Wallace to the line where he made one of two attempts to put the Tigers up by a pair. The Eagles would have a chance to counter, but a missed GSU jumper and rebound by Auburn forced Georgia Southern to foul with six seconds left .Two successful free throws by Ross would put Auburn up by four points.
Behind 68.0 percent shooting from the field in the second half and a 24-7 run, the Eagles sliced a 27-point Tiger lead to 10 points with 10 minutes left to play. The lead would dwindle to single digits twice during the next five minutes when a trey by Zuri James put the Eagles within seven points, 70-63.
Both teams would swap baskets with the Tigers clinging to a five-point advantage at the 2:12 mark. Another trey by James made it a two-point 72-70 ballgame with two minutes left in the second half. James finished the night with a career-best 18 points.
A Ferguson layup brought the Eagles within one point until a pair of free throws by Ross lifted the Tigers to a three-point lead with 1:28 remaining. A Georgia Southern turnover provided another opportunity for Auburn to put the game away, but the Tigers missed two close-range shots. A big defensive rebound by Rory Spencer gave the Eagles the final possession with 19 seconds left.
With Auburn holding the 76-73 lead, Drayton's trey from behind the arc put the two teams back at a tie for the first time since the 18:31 mark of the first half. Overtime was in order after Auburn missed a layup as the final two seconds ticked off the clock.
Auburn outscored Georgia Southern 32-8 over a 10-minute span to break a 2-2 tie after the first 90 seconds in the game. Eleven first-half turnovers for the Eagles gave extra possessions to Auburn and a solid shooting percentage of 54.5 helped the Tigers extend their lead to go up 52-25 at the break.
Auburn connected on seven of 14 three-point attempts in the first stanza while holding GSU to only 26.1 field goal shooting and six field goals. The Eagles' comeback was driven in part by nine three pointers while Auburn was 1-6 from behind the arc in the second half.
Four Eagles recorded double figures with Drayton and James following Ferguson's 19-point total with 18 points each while Spencer scored 11. Ferguson's 12 rebounds tied a career high. Drayton, whose 18 points all came after the first half, tied a career best with nine assists.
The Eagles return to Statesboro for a two-game homestand, playing host to a non-conference opponent in Eastern Kentucky on Sunday, January 2nd at 2 p.m. and resuming SoCon play against Western Carolina on Wednesday, January 5th at 7 p.m.