Wofford 70, Emory & Henry 55
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - In the home opener for the Wofford men's basketball team, the Terriers defeated Emory & Henry 70-55 at Benjamin Johnson Arena. Wofford used a 15-0 run in the first half to take the lead on the way to the win. Freshman Karl Cochran led the Terriers with 19 points on the night.
Wofford is 1-1 on the season and Emory & Henry is 0-1. Along with Cochran's 19 points, freshman Lee Skinner scored 12 points and tied for the team high in rebounds with seven. Drew Crowell added ten points and seven rebounds. The Wasps were led by Malcolm Green with 15 points and Tyler Mullins with 13 points.
The Terriers scored first and had a 7-3 lead after a three pointer by Jarell Byrd. Five minutes into the contest the score was tied at seven. The Wasps took a lead at 9-7, but Karl Cochran answered with a three that began an 11-0 run for the Terriers for an 18-9 lead with 11:56 on the clock.
Wofford's run extended to 15-0 after a lay-up by Drew Crowell at the ten-minute mark of the first half. The Wasp's ended the run with a shot by Malcolm Green with 9:08 on the clock. The Terriers continued to build on the lead and were up 31-17 at 5:22 after two free throws by Lee Skinner. Tyler Driver hit a three for Emory & Henry at the buzzer to make it a 44-28 score at the half.
In the second half, Wofford pushed the lead to 54-31 five minutes into play after four straight points by Domas Rinksalis. The Wasps then used a 9-0 run to cut the lead to 54-40 at the twelve minute mark of the half. Wofford ended the run with a basket by Lee Skinner, but Emory and Henry kept up the pressure and the score was 58-46 with 8:57 on the clock.
The Wasps cut the lead to 60-51, but a three by Karl Cochran gave the Terriers a 64-51 advantage with six minutes left in the game. Wofford scored the next four points for a 68-51 lead. A three by Emory & Henry's Kyle Sensabaugh with a minute on the clock cut the lead to 70-55, which was the final margin.
Wofford shot 45.6 percent from the floor and held Emory & Henry to 38.2 percent shooting. The Terriers were 4-of-18 from three, while the Wasps were 6-of-20 from behind the arc. Wofford was 14-of-15 from the line and Emory and Henry was 7-of-12 from the line. The Wasps had a 36 to 32 lead on the glass.
The Terriers will be back in action on Saturday night at Wisconsin. The game is part of the Chicago Invitational Classic and can be seen on ESPN3.
Indiana 78, Chattanooga 53
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. --- The Chattanooga Mocs 2011-12 season got off to a cold start losing 78-53 at Indiana (2-0) Sunday evening in Assembly Hall. Chattanooga (0-1) shot just 27 percent from the field in the loss.
Senior Omar Wattad was the lone offensive bright spot. He tallied 24 points, his eighth career 20-point game, hitting seven of 14 from the field, five of 10 beyond the arc and five-for-five from the free throw line.
His 24 points was a game high just ahead of a stellar performance for IU's Victor Oladipo. Oladipo had 21 points with five rebounds to pace three double-digit performers for the Hoosiers.
It was very competitive early. After Indiana jumped out to a 5-0 lead, Wattad hit treys on consecutive possessions to give UTC its first lead, 6-5, at 16:43. Another Wattad three at 7:42 made it 21-18 as the Mocs continued to put pressure on the Hoosiers.
IU responded with a 7-0 run to go up 25-21 at 5:10 on two Oladipo free throws. Ronrico White nailed a three-pointer from the right corner on the Mocs' next possession to make it 25-24 at 4:53.
It was all Hoosiers from that point. They closed the half with an 11-0 run to take a 36-24 lead into intermission and then came out strong to open the second half. An Oladipo dunk at 16:34 gave Indiana 21-point margin, 50-29, and it never looked back.
While Wattad was the only double figure scorer for Chattanooga, there were other good notes to take from the contest. The Mocs out-rebounded the bigger Hoosier squad 45-36 led by junior Drazen Zlovaric.
Zlovaric began his UTC career with a game-high 10 rebounds. Freshman Jared Bryant had six in six minutes of play, while Wattad grabbed five. Four IU players shared team-high totals with five.
Jordan Hulls keyed the Hoosiers in the first half scoring 12 of his 18 points in keeping the Mocs within sight. Hulls scored all 18 of his points from beyond the arc making six of nine. Verdell Jones added 16 points and four steals.
IU took full advantage of UTC's 25 turnovers scoring 30 points on those miscues. The Mocs scored just nine off the Hoosiers 18 giveaways. Indiana also beat UTC in the paint 24-12.
Chattanooga remains in central Indiana for a Tuesday night matchup with two-time NCAA Finalist Butler at 7 p.m.