Chattanooga 85, Longwood 50
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- Senior Omar Wattad led a quintet of double digit scorers in the Chattanooga Mocs (5-8) 85-50 win over Longwood (4-9) in the opening round of the 22nd Dr Pepper Classic. Wattad scored 15 of his game-high 18 points in a second-half surge as UTC out-scored the Lancers 53-20 after intermission.
It was a special night for a pair of seniors. Ricky Taylor scored his 1,000th point in the second half, while Keegan Bell missed a school record and triple-double by one assist and rebound, respectively.
Taylor's 1,000th point came on a three-pointer from the right corner at 7:53 of the second half on a feed from Bell. The trey capped an 11-0 run to give the Mocs a 64-41 lead.
Bell's night included a career-high 16 assists, one shy of Gary Robb's (1993-94) school record set 19 years ago to the day in a 114-112 win over Southern on December 29, 1992 in that year's Dr Pepper Classic opener. He added 10 points and nine rebounds to just miss his second triple-double of the season.
It was a dominating second half for Chattanooga. After the Lancers tied the score at 32-all with the first basket of the frame, UTC went on its first 11-0 run to go up 41-32 on Bell's layup at 14:50. Longwood never got the score closer to nine the rest of the way.
It was a team effort across the board. Jahmal Burroughs and Z. Mason scored 10 apiece with Mason grabbing seven rebounds. Drazen Zlovaric had 10 rebounds to pace a 56-31 advantage on the glass for Chattanooga.
Antwan Carter led Longwood with 15 points and seven rebounds. David Robinson came off the bench to chip in 13 points, while Tristan Carey added 12.
The Lancers made four of their first seven three-pointers to lead by as many as six early in the first half. Robinson's layup at 12:20 made it 19-13 LU. UTC scored six straight with baskets by Mason and Dontay Hampton sandwiching two free throws by Ronrico White.
Tonight's effort was won in the paint for the Mocs. They out-scored the Lancers 44-14 inside the lane to go with the 25-rebound margin.
Chattanooga shot 48.5 percent (32-66) from the floor for the game, 57.6 percent (19-33) in the second half. After making just one of 13 three-point attempts (.077) before the break, UTC canned eight of 14 (.571) in the second frame.
Conversely, the Lancers struggled after a hot start from beyond the arc. They shot seven of 35 for the game (.200) and three for 28 (.107) the rest of the way. In fact after the first basket of the second half, Longwood shot 11.1 percent from the floor (3-27) the rest of the way.
Utah Valley claimed the opening game of the Dr Pepper Classic with a 42-40 win over Hampton. Ben Aird came off the bench for 15 points and eight rebounds to pace the Wolverines, Mike Tuitt's 11 points and four steals led the Tigers.
Davidson 75, Penn 70
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Chris Czerapowicz scored a career-high 23 points, and Nik Cochran netted 17 to lead Davidson to a 75-70 men's basketball victory over Penn Thursday night in Belk Arena.
Czerapowicz knocked down four triples and made 9-of-15 from the floor off the bench for the Wildcats (8-4), while Cochran was a perfect 11-for-11 from the free-throw line. JP Kuhlman added 11 points and six rebounds, and Jake Cohen posted seven points and a game-high 10 boards.
Tyler Bernardini led Penn (6-7) with 16 points, and Zack Rosen recorded 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Fran Dougherty and Rob Belcore each scored 10.
After trailing at halftime for just the second time this season, Davidson used a 15-4 run to open a 51-39 advantage midway through the second period.
Tom Droney ignited the stretch with a layup and also had a steal that led to a Czerapowicz fast-break dunk. Cochran capped the stretch with three free throws after he was fouled on a triple try.
Trailing by 10, Penn scored six straight points to trim the lead to 57-53 with 7:46 to play, but the Davidson defense got five stops in a row to right the ship. Cochran scored six straight points for the Wildcats, and Czerapowicz hit a 3-pointer from the corner as Davidson pushed the margin to 13 with 4:17 remaining.
Penn made a last run with the help of five points from Bernardini as the Quakers trimmed the margin to 68-65 with 1:09 to go. De¹Mon Brooks got a layup for the OCats after driving from the top of the key and spinning in the lane, but Belcore scored on a post move at the other end with 31 seconds left.
Kuhlman was fouled and made two free throws, and Rosen missed a triple try for Penn. After Kuhlman went 1-for-2 from the line, Bernardini knocked down an open 3-pointer from the wing to make the score 73-70 with 3.5 seconds left. Davidson got the ball in bounds to Cochran, who made two free throws to ice the game.
Tennessee 86, The Citadel 55
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Mike Groselle netted a game-high 21 points to go along with eight rebounds, but it was the University of Tennessee that came away with a 86-55 victory in front of 16,245 in attendance at Thompson-Boiling Arena on Thursday evening. Groselle, who reach the 20-point plateau for the fifth time in his Bulldog career, became just the fifth player this season to score 20 points or more against the Volunteers.
The Citadel was successful on 22-of-56 (.393) field goal attempts, including four from beyond the arc, led by Groselle who finished 8-of-15 from the field. The Dogs grabbed 27 rebounds, including 12 on the offensive glass, accounting for eight second chance points. Joining Groselle among individual leaders were DeVontae Wright (8 points), C.J. Bray (7 points) and Cosmo Morabbi (7 points). The loss drops the Cadets to 2-10 on the season as they complete a three-game road stretch.
Tennessee, which shot better than 50-percent in each period, closed 33-of-59 (.559) from the floor and knocked down 9-of-22 (.409) from 3-point range. Yemi Makanjuola led four Vols in double figures with a career-high 18 points. Teammates Skylar McBee (12 points), Trae Golden (10 points) and Renaldo Woolridge (10 points) joined Makanjuola among double-digit performers. Makanjuola completed his double-double performance with 11 rebounds, giving the Vols a 40-27 edge on the boards as UT outscored the Dogs 42-22 in the paint. The Volunteers improved to 6-6 overall and earned their fifth win at home.
Trailing 40-25 at the intermission, The Citadel opened with a flurry of points in the second half from Wright and Morabbi to cut the margin to 42-30 in less than a minute. Tennessee reacted with a 13-2 run over the next 4:45 of the half, highlighted by 3-pointers from Golden, Woolridge and Jordan McRae to extend its lead to 55-32.
Buckets by Groselle kept the Cadets within 21 points, but hot shooting by Volunteers made the score 60-38 on a free throw by Woolridge. Tennessee's offense then became a one-man show, as Makanjuola scored the next 18 straight UT points. The Citadel countered with four points each from the tandem of Groselle and Bray, but it was not enough as UT lead 78-48 behind Makanjuola.
The Citadel managed seven points of offense over the final 2:31 of the contest, capitalizing on three points each from Groselle and teammate Barry Smith, while Will Keistler netted his first collegiate point from the free throw line. Tennessee completed the 86-55 win with a final bucket by reserve guard Galen Campbell.
The Citadel finished the opening frame by hitting 10-of-27 (.370) from the field, knocking down three from beyond the arc, as the team trailed 40-25 at the intermission. Groselle led all Citadel scorers with eight points and Wright drained a pair of 3-pointers to finish the first half with six. The Dogs grabbed 15 rebounds, including five on the offensive glass, however were riddled with 10 turnovers that led to 10 Volunteer points.
Tennessee took advantage of scoring both in the paint (18 points) as well as five 3-pointers, finishing 16-of-27 (.593) from the floor. The Vols were led by the backcourt combination of McBee (12 points) and Golden (8 points). Golden was the team's leading rebounder at the break, posting four rebounds as UT held a slight 15-13 edge on the boards.
The Bulldogs managed just two points over the first 3:09 of the game, following a jumper by Morabbi, as the Volunteers established a 7-2 lead. The Citadel came ended a brief drought with back-to-back buckets in the post by Groselle and Jordan Robertson to trim the lead to 7-6.
Tennessee again jumped ahead by five, 11-6, on a pair of scores by Golden and Tatum before a Bray 3-pointer again put the Cadets within one bucket.
Consecutive scores by Groselle and Wright kept the Bulldogs within two before a pair of 3-pointers by McBee stretched the Vols lead to 22-14 at the 7:25 mark.
Wright converted his second long range shot of the half, drawing The Citadel within 22-17 of the lead, before UT put together a 9-0 run to jump ahead 31-17. The run took 2:24 off the clock and consisted of three layups before being capped off by a 3-pointer by Cameron Tatum.
Groselle ended a Citadel scoring drought with a layup on a pass from Robertson and followed on the ensuing possession with the only Bulldog free throws of the frame, making for a 33-21 Tennessee lead.
The Vols closed out the final 1:55 of the first half by scoring seven of the final eleven points, with Ashton Moore accounting for the lone Citadel buckets, to head into the break with a 15-point advantage.
#6 North Carolina 100, Elon 62
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Four Tar Heels scored in double figures as fifth-ranked North Carolina knocked off the visiting Elon Phoenix, 100-62, in non-conference men's basketball action from the Dean Smith Center on Thursday evening in the final contest of 2011 for both teams. Elon's (7-5) Lucas Troutman registered his first double-double of the season and Sebastian Koch led the way for the Phoenix with 17 points, but it was not enough to overcome the impressive play of the home team. UNC (12-2) extended its home unbeaten streak to a school-record tying 25 straight games.
A Troutman tip-in with 11:16 to go in the first half made it a four-point UNC edge, 18-14. Unfortunately, that was the last point the Phoenix would score over the next eight minutes as the Tar Heels used a 23-0 run to put the game all but out of reach before the half. A Koch field goal at the 3:01 mark finally halted the run, but UNC carried a 53-19 advantage into the locker room.
Troutman scored 11 points and added 10 boards while Koch scored his points on five three-pointers. Elon struggled on the glass against the oversized Tar Heels with UNC holding a decisive 64-35 advantage on the boards. North Carolina got a game-high 19 points and 13 rebounds from Tyler Zeller. Harrison Barnes (18), John Henson (16) and Dexter Strickland (10) also netted double figures.
North Carolina shot 47 percent compared to 33 percent by the Phoenix. Elon has held opponents to under 40 percent in all seven wins this year, but has given up percentages of 40 percent or better in each one of its losses. The Heels scored 58 points in the paint.