Mocs men's basketball team solid in defeating Coastal Carolina

photo The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's Casey Jones (24) rebounds over Coastal Carolina's Shivaughn Wiggins (10), Michel Enanga (12) and Warren Gillis (0) during the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament at McKenzie Arena on in the Nov. 27, 2014, photo.

With 11.4 seconds remaining and his University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball team comfortably in the lead, coach Will Wade calmly put his jacket on and clapped his hands.

The message was clear: The job was done.

The Mocs put together their best all-around game of the season Thursday and controlled the second half in a 78-67 win over Coastal Carolina in the Battle 4 Atlantis Mainland final at McKenzie Arena.

It was a balanced effort offensively, as four Mocs scored in double figures. Ronrico White totaled 21 points, with 18 coming in the second half. Casey Jones had 20 points and 12 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double.

Greg Pryor finished with 15 points and three steals, and Justin Tuoyo had 11 points, five rebounds and a career-high six blocked shots.

"It's a very satisfying win for us," White said. "We knew they were a very good team. We watched them yesterday and watched them on film, and knew they had really good guards. We knew they could score, and we as a backcourt took that personally. We wanted to come out and defend them and hold them to the least amount of points as possible."

The Mocs limited the Chanticleers (4-2), who returned four starters from a team that won the Big South Conference and advanced to the NCAA tournament, to 27 points on 35 percent shooting in the second half. The Mocs' pressure seemed to wear down the visitors, as they missed five of their last seven free throws after hitting their first 13.

"I think we got stops in the second half," Wade said. "Our second-half defense was much improved. We were able to get stops, and when we got stops we were able to get out in transition and make plays happen. Rico was tremendous: He shot the ball well and was an offensive playmaker for us. He deserves everything he gets."

Wade said White was in the gym until almost midnight Wednesday working on his shot with Pryor and assistant coach Wes Long. The extra training paid off, as the two combined to hit 5-for-12 from 3-point range. White attacked at will against the Coastal Carolina defense in the second half.

"There really wasn't a conversation had at halftime," White said. "I just got some good looks in the second half. My first was a mid-range against their defense because that's the way they played me. I just wanted to be aggressive, and I just took what the defense gave me."

The back-and-forth first half had seven ties and three lead changes. The Mocs led by as many as seven, but the Chanticleers had a late 9-3 spurt, and a layup by Shivaughn Wiggins with three seconds remaining gave them a 40-35 lead at the break.

UTC started the second half with an 18-6 run, taking the lead for good on back-to-back 3-pointers by White. The Chanticleers never got any closer the rest of the way, as the Mocs turned the ball over only three times in the second half and none in the final 5:47.

They iced the game by going 10-for-11 from the foul line in the final 1:10.

The Mocs celebrated Thanksgiving with a team dinner at The Chattanoogan. They'll have practice today before a noon tipoff at Kennesaw State on Saturday.

"Today was our best game played to date," Wade said. "Now the key is to go on the road, take the same level of play and win it in somebody else's gym.

"We're not going to be very good if we just win our home games."

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.

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