It was a tale of two halves Thursday for the Chattanooga Mocs at McKenzie Arena. Thankfully, everything that went wrong in the opening 20 minutes was atoned for through a renewed effort following intermission.
Sophomore forward Sean Cusano established a career-high in points for the second straight game en route to his first double-double, scoring 10 of his 16 points in the second half as the Mocs broke open a close contest to win 72-52 over NAIA member Johnson University from Knoxville.
UTC earned its third straight win to even its record at 3-3 by outscoring the Royals 40-22 in the second stanza after leading by only two points at the half. But the listless play to open the contest was frustrating for Chattanooga head coach Dan Earl.
"I thought we were too much of a 'make or miss' team in the first half," Earl said in his postgame radio interview. "That's scary, because when shots aren't falling, if you're not going to impact the game in other ways, it can make for long nights. I give Johnson a lot of credit. They played hard, and they defended for a while, and we took quick shots. If we missed, they came down and controlled the pace of the game."
"They weren't scared, and their confidence grew as the game stayed close and they made shots. I did not think we attacked the game the right way. We will learn from it and get better, but that was disappointing in the first half."
Johnson entered the contest with a 5-1 record, having won in overtime at Tennessee Wesleyan Tuesday evening. But the Royals held their own in the first half, holding a 28-26 lead with 3:15 until halftime as they were clearly the aggressor playing with house money. There were 11 lead changes during the opening frame as neither team led by more than four points as the Mocs carried a 32-30 edge into the half.
UTC displayed renewed energy in the second frame, scoring five quick points to open the lead to seven at 37-30. Cusano sparked a seven-minute stretch where the Mocs outscored Johnson 12-2, tallying eight points in the paint as the lead swelled to 53-38 with 10:04 remaining.
"We played better in the second half," Earl said. "Not only Sean Cusano, who got his hands on a lot of balls, grabbed some rebounds, and gave us second and third shot attempts, but Jack Kostel played well in the second half, and then Parker Robison really gave us a lot of energy. I don't know that he scored, but he got his hand on a ball once or twice for some turnovers and pushed the ball in transition. I thought he gave us some valuable minutes."
The Mocs forced 10 turnovers and had seven steals in the second half as they ratcheted up their defensive intensity, limiting Johnson to 36-percent shooting as they eventually led by as many as 22 points.
"I thought the energy level, the activity was better in the second half," Earl said. "In particular, you look at free throw attempts, you look how much we're talking on defense, you look at how many deflections we're getting. All those things show you how engaged or active you are in the game. The first half was disappointing to say the least, and I think our guys realized it. You can always play as hard as possible, and I don't think we did that in the first half in particular, so we will learn and grow from it."
Senior Trey Bonham added 14 points for the Mocs, converting on 3 of 8 shots beyond the arc as UTC finished 9 of 34 on long-range attempts. Kostel chipped in with nine points off the bench, while Honor Huff finished with seven.
Cusano completed his double-double by hauling down 10 rebounds to lead the hosts, helping spearhead a 40-12 margin in points off the bench.
Johnson was led by Mason Lockhart's 16 points, while Tyler Moore added 13.
UTC will take on Tennessee State on Monday at 7 p.m. as part of the Coke Classic at McKenzie Arena, followed by a 2 p.m. contest next Wednesday against Bryant University.