ASU Mountaineers upend Chattanooga 79-70
Jamie Shell / (sports@averyjournal.com)
Effort and execution are crucial for a college basketball team
to experience success.
As a result of a strong team performance on both ends of the floor, ASU Mountaineers men's basketball broke open a close game late in the first half, then withstood a Mocs rally to defeat Chattanooga 79-70 on Wednesday night in front of 1,271 fans at Holmes Center.
"I'm really happy with the way we started the game, the intensity we displayed on both sides of the ball," Mountaineers head coach Jason Capel said following the win. "We did a lot of really good things to build on."
The Mountaineers shot 45.8 percent as a club from the field for the contest, while its defense held Chattanooga to only 33 percent, including a paltry 26 percent from the field during the first half.
ASU (11-15, 7-9 SoCon) led by as many as 17 points in the first half and stretched the advantage to 22 early in the second stanza. In all, the Mountaineers led for nearly 38 minutes en route to its sixth-consecutive home victory over UTC (10-18, 4-11 SoCon) and the eleventh straight triumph by the home team in the series.
Mike Neal scorched the nets for a career-high 23 points. He made just 6-of-15 shots from the field, but sank 4-of-9 three-pointers and 7-of-10 free throws to top his previous career high of 18 points set in a 79-69 win at Furman on Thursday, Feb. 9. The freshman point guard has been the Mountaineers’ leading scorer in each of the past three games. He added four rebounds, three assists and a steal while playing 38 minutes for the Apps.
Limited by foul trouble to just 23 minutes, senior center Ike Butts was a pronounced presence on the boards, pulling down 11 of his game-high 16 rebounds in the first half. Butts also scored six points, dished out three assists and blocked three shots in one of his most complete performances of the season.
"I can't say enough about Ike Butts. I thought when he checked into the game he set the tone," Capel added. "He controlled the paint. He made his presence known and it remained for as long as he could remain on the court. I loved the effort. That's the kind of effort and leadership we need."
Appalachian's defense set the tone early as the Mocs made just one of its first ten shots. ASU built an early four-point lead but was unable to distance itself from UTC, as Chattanooga's Drazen Zlovarich scored eight of his 10 first-half points to keep within 23-19 at the 7:27 mark.
Following the media timeout, the Mountaineers played its most dominating basketball of the evening, racing out to a 14-1 run sparked by layups from Nathan Healy and Butts, two baskets from Tab Hamilton and a three-pointer from Jamaal Trice. Neal, who started the game with a three-pointer, was the floor general that the Mountaineer offense thrived on to push tempo and put the Mocs on its collective heels.
"We played fast. We got the ball up the court and I thought Mike put a lot of pressure on their defense," Capel said. "Guys know that he can get them the ball. He's one of the guys that can breakdown a whole defense, put the ball in the basket and make the right read. He's playing well right now and we're gonna need him to continue to play well. It brings a smile to my face. Mike Neal is going to be a special player."
ASU held UTC without a field goal for more than four minutes and built a 37-20 advantage that led the Mountaineers to take a 40-25 advantage into halftime.
Chattanooga refused to go away in the second half, despite trailing by 22 points at 51-29 with 17:53 to play in the game.
Chattanooga head coach John Shulman made a statement to his team in benching his starters at the 15:47 mark, and his team responded. A 20-10 scoring run midway through the period drew the Mocs within eight at 67-59 at the 5:20 mark, but ASU continued to score behind Neal's shooting touch and the emergence of freshman Mitch Woods, whose overall effort included eight points, all coming in the second half, with five rebounds and four assists.
Neal with joined in double-figures with 11 points from Healy, with nine points from Hamilton and eight points on 3-of-3 shooting by Trice.
Chattanooga was paced by 17 points from Dantay Hampton, with 16 from Ronrico White and 12 from Zlovaric.
"I know this is one game, but the energy and effort was there from the onset. The thing about this team is that we've been our struggles where five or six games could have easily flipped and been in our favor," Capel said. "We haven't stopped working and haven't stopped showing up and want to get better. I was pretty upset after the Elon game, but we've given good effort. We have to be able to sustain that and be dialed in over 40 minutes. It's a process. It isn't fun to go through, but you keep working."
ASU hosts Winthrop in an ESPN Bracketbusters game at 2 p.m. this Saturday, Feb. 18, at Holmes Center. The Mountaineers will celebrate Senior Day, as Butts, Omar Carter, Petey Hausley and Andre Williamson will play their final home contest before the Mountaineers faithful.
Game Notes:
• Andre Williamson did not play against Chattanooga due to a back strain. Capel noted that he hopes Williamson will be available for Saturday's contest, but he will have to practice on Friday in order to play.
• The Mountaineers made six of its first 11 shots from beyond the arc to build its double-digit lead, and converted 8-of-21 shots from downtown (38.1 percent) for the game.
As a result of a strong team performance on both ends of the floor, ASU Mountaineers men's basketball broke open a close game late in the first half, then withstood a Mocs rally to defeat Chattanooga 79-70 on Wednesday night in front of 1,271 fans at Holmes Center.
"I'm really happy with the way we started the game, the intensity we displayed on both sides of the ball," Mountaineers head coach Jason Capel said following the win. "We did a lot of really good things to build on."
The Mountaineers shot 45.8 percent as a club from the field for the contest, while its defense held Chattanooga to only 33 percent, including a paltry 26 percent from the field during the first half.
ASU (11-15, 7-9 SoCon) led by as many as 17 points in the first half and stretched the advantage to 22 early in the second stanza. In all, the Mountaineers led for nearly 38 minutes en route to its sixth-consecutive home victory over UTC (10-18, 4-11 SoCon) and the eleventh straight triumph by the home team in the series.
Mike Neal scorched the nets for a career-high 23 points. He made just 6-of-15 shots from the field, but sank 4-of-9 three-pointers and 7-of-10 free throws to top his previous career high of 18 points set in a 79-69 win at Furman on Thursday, Feb. 9. The freshman point guard has been the Mountaineers’ leading scorer in each of the past three games. He added four rebounds, three assists and a steal while playing 38 minutes for the Apps.
Limited by foul trouble to just 23 minutes, senior center Ike Butts was a pronounced presence on the boards, pulling down 11 of his game-high 16 rebounds in the first half. Butts also scored six points, dished out three assists and blocked three shots in one of his most complete performances of the season.
"I can't say enough about Ike Butts. I thought when he checked into the game he set the tone," Capel added. "He controlled the paint. He made his presence known and it remained for as long as he could remain on the court. I loved the effort. That's the kind of effort and leadership we need."
Appalachian's defense set the tone early as the Mocs made just one of its first ten shots. ASU built an early four-point lead but was unable to distance itself from UTC, as Chattanooga's Drazen Zlovarich scored eight of his 10 first-half points to keep within 23-19 at the 7:27 mark.
Following the media timeout, the Mountaineers played its most dominating basketball of the evening, racing out to a 14-1 run sparked by layups from Nathan Healy and Butts, two baskets from Tab Hamilton and a three-pointer from Jamaal Trice. Neal, who started the game with a three-pointer, was the floor general that the Mountaineer offense thrived on to push tempo and put the Mocs on its collective heels.
"We played fast. We got the ball up the court and I thought Mike put a lot of pressure on their defense," Capel said. "Guys know that he can get them the ball. He's one of the guys that can breakdown a whole defense, put the ball in the basket and make the right read. He's playing well right now and we're gonna need him to continue to play well. It brings a smile to my face. Mike Neal is going to be a special player."
ASU held UTC without a field goal for more than four minutes and built a 37-20 advantage that led the Mountaineers to take a 40-25 advantage into halftime.
Chattanooga refused to go away in the second half, despite trailing by 22 points at 51-29 with 17:53 to play in the game.
Chattanooga head coach John Shulman made a statement to his team in benching his starters at the 15:47 mark, and his team responded. A 20-10 scoring run midway through the period drew the Mocs within eight at 67-59 at the 5:20 mark, but ASU continued to score behind Neal's shooting touch and the emergence of freshman Mitch Woods, whose overall effort included eight points, all coming in the second half, with five rebounds and four assists.
Neal with joined in double-figures with 11 points from Healy, with nine points from Hamilton and eight points on 3-of-3 shooting by Trice.
Chattanooga was paced by 17 points from Dantay Hampton, with 16 from Ronrico White and 12 from Zlovaric.
"I know this is one game, but the energy and effort was there from the onset. The thing about this team is that we've been our struggles where five or six games could have easily flipped and been in our favor," Capel said. "We haven't stopped working and haven't stopped showing up and want to get better. I was pretty upset after the Elon game, but we've given good effort. We have to be able to sustain that and be dialed in over 40 minutes. It's a process. It isn't fun to go through, but you keep working."
ASU hosts Winthrop in an ESPN Bracketbusters game at 2 p.m. this Saturday, Feb. 18, at Holmes Center. The Mountaineers will celebrate Senior Day, as Butts, Omar Carter, Petey Hausley and Andre Williamson will play their final home contest before the Mountaineers faithful.
Game Notes:
• Andre Williamson did not play against Chattanooga due to a back strain. Capel noted that he hopes Williamson will be available for Saturday's contest, but he will have to practice on Friday in order to play.
• The Mountaineers made six of its first 11 shots from beyond the arc to build its double-digit lead, and converted 8-of-21 shots from downtown (38.1 percent) for the game.