Second Half Scoring Struggles Lead to Skid at Chattanooga

Saturday, February 11

Chattanooga, TN

3:30 PM

Mercer University

12-15,5-9SoCon

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

14-13,6-8SoCon

Mercer

Chattanooga

Jalyn McCreary dribbling trying to get around a defender to the basket

Second Half Scoring Struggles Lead to Skid at Chattanooga

2/11/2023 7:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Bears fall to 12-15, 5-9

By: Amanda Cover

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – It was a tale of two halves as the Mercer men's basketball program fell to Chattanooga, 73-56, on Saturday afternoon at McKenzie Arena. The Bears led for almost 17 minutes in the first half but struggled to put points on the board in the second half to stay on pace with the Mocs.

"It was a bad combination of not making shots and giving them 40 points in the second half," head coach Greg Gary said.

Mercer drops to 12-15 overall and 5-9 in the conference while Chattanooga improves to 14-13 overall and 6-8 in the SoCon.

HOW IT HAPPENED
It was Mercer who started quickly, grabbing a 9-0 lead after 3:49. It was 9-1 at the first media timeout, and then excellent defensive work by Braden Sparks forced the Mocs to take another timeout only 18 seconds after the previous break.

Chattanooga only scored four points in the first eight minutes of the first half. The Bears led from the start until 6:44 when the Mocs tied the score and then took the lead, 27-25. Mercer quickly retook the lead behind a 13-1 run including four treys. The Bears led 38-33 at halftime.

Mercer still maintained control for the start of the second half, opening with an 8-4 scoring advantage. After that, the Bears only scored 10 points in the final 17 minutes while UTC added 36 in the same time. Following a 12-0 run for the Mocs, Mercer was able to tie the score, 54-54, until Chattanooga finished the game on a 19-2 run to win, 73-56.

"I thought we had some good looks, and I also think we got in a hurry and got away from working the ball," Gary explained. "When shots don't go down, you have to continue to move the ball and attack and keep making the extra pass, and I don't think we did that."

BY THE NUMBERS
The Bears shot 41.4% in the first half, including 43.8% from deep, but sunk to 26.9% from the field in the second half while only scoring one three-pointer. Chattanooga shot fairly even halves, finishing at 49.1% compared to Mercer's 34.5%. The Bears were almost perfect from the free throw line in the first half, draining 7-of-8, but struggled to execute from the charity stripe in the second half, going 3-of-9.

Chattanooga heavily outrebounded the Bears in the second half, 25-13, to win the battle on the boards, 40-28, overall. The Mocs committed two more turnovers than Mercer (11-9), and the Bears earned 14 points off turnovers to UTC's eight.

While UTC is the best three-point shooting team in the Southern Conference, the Mocs excelled in the paint, scoring 32 to Mercer's 14 in the key.

Jalyn McCreary led the Bears in scoring for the 16^th game this season with 16 points. Luis Hurtado Jr. was the other player to score in double figures (10 PTS) and tied for the team-lead in rebounds with Shawn Walker Jr. (5 REB).

Kamar Robertson played his 100^th career game, all at Mercer.

UP NEXT: Mercer has another away game lined up for Wednesday, February 15 at 7 p.m. against Wofford.

FOLLOW THE BEARS:
For complete coverage of Mercer Men's Basketball, please follow the Bears on social media at @MercerMBB (Twitter), /MercerBasketball (Facebook) and @Mercer_MBB (Instagram) or visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com.