Final Stats

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The Western Carolina men’s basketball team dropped its Southern Conference road opener Thursday night as the Mocs of Chattanooga used a 16-point first half advantage to down the Catamounts 77-58 inside McKenzie Arena.

WCU played nearly even basketball with the Mocs in the second half but a slow start by the Catamounts in the opening half proved to be the difference.

The loss drops WCU to 7-10 on the season and 2-2 in Southern Conference play while the Mocs improved to 15-3 overall and 4-1 IN SoCon action.

Senior Torrion Brummitt recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds while classmate Justin Browning came up one point short of a career-high with 17 points and five rebounds. Browning also had a team-high three steals and a block.

Senior Rhett Harrelson was the only other Catamount in double-figures with 11 points.

The Mocs placed five scorers in double-figures including Justin Tuoyo who had a game-high 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Tuoyo also hit 8-of-11 free throws.

Chattanooga out-rebounded the Catamounts by 10 and had nearly twice the amount of free throw attempts 31-16.

The Mocs opened the game on a 12-4 run and never looked back. WCU held the lead to single digits until a 3-pointer at the 7:02 mark gave UTC a 26-14 lead. The lead would remain in double-digits the rest of the game.

The Catamounts were able to pull within 12 points with six minutes left in the second half but a quick 10-0 run by the Mocs opened the game back up and it would not get close again as UTC cruised to a 77-58 victory.

WCU will now travel to Birmingham, Ala., to face Samford University on Saturday night at 7 pm.