ASU Mountaineers upends Chattanooga

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, Appalachian State broke open a close game late in the first half, then withstood a late Chattanooga rally to defeat the Mocs 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. "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.

Appalachian State (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. The Mountaineers led for nearly 38 minutes en route to its sixth-consecutive home victory over Chattanooga (10-18, 4-11) and the eleventh straight triumph by the home team in the series.

Mike Neal scored 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 Feb. 9. The freshman point guard, who has been the Mountaineers' leading scorer in each of the past three games, added four rebounds, three assists and a steal in 38 minutes.

Limited by foul trouble to just 23 minutes, 6-foot-10 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 10 shots. ASU built an early four-point lead but was unable to distance itself from Chattanooga. Mocs forward Drazen Zlovaric scored eight of his 10 first-half points to keep Chattanooga to within 23-19 at the 7:27 mark.

Following and official timeout, the Mountaineers played its most dominating basketball of the game, racing out to a 14-1 run sparked by layups from Nathan Healy and Butts, two baskets from Tab Hamilton and a 3-pointer from Jamaal Trice. Neal, who started the game with a 3-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 going to 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 Chattanooga without a field goal for more than four minutes and built a 37-20 advantage that eventually led to a 40-25 halftime lead.

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.

Dontay Hampton paced Chattanooga in scoring with 17 points. Ronrico White added 16 points and Zlovaric scored 12.

"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. 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 game before the Mountaineers faithful.

 

GAME NOTES

•  Andre Williamson did not play against Chattanooga because of 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.

 

Appalachian State 79, Chattanooga 70

Chattanooga (10-18, 4-11)

Zlovaric 5-8 2-2 12, Burroughs 1-6 1-2 3, Wattad 3-12 0-0 7, Bell 1-6 0-0 3, Taylor 0-3 0-0 0, Stokes 0-2 0-0 0, Hampton 5-11 5-5 17, Baker 1-2 1-2 3, Barieka 1-5 0-0 2, White 3-11 8-10 16, Bryant 3-3 1-2 7. Totals 23-69 18-23 70.

Appalachian State (11-15 7-9)

Healy 4-7 2-2 11, Hausley 2-3 1-3, Hamilton 4-13 1-2 9, Neal 6-15 7-10 23, Woods 3-3 2-3 8, Vilarino 1-4 0-0 3, Trice 3-3 1-2 8, Carter 2-7 1-1 6, Okam 0-0 0-0 0, Butts 2-4 2-4 6. Totals 27-59 17-27 79.

Halftime score—ASU 40, Chattanooga 25. 3-point goals—UTC 6-25 (Hampton 2-4, White 2-5, Bell 1-6, Wattad 1-8, Taylor 0-1, Barieka 0-1), ASU 8-21 (Neal 4-9, Trice 1-1, Carter 1-2, Vilarino 1-2, Healy 1-2, Hamilton 0-5). Rebounds—UTC 46 (Zlovaric 9), ASU 42 (Butts 16). Assists—UTC 9 (Hampton 3), ASU 13 (Woods 4). Turnovers—UTC 9, ASU 11. Total fouls—UTC 20, ASU 22. Fouled out—UTC, Stokes. Technical fouls—None. Att.—1,271.