Chattanooga wins N.I.T. title, the first for the Southern Conference as well
Indianapolis-(WSPA)-Garrison Keesler's jumper with 12 seconds remaining in overtime put Chattanooga ahead to stay Thursday night and the Mocs held on for an 85-84 victory over UC-Irvine to claim the program's, and the Southern Conference's, first N.I.T. crown.
Jurian Dixon attempted to win it for UC-Irvine with one second remaining but he missed a lay-up attempt.
Chattanooga, which was denied a potential SoCon tourney title and subsequent trip to the NCAA Tourney when it lost in the semi-finals to Furman, earns the first major national postseason tourney crown for both the school and conference.
The Mocs (29-9) and Anteaters (32-7) went back-and-forth for most of the game after Chattanooga opened up an early 8-0 advantage.
Trey Bonham's mid-court jumper to beat the halftime buzzer put Chattanooga up by one at the break, 38-37.
The Anteaters built an eight-point lead early in the second half.
Honor Huff's three free throws with 16 seconds remaining in regulation put the Mocs back in front at 76-74.
Myles Che, who played at Chattanooga as a freshman last season, then hit the first two of his three free throws to tie the game for UC-Irvine.
A missed lay-up and three-point attempt by Chattanooga's Collin Mulholland in the final five seconds prevented the Mocs from winning in regulation.
Bonham matched Mulholland's 19 points to share the team lead while Keesler and Huff added 14 points each.
It was the final game together as a backcourt for Bonham and Huff, who began their careers together in 2021 as VMI teammates under current Chattanooga head coach Dan Earl and resumed playing on the same team at Chattanooga last season.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Yahoo
Eagles and 49ers Both Win in Bryce Huff Trade Built on Honest Evaluation
Eagles and 49ers Both Win in Bryce Huff Trade Built on Honest Evaluation originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers pulled off what ESPN's Seth Walder is calling a rare win-win trade, with both organizations receiving B+ grades for their handling of the Bryce Huff deal. The Eagles shipped the underperforming edge rusher to San Francisco in exchange for a 2026 mid-round draft pick. Advertisement Huff's 2024 season was a steep letdown after he signed a three-year, $51.1 million contract in the offseason following a breakout campaign with the Jets. His pass rush win rate dropped to a career-low 19 percent, he registered just 2.5 sacks, and he was inactive for Super Bowl LIX despite being fully healthy. The numbers reflected a player who had clearly fallen out of favor with Philadelphia's coaching staff. The Eagles, however, are well-stocked on the edge. Recently signed veterans Azeez Ojulari and Josh Uche join rising talent Jalyx Hunt and 2023 first-round pick Nolan Smith Jr., giving Philadelphia solid depth at the position. 'Philadelphia isn't walking away with a huge haul,' Walder wrote, 'but if Huff was not a lock to be active on Sundays, then saving a few million and getting a draft pick is a pretty good outcome.' From San Francisco's perspective, it's a calculated gamble. The 49ers needed pass rush help opposite Nick Bosa and are betting that Huff's disappointing 2024 season was the exception, not the norm. Despite his struggles, Huff's 19 percent pass rush win rate still exceeded the league average, and his 0.79-second get-off time remains impressive. The 49ers restructured Huff's contract and will pay just under $8 million this season, a manageable cap hit for a player with significant upside. Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, who previously coached Huff during his most productive seasons with the New York Jets, is expected to deploy him in a rotational role. That usage could mask his known liabilities against the run while capitalizing on his quickness off the edge. Advertisement So ... everybody is a winner? Nobody is a loser? Sort of. This trade exemplifies smart roster management from both franchises. The Eagles offloaded an expensive, underperforming player while gaining future draft capital. Meanwhile, the 49ers added a potentially disruptive pass rusher at a reduced rate with limited long-term risk. With both teams receiving B+ grades from ESPN, the Huff deal stands out as a rare example of mutual value creation in a league where win-win trades are increasingly uncommon. Related: New Details Emerge About Eagles Bryce Huff Trade Related: Eagles Have Firepower to Repeat But One Major Concern Could Derail It All This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 4, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Yahoo
Eagles Admit Bryce Huff Signing Didn't Work as Vic Fangio Remembers Key Injury
Eagles Admit Bryce Huff Signing Didn't Work as Vic Fangio Remembers Key Injury originally appeared on Athlon Sports. When Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio stepped up to the podium during Tuesday's organized team activities, he knew the questions about Bryce Huff were coming. The recent trade that sent the veteran pass rusher to the San Francisco 49ers had just become official, marking the end of one of the most disappointing free agent signings in recent Eagles history. Advertisement This was the first time Fangio addressed the media since the Eagles traded Huff for a conditional fifth-round pick. Huff was the team's highest-paid free agent in 2024, signing a three-year, $51 million deal, but his lone season in Philadelphia was derailed by injury and scheme fit issues. When asked why Huff didn't work out, Fangio pointed to a specific turning point. 'I think the one thing is, he was getting better, and when he hurt his hand, he tried to play with it for a couple weeks,' Fangio said. 'It wasn't going good because he was reluctant to use his hand. Then when they operated on it, he had to play with a big cast, which basically rendered his hand useless and then rendered your arm useless. That really had an effect on him.' Fangio emphasized how critical hand usage is for edge rushers. 'We just came out of draft season and the first thing you see with the guy's name on the board is his hand size, his arm length,' he said. For Huff, the injury stripped him of two of his most important tools. While Huff was recovering, others on the Eagles' defense stepped up. 'While he was out, Nolan [Smith Jr.] got more snaps, Jalyx [Hunt] got more snaps. Things evolved,' Fangio said. Smith Jr. finished the season with 6.5 sacks, second on the team behind Josh Sweat. Hunt flashed during the playoffs with 1.5 sacks in four games to help Philadelphia win Super Bowl LIX. Advertisement The scheme also played a role. Fangio's system requires edge defenders to drop into coverage and hold up in the run game—tasks that Huff wasn't often asked to do in New York. In 12 games with the Eagles, Huff totaled 2.5 sacks, 13 tackles and five tackles for loss. He missed the Super Bowl win against Kansas City after undergoing wrist surgery before Week 12. Fangio remained respectful when discussing Huff's future, saying, 'I think he'll do fine in San Francisco.' Huff now joins the 49ers under former Jets coach Robert Saleh, who is expected to deploy him in a more familiar pass-rushing role. The trade compensation includes a 2026 fifth-round pick that could become a fourth if Huff meets performance benchmarks. The conditional nature of the deal reflects the risk both sides acknowledge after Huff's uneven 2024. With Huff out and several key defenders gone—including Sweat, Milton Williams, Darius Slay, Brandon Graham, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Isaiah Rodgers and Oren Burks—the Eagles are counting on younger edge rushers to fill the void. Still, Fangio sees parallels to last year's rebuild. Advertisement 'I look at this year very similar to last year in that at this time last year, we had a lot of turnover in personnel from the previous year,' he said. The Huff experiment didn't work out, but Fangio's explanation suggests the failure was less about talent and more about timing, injury, and scheme fit. For the Eagles, it's a costly lesson in free agency—but one they're ready to move past as they prepare to defend their title. Related: Eagles Shocker As Saquon Barkley Reveals Early Retirement Thoughts Related: Eagles' 'Exciting Whites' Turn Championship Buzz Into Chart-Topping Podcast This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 4, 2025, where it first appeared.
Fox Sports
3 days ago
- Fox Sports
49ers overhaul defensive line with rookies and Bryce Huff after disappointing season
Associated Press SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers have built their defense out from the defensive line ever since coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch arrived eight years ago. An underwhelming performance from that unit during a disappointing 2024 season has led to a near complete overhaul at the position with San Francisco now counting on three rookies and recently acquired edge rusher Bryce Huff to give enough support to holdover star Nick Bosa to get back to having a dominant front. To make sure the additions fit seamlessly, the Niners are relying on defensive line coach Kris Kocurek, who welcomes the challenge with some 'fresh blood in the room.' 'This year is probably one of the more significant turnovers with the youth that we've added to the mix and acquiring Bryce here in the last few days,' Kocurek said Tuesday. 'There will be quite a few new faces in there that will have to make significant contributions. We knew it was a possibility there would be some turnover. It also can be challenging bringing in four to five new guys in a room. But I like it. They're all coming in very eager, willing to learn and trying to get a little better each day, stacking one day on top of the next.' The 49ers cut three Week 1 starters from last season, letting go of expensive veterans like Javon Hargrave, Leonard Floyd and Maliek Collins and replacing them with youth. San Francisco used the 11th overall pick on versatile Georgia defensive end Mykel Williams before adding defensive tackles Alfred Collins in the second round and CJ West in the fourth. Those additions were meant to shore up a run defense that regressed in recent years with the 4.45 yards per carry allowed last season more than 1 yard higher than the 3.4 average in 2022. The trade for Huff that was officially completed when he passed a physical on Tuesday was aimed at giving the team a dynamic edge rusher across from Bosa. The team had no other edge rusher who had a season with at least five sacks before trading a conditional fifth-round pick for Huff, who had 10 sacks and 67 pressures on 334 pass rush snaps in 2023 when he played on the New York Jets for Robert Saleh, who is back in San Francisco this season for a second stint as defensive coordinator. Kocurek said Huff's speed off the edge and his quick get-off 'jumps off the tape' and is confident he can return to that form after struggling last season in Philadelphia in a defense that had him playing more as a stand-up linebacker than a dedicated edge rusher. Huff had only 2 1/2 sacks and 23 pressures in his one season in Philadelphia, missing five games with a wrist injury. He was then a healthy scratch in the Super Bowl. 'If you're born into a hand-in-the-ground defense, it's an adjustment period to turn yourself into a stand-up, outside linebacker role and vice versa,' Kocurek said. 'There's a learning curve and steps you have to take to master the techniques. It's not just snap your fingers and go to a different scheme.' Kocurek hopes the changes in personnel lead to a change in performance after the struggles up front last season contributed to a 6-11 record and the team's fewest sacks in a season since 2020 when Bosa missed nearly the entire year with a knee injury. 'If that doesn't piss you off than you've got to get out of coaching,' Kocurek said. 'The fire burns deeper in your stomach, the chip gets bigger on your shoulder and you want to do everything humanly possible to make sure it doesn't happen again. No one should be happy about it.' NOTES: The Niners made three other roster moves after adding Huff. They signed receiver Malik Knowles to a one-year deal, waived OL Nicholas Petit-Frere and placed WR Trent Taylor on IR. ___ AP NFL: recommended
