Former All-Pro receiver Terrell Owens is knowns for many things, but he is also an alum of the UT-Chattanooga. While at the school, he was a star on the football field as well as the basketball court, being named a starter his sophomore year.
It should be no surprise that Owens was in attendance to root on his Mocs during their NCAA Tournament matchup against Illinois.
The Mocs had a lead right from the jump, but unfortunately for Owens, his alma mater couldn't get it done when it mattered, blowing their lead late in the fourth quarter.
The Mocs fought tooth and nail to the final seconds when Mocs SG Malachi Smith attempted one last shot which end up bouncing off the rim as time expired, allowing Illinois to advance to the second round of South Region play.
The 13th seeded Mocs had all the opportunities to pull off a bigtime upset until Illinois' Kofi Cockburn, who led the fighting Illini with 17 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots, made his biggest bucket coming off a missed free throw from Coleman Hawkins to give Illinois its first lead at 52-51 with only 45 seconds left in regulation
To put this all-time choke job by the Mocs into perspective, UT Chattanooga had the lead for 39:35 minutes before Cockburn's bucket.
While the Fighting Illini were able to clawback to advance into the round of 32, the loss marks a disappointing end to an amazing season for the Mocs, who earned the Southern Conference's automatic bid on a buzzer-beater from David Jean-Baptise. Illinois will face the winner of UAB-Houston on Sunday.
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