That 25-point spanking by Texas in Maui is no longer Tennessee's most talked-about loss of the young basketball season.

For the first time since 1925, UT-Chattanooga is celebrating a victory over so-called big brother.

The Mocs ended a 23-game losing streak to the Vols with a 69-68 win Sunday. And one of the smallest crowds ever in Thompson-Boling Arena would concur that it really didn't seem like a fluke.

"We've been talking about this game all summer,'' said UTC forward Alphonso Pugh. "We came in very confident we could win this game.

"The way we look at it, the only thing about Tennessee is they have a different name on their jersey. They lace their shoes up the same way we lace up ours.''

"It's a big thing to win this game,'' added Mocs forward Matt Malone of Greeneville. "It means, basically, who owns the state in basketball.

"I'm not talking about Memphis, but this side. It's always been like that so it means a lot to us.''

John Shulman, Chattanooga's first-year head coach, knew the Mocs (3-2) had the Vols (2-3) on the ropes all afternoon, but refused to believe he would be rewarded with a happy ending until he saw the red light on the backboard confirm it.

"That was a beautiful color,'' said Shulman.

Clinging to a one-point lead, UTC's Ricky Hood missed two free throws with 2.0 seconds left.

Tennessee's Brandon Crump rebounded the second miss, fumbled the ball momentarily, then hesitated for a second before flinging the ball toward the other end of the court as the horn sounded.

The Vols had a timeout to use to set up some sort of desperation shot. Stranger things have happened, as Jon Higgins' game-winning half-court fling proved at Georgia Tech two years ago.

"We wanted to get a timeout,'' UT coach Buzz Peterson said.

Plan B was to get the ball quickly to a breaking Scooter McFadgon.

"I told him to take one or two hard dribbles, whatever he felt like was left,'' Peterson said, "but we fumbled the basketball and it was pretty much over after that.''

Peterson sensed trouble before the opening tip-off. The Vols' energy has deteriorated game by game since the season-opening win over Stanford in Maui. They barely survived Wofford, another Southern Conference opponent, six days earlier.

Against UTC, Tennessee never put together a run. The Vols' biggest lead was three points.

They did wipe out a 55-48 Chattanooga lead when Chris Lofton swished a 3-pointer with 1:37 to play to put UT up 68-66.

But the Mocs answered with a Chris Brown trey at the 1:06 mark to lead 69-68.

McFadgon, suffering through a 3-of-17 shooting day, missed a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left. The Vols got the ball back on a turnover, but McFadgon's runner rimmed off with 6.5 seconds left and UTC rebounded.

Tennessee's offense was too perimeter-oriented - 29 of 57 shots were behind the 3-point line - and the Vols had to close hard to finish at 40.4 percent.

C.J. Watson tied a career-high with 19 points, but needed a career-high 17 shots to get there.

McFadgon added 14 points. Lofton, saddled with foul trouble, was 1-of-5 for three points.

Crump's 10 points came on 5-of-7 shooting. He attempted no free throws.

"We've got to get some inside touches,'' said Peterson.

The Mocs got 17 points from Mindaugus Katelynas and won despite hitting only nine of 21 free throws.

A.J. Mastin came off the bench late to go 3-of-3 from 3-point range in 4 minutes.

"Oh, man, this means a lot because I've always wanted to play for the University of Tennessee,'' said Mastin, a Chattanooga product.

Pugh, from Cleveland, Tenn., now owns bragging rights over three cousins - former Vols Vincent Yarbrough and Del Baker and UT freshman JaJuan Smith.

"The harder you work, the better you get,'' said Pugh. "I don't think they (UT) really worked all that hard, and we came in here and took advantage of it.

"The way they were playing, it seemed like it didn't mean that much to them.''

It meant the world to Shulman, a Johnson City native who grew up cheering for the Vols. He appreciated his friend Peterson putting the Mocs back on UT's schedule.

"It's a no-win situation for him,'' Shulman said. "He's playing a game he can't gain a whole lot out of.''

And that's exactly how things turned out.

Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276.