Post by The Cats on Feb 29, 2024 19:50:12 GMT -5
Who: Chattanooga Mocs
Where: McKenzie Arena
When: Saturday, February 2, 2024
Time: 2 pm
Radio: Catamount Sports Network
Video/TV: ESPN+
Live Stats: Live Stats
Enrollment: 11,400
Nickname: Mocs
Colors: Blue and Gold
Head Coach: Dan Earl - Earl came to Chattanooga after a 7-year stint leading the VMI Keydets
Earl's Record vs. WCU: 7-8 (at VMI)
Gray's Record vs. UTC: 2-3
Chattanooga's Current Record: 20-10 overall, 12-3 home, 8-7 away, 0-0 neutral, 12-5 SoCon
Chattanooga's Last Season Record: 18-17 overall, 12-3 home, 0-9 away, 3-1 neutral, 7-11 SoCon.
The Series: Western owns a 30-71 record versus the Mocs in a series that tipped off in 1969, and are 6-4 in the last 10 games played. The Cats are 6-39 in games played in Chattanooga. The two teams split the wins last season, each winning on their home court, but the Cats dropped a game to the Mocs in Cullowhee in January.
The Cats travel to Chattanooga to end the current regular season in one of the historically, most difficult place, for a Catamount basketball team to pick up a win, McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Having played a total of 101 games, the Cats have only won 6 in McKenzie Arena.
The Mocs were picked to finish 5th by both the coaches and media in preseason polling and sophomore guard Honor Huff was selected preseason all-conference. The Mocs are currently 3d in offense in the SoCon, posting an average of 79 points per game, and 4th in scoring defense, giving up 69.8 points per game.
Currently, the Mocs are tied for second place in the conference standings at 12-5 (in conference) with UNCG (both teams play their final game Saturday). The Mocs come into the game with a 2-2 record in the last 4 games, and are coming off a win in a home game vs. Mercer. However the Mocs dropped a road game vs. The Citadel in Charleston, SC the prior week.
"Chattanooga became the fourth SoCon team to hit the 20-win plateau back on Feb. 28, as the Mocs rebounded from a 71-62 upset loss at The Citadel with an 84-75 home win over Mercer in the midweek. The SoCon ranks tied with the ACC, Big Ten, and Mountain West with four 20-win teams – one of six conferences in the nation with four or more teams with 20+ victories. The SEC (6) and Big 12 (5) are the only other leagues with more.
The Mocs lineup boasts two of the top seven scorers in the Southern Conference as two VMI transfers Honor Huff (17.7 ppg) and Trey Bonham (16.3 ppg) rank fourth and seventh, respectively. Huff was the first player in the SoCon to surpass the 100 3-pointers made list with 101 on the year, ranking first with a 3.4 treys per game average. Sam Alexis ranks fourth in the SoCon in rebounding at 9.1 per contest, joined in the league's Top 25 by Tyler Millin (4.8 rpg), Randy Brady (4.8 rpg), and Bonham at 4.7 boards per contest."
