The UTC men’s basketball team hosts No. 21 Georgia Tech (6-1) on Monday night at 7 p.m., in the McKenzie Arena. It’s the first ranked team to make an appearance in the Roundhouse since Tennessee, No. 10 at the time, topped the Mocs 76-70 on Dec. 4, 2007.
Chattanooga (5-4) has won three of the last four and is coming off an 82-60 victory over Mississippi Valley State on Saturday. Senior Ty Patterson made his season debut with 16 points with four three-pointers. Sophomore Ricky Taylor came off the bench to score 22 points, also hitting four treys.
Georgia Tech last played Dec. 5 cruising past Southern California 79-53 in Atlanta. Freshman Brian Oliver led five double figure scorers with 18 in his first start for the injured Iman Shumpert. The No. 21 ranking is through games of Dec. 7.
Three Mocs average in double digits led by true freshman Josh Odem at 11.8 points per game. Odem is averaging 15 points per contest over the last three games shooting 58.6 percent (17-29) from the field, 47.1 percent (8-17) from three-point range and 75.0 percent (3-4) from the free throw line while posting 10 assists against five turnovers.
Taylor, third on the squad in scoring (10.9 ppg), has played great in the last five games off the bench after starting the first four games. In the last five, Taylor’s line is 13.6 points and four rebounds per game with shooting percentages of 46 percent from the floor and 48.3 percent from beyond the arc making 2.8 threes per game.
Junior power forward Ridge McKeither is second in scoring at 11 points per game while leading the squad in rebounding at seven boards per contest. Sophomore point guard Keegan Bell is ranked No. 17 in the country in assists at 5.9 prior to Saturday’s win over Mississippi Valley State. Bell’s 10 assists in that game pushes his average to 6.3 per game and keeps him atop the Southern Conference statistics.
The Yellow Jackets are off to a great start at 6-1. They are led by a power duo in the post. Gani Lawal (6-9, 234) is averaging a double-double at 14.7 points and 10.3 boards per game. Freshman phenom Derrick Favors (6-10, 246) posts 13.4 points and 8.3 rebounds, while freshman wing Mfon Udofia adds 12.9 points per contest.