The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball team makes its final road trip of 2009 as it heads to Ohio Valley Conference power Murray State on Saturday at the Regional Sports Events Center. Game time is scheduled for 3 p.m. (ET) which was changed a few weeks ago from 8 p.m.
This is Chattanooga’s second game against an OVC foe, both coming on the road. The Mocs topped Jacksonville State on Dec. 1, 80-71, in Jacksonville. It was part of a stretch of five games in 10 days, all away from Chattanooga.
The Racers are 8-2 on the season. They had an eight-game losing streak snapped with a 87-81 loss at Louisiana Tech last Tuesday. MSU opened the season with a 75-70 loss at Cal before rattling off eight straight. The Mocs and Racers share one common opponent to date, East Tennessee State. UTC claimed a 97-92 decision in the McKenzie Arena, while MSU travelled to Johnson City for a 6157 triumph.
Ivan Aska (6-7, 230, F) leads a quartet of double figure scorers at 12.7 points and grabs 5.1 rebounds per game while hitting 62.5 percent of his shots. Danero Thomas (6-4, 190, Sr.) at 11.5, B.J. Jenkins (6-0, 180, Jr.) at 10.9 and Isaiah Canaan (6-0, 175, Fr.) at 10.3 points per game round out the scoring leader. Canaan does his damage off the bench.
The Racers hit 50.9 percent of the field goals, 35.2 percent from three-point range and out-rebound opponents by 7.3 boards per game. Murray State’s scoring margin is 18.6 points per game.
Senior Ty Patterson has made quite a splash in his first two games returning to the Mocs lineup. He is averaging 19 points and is coming off a 22-point effort against No. 15 Georgia Tech. Patterson also added five rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Patterson’s 19 per game leads the team followed by Josh Odem at 11.3 points per game. Ridge McKeither checks in at 10.5 points and a team-high 6.7 rebounds per game. Ricky Taylor comes off the bench at a clip of 10.2 points per contest.
WHO: Keegan Bell. Bell has 39 assists (7.8/gm) in his last five games recording five or more in every game. He has 10 or more assists in two games (11-Longwood, 10-Mississippi Valley State). In the win at Jacksonville State, Bell had a line of 17 points, eight assists and five rebounds to spark the Mocs to a come-from-behind win. At 6.2 assists per game, Bell’s average is the best since Tim Brooks’ 6. 3 average in 1992-93. The school records for assists (209/1991-92) and per-game average (6.8/1992-93) are held by Tim Brooks (1992-93). The last time a Mocs player averaged six or better for a season was Ray Trowell (2003-04) in 2003 (6.0). He ranks No. 8 in the nation in assists per game.
WHAT: Chattanooga (5-5) at Murray State (8-2)
WHEN: Saturday, Dec. 19, 3 p.m. (ET) in the Regional Sports Events Center (8,600).
WHERE: The game will be broadcast on the Mocs Sports Network with Jim Reynolds calling the play-by-play. It can be listened to locally on ESPN 105.1 FM and worldwide on GoMocs.com.
HOW: The Mocs are 74-70 (.514) all-time against teams currently in the Ohio Valley Conference (Austin Peay 10-6, Eastern Illinois 4-2, Jacksonville State 15-4, MURRAY STATE 2-4, Tennessee State 19-14, Tennessee Tech 16-40 and UT Martin 8-0). Since the Move to DI, the Mocs are 36-13 (.735) - Austin Peay 7-1, Jacksonville State 3-0, MURRAY STATE 2-2, Tennessee State 15-5, Tennessee Tech 7-5 and UT Martin 2-0).
SERIES: This is the seventh game in the series between the two schools. Murray State leads 4-2 with the first contest coming during the 1962-63 season. The Racers won the first four games, but the Mocs have won the last two including a 74-50 win in the opening round of the 2007 Dr Pepper Classic.
PROBABLE STARTERS: F –Ty Patterson, Sr. (19.0, 3.0); F – Ridge McKeither, Jr. (10.5 ppg, 6.7 rpg); C – DeAntre Jefferson, Jr. (7.1 ppg, 4.3 rpg); G – Keegan Bell, So. (9.1 ppg, 6.2 apg); G – Josh Odem, Fr. (11.3 ppg, 2.9 rpg).