Chattanooga faces an old foe this afternoon as the Mocs travel to Johnson City to take on East Tennesseee State in a Southern Conference men's basketball game at 4 p.m..
RADIO: The Mocs Sports Network flagship station is WUSY the Legend 96.1 FM in Chattanooga. Jim Reynolds is in his 35th year as the play-by-play “Voice of the Mocs”.
The Mocs (10-7, 3-1) lead the series 43-33, but trail 19-14 in games played in Johnson City. ETSU us 9-4 overall and 4-1 in the SoCon.
The last Mocs win at ETSU was 2005
OPENING TIPS
- Chattanooga has won four of the last five and seven of its last nine. East Tennessee State is on a three-game winning streak.
- This game starts a two-game stretch on the road. Chattanooga heads to Samford (Jan. 15) before coming back for a home weekend with VMI (Jan. 22) and UNCG (Jan. 24).
- This contest is the final of a four-in-eight-day swing (Sat.-Sat.). UTC plays just once in the following 11 days.
- The Mocs are 1-5 on the road this season with the win coming in league play at The Citadel. ETSU is 5-1 at home. That one loss also came in SoCon competition (UNCG).
SCOUTING EAST TENNESSEE STATE
- 9-4 for the season, 4-1 in the Southern Conference.
- The Bucs are 5-1 at home with the lone loss coming to UNCG...four of their five SoCon games have come at home (3-1).
- Head Coach Murry Bartow is 217-155 in his 12th season at ETSU, 320-238 for his 18-year career including six seasons (103-83) at his alma mater UAB. He is 6-5 against the Mocs, 4-1 in Johnson City.
- Jalen Riley leads a trio of Bucs in double digits at a league-leading 20.5 points per game. Rashawn Rembert (17.0) and Lester Wilson (14.1) join him. The trio accounts for 65.7 percent of the ETSU offense.
More Mocs Info:
- Chattanooga is shooting 48.7 percent in its SoCon matchups and 75.7 percent from the free throw line. There is a “shot chart” on page three of the notes package outlining the squad’s shooting numbers in eight-game intervals.
- Chattanooga is 9-0 when it out-rebounds its opponent, 1-7 when losing the battle on the glass. UTC went 8-1 last January, they’re 2-1 so far in the New Year. Check out all the indicators on page 10 of the notes package.
- Ronrico White is 79 points shy of 1,000 for his career. A look inside the numbers is on pages 4-5 of the notes package.
- Chattanooga is tied for third in the SoCon standings with Mercer. The duo is 3-1, one-half game back of a virtual tie for first between Wofford and East Tennessee State. Wofford is 3-0, but the Bucs have played two more games with a 4-1 mark which is one win better and one loss worse to even the slate. The Terriers take first on style points, er, winning percentage.
- The Mocs (10-7), Bucs (9-4) and Wofford (12-6) are the lone SoCon teams topping .500 play overall. The Bears (8-9) and The Citadel (7-8) are just shy and play each other Saturday.
- The squad made a stop in Knoxville on the way to Johnson City at Bearden High School where Ronrico White’s jersey was retired Friday night.
- Chattanooga leads the SoCon in scoring margin (+5.8) and blocks (6.2).
- The Mocs (45.2%) and Western (45.1%) rank first and second in the league in FG percentage.
- Justin Tuoyo paces the conference in blocked shots (3.5).
- Eric Robertson is the SoCon’s top 3pt gunner at 53.3 percent (32-60).
- Ronrico White is third in the SoCon in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.5 (53/21).
- Casey Jones is third in rebounding at 6.5 per contest.
- Tuoyo (52.7%) ranks fifth in the league in FG percentage.
- Tuoyo and Jones are tied for fifth in offensive rebounding at 2.4 per game.
- Jones is fifth in defensive rebounding (4.2).
- Greg Pryor missed the last game due to a lower body injury. It was his first missed game after 49 consecutive starts in his career. He is listed as “day-to-day”.
HEAD COACH WILL WADE
- Head Coach Will Wade is 28-22 in his second season as a head coach. He is 0-1 vs. East Tennessee State.
- Wade is 21-4 at home, 6-16 away and 1-2 in neutral site contests in his career.
- Wade is 15-5 in SoCon contests, 10-2 at home, 5-3 away.
STATS STAT!
- Chattanooga leads the SoCon in scoring defense in league games only at 59.0 points per contest. East Tennessee State paces scoring offense (84.0).
- The first seven games, UTC’s assist/turnover ratio was 0.67 (74/110). That’s improved to 1.10 (125/114) over the last 10.
- Tuoyo’s blocked two or more shots in 16 of 17 games including 14 in a row. He’s had four or more seven times including three straight games.
- Robertson is on a scalding hot streak. He’s made 24 of his last 39 (61.5%) from beyond the arc.
- He’s averaging 9.7 points per game off the bench over the last nine games. He scored a career-high 20 in the win over Lipscomb.
- Pryor has 24 steals in his last 11 games (2.2 spg).