The Chattanooga Mocs return to the road this weekend to take on Wofford in the new Richardson Indoor Stadium in Spartanburg, S.C. Like most nights in the Southern Conference, it’s a battle of a very youthful Mocs squad against a host loaded with league experience.
The Terriers returned three starters from last year’s squad. The 53 SoCon starts back just from last year dwarfs the 12 total starts the Mocs brought back from the trio of Makinde London (8), Rodney Chatman (3) and Nat Dixon (1).
But that was then and this is now.
The Mocs enter the third of three in a row on the road after heart-breaking overtime losses at The Citadel and league preseason favorite Mercer. The group has battled injury after injury had four play between 84-89 minutes in the two narrow defeats.
Nat Dixon leads Chattanooga onto Wofford’s campus. He’s averaging 14.0 points per game scoring in double figures in nine straight (17.2 ppg over that span). Dixon also has fond memories of the Terriers’ former home keying the Mocs 73-65 comeback win in their final visit to Benjamin Johnson Arena.
Sophomore guard Makale Foreman played 124 of a possible 130 minutes (95.3% of possible game time) over the last three contests. If that’s wearing him down, he has a strange way of showing it. Foreman averaged 17.0 points per game over that span shooting 60.0 percent (18-30) from the field, 57.9 percent (11-19) from 3pt range making a shade less than four (3.7) per game while making all four free throw attempts.
Wofford possesses one of the nation’s most potent offenses led by junior guard Fletcher Magee. Magee is among the nation’s top 3pt gunners making 4.41 per game at 50.3 percent clip. He’s second nationally in makes and third in percentage leading the SoCon in scoring at 22.6 points per contest.
Forward Cameron Jackson has emerged as one the league’s top post threats. He posts 12.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per game ranking among the league leaders in blocks (1.5/game) and steals (2.2). The Terriers play at Samford Thursday night before returning to Spartanburg to meet the Mocs.