The Chattanooga Mocs men’s basketball schedule features 17 home dates in Lamont Paris’ first year at the helm of the program. Eight non-conference and nine Southern Conference battles await the Mocs.
“Scheduling is a challenge every year,” Paris began. “The No. 1 thing you always want to do is prepare your team to be playing their best in March.
“Every season is a process of getting better from the start of practice in October to March.
Every single day, we want to get better both individually and as a group.“
The first look for the Mocs is a November 4 exhibition game with NCAA Division II program Francis Marion. A week later, the campaign starts in earnest with trips to Wyoming (Nov. 10) and UAB (Nov. 13) as part of the Cayman Islands Classic.
The home opener follows on Nov. 16 with a visit from Hiwassee. The Cayman Islands Classic ships Alabama State, Jacksonville State and Savannah State to Gig City Nov. 20-21 for the mainland bracket. Tennessee Wesleyan drops in Nov. 25 to complete a four-game homestand.
The squad hits the road for a visit to Akron (Nov. 28) before an even split of home and road games to end the non-conference portion of the schedule. It starts with UT Martin (Dec. 2) coming to town before a trip to Marshall (Dec. 5) and subsequent arrival by Charlotte (Dec. 10).
Road games at Tennessee Tech (Dec. 17) and Jacksonville State (Dec. 21) precede Georgia State (Dec. 23) closing out the pre-holiday slate in McKenzie Arena. SoCon play begins at Samford on Dec. 30.
The remaining 17 league games build into the crescendo that is the Southern Conference Championships in Asheville. The men play March 2-5 in the U.S. Cellular Center fighting for the coveted automatic bid to the NCA Tournament. UTC claims 11 tourney crowns on its ledger, by far the most in the league over the 40 seasons the Scenic City lads have called it home.
“We hope this is the right mix to get us to conference as a better team than we are right now,” Paris concluded. “And hopefully, SoCon play gets us to the tournament ready to compete at a high level.
“Every game is important. It’s a gauge for how you are improving as the season progresses. You want to play your best basketball when March rolls around…that’s the goal of every team in college basketball.”
Season tickets are available on GoMocs.com or by calling (423) 266-MOCS (6627) during normal business hours.