The Chattanooga Mocs concluded their 3-game home stand a perfect 3-0 after Sunday’s 83-65 Southern Conference win over VMI. Now the squad pivots to a 3-game road trip starting Wednesday night at Georgia State.
While the offense flashed during the 3-game win streak, defense was the fuel. They allowed 72.0 points per game over the first seven contests, but shaved that by nearly 10 points in the Roundhouse. It started with 62 from Hiwassee before a season-low 60 in a convincing win over Tennessee Tech. Then, a Keydets squad that tallied 82 at Kentucky was held to 65.
“It’s been very important,” Coach Lamont Paris mentioned about the defensive role in the recent surge. “I’ve always felt that if you play reasonably well on offense, at all; if you play good defense, you have the chance to win the game. The defense has been good over that stretch in getting teams out of what they want to do.
“We’ve competed better on the ball and helped each other better off the ball.
Freshman forward Kevin Easley certainly sees the symmetry.
"We're on a good winning streak right now and our confidence is great too,” he shared. “We have to defend at a high level in the next few games against some good offenses. We're excited to see what happens."
Easley is coming off one of the best performances in school history by a freshman. His 26 points Sunday are the most by a freshman since Randy Henry tallied 26 in a 90-75 win over Davidson on Feb. 4, 1980. It’s tied for the second-highest total by a freshman in the DI era. (31-Keith Parker at Western Carolina, 2/11/78; 26-Keith Parker vs. Davidson, 1/14/78; 26-Randy Henry vs. Davidson, 2/4/80).
There was also vital play from the starting wings: David Jean-Baptiste, Jerry Johnson, Jr., and Jonathan Scott. They combined for 16 assists and zero turnovers [Johnson (6), Jean-Baptiste (5) & Scott (5)] with both freshmen point guards (Maurice Commander & Donovann Toatley) sidelined for the VMI contest.
Georgia State is 6-3 on the year. The Panthers are coming off a 22-point comeback win at Alabama in their last game on Dec. 4, an 83-80 final. They also own victories over Georgia (91-67), ETSU (74-68) and Mercer (62-60). This is their first home game in nearly a month with the last being the Nov. 13 win over the Bears.
The contest airs on ESPN+ as well locally on the radio at 96.1 FM.