The Chattanooga Mocs men's basketball team hits the road for the first time in over three weeks as the squad gets set for a non-conference matchup at Evansville on Thursday night inside the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
The Mocs hope to atone for an 85-77 overtime loss at McKenzie Arena to the Purple Aces early last season that saw the hosts squander a 19-point lead with 12 minutes remaining in the only match-up between the two schools.
CHATTANOOGA'S FIVE-GAME WIN STREAK SNAPPED: Chattanooga (5-4) suffered a tough 80-62 defeat to in-state foe Lipscomb (5-4) last Tuesday night inside McKenzie Arena during ASUN-SoCon Challenge non-conference play.
While seeing its five-game win streak snapped, UTC allowed LIP to finish with a 57.9 FG% mark and suffered a sizable 33-21 disadvantage on the glass.
EVANSVILLE CURRENT SEASON OVERVIEW: Evansville (3-6, 0-1 MVC) will face the Mocs with a Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) game already in hands, having narrowly dropped its league opener at Murray State last Tuesday, 63-61. The Purple Aces most recently fell 79-65 to Western Kentucky on Saturday at home inside the Ford Center.
INSIDE THE EVANSVILLE ROSTER: Evansville does not return a starter or letter winner from last year's 2023-24 team, which finished 17-18 overall (6-14 MVC) and advanced to the 2024 CBI Second Round. The Purple Aces welcome six newcomers this year & was picked to finish 9th in the 2024-25 Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Poll.
EVANSVILLE PLAYER FOCUS: Having to replace five starters, Evansville is led by freshman forward Gabriel Pozzato (Italy) who leads the team in scoring (15.8) and has scored in double figures in all nine games of his young collegiate career.
TOUGH DEFENSIVE NIGHT KEY IN LOSS: Chattanooga surrendered an efficient 57.9 FG% (33-57) to Lipscomb during last week's 80-62 home defeat. The FG% total was the highest allowed to a non-conference opponent at home since 60.4% (32-53) to Georgia State back on December 23, 2017. The Mocs currently rank 281st in NCAA DI in FG% defense (45.4) for the season.
FRANK CHAMPION MAKES UTC DEBUT: The Mocs saw senior forward transfer Frank Champion finally make his season debut last week against Lipscomb after missing the first eight games due to injury. A two-time NCAA DII All-American at North Georgia, Champion adds length and versatility to the UTC lineup, in addition to a winning background stemming from his days at NGU.
GOING STREAKING: Despite a low 3PT% to begin the season, the Mocs have now made 5+ 3PT FG in 77-straight games, every game under Dan Earl. The such streak is the second-longest active streak (Oral Roberts, 136) in Division I and 14th longest all-time.
NEXT GAME: Chattanooga will return to McKenzie Arena on Sunday for a 2 p.m. contest against Alabama A&M.