UTC head basketball coach Dan Earl
photo by Ray Soldano/GoMocs.com
The Chattanooga Mocs men's basketball team wraps up the opening week of Southern Conference action with a Saturday afternoon matchup at The Citadel inside McAlister Field House in Charleston, S.C. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. on ESPN+.
Chattanooga (8-6, 0-1) is looking to rebound from Wednesday's tough 99-94 overtime road loss at Mercer in the league opener. The Mocs erased a late deficit with a frantic attack to force overtime before eventually falling in the SoCon opener for the fifth-straight time when beginning league play on the road.
Falling 86-56 at defending champion Samford on Wednesday, The Citadel (5-7, 0-1) has now dropped its last four games in total and is also aiming to even its conference record in the early going. The Bulldogs have defeated the Mocs on its home floor in three of the past four matchups.
CHATTANOOGA DROPS SOCON OPENER AT MERCER: Chattanooga (8-6, 0-1) suffered its third-straight loss in SoCon openers after dropping a 99-94 overtime decision at Mercer on Wednesday inside Hawkins Arena. The Mocs erased a four-point deficit with less than 10 seconds to force overtime before the defeat in extended time. The loss marked the fifth-straight for the program in SoCon openers played on the road.
THE CITADEL SEASON OVERVIEW: The Citadel (5-7, 0-1 SoCon) also opened the Southern Conference slate with a road loss on Wednesday, falling 86-56 at defending league champion Samford in Birmingham. The Bulldogs are looking to snap a four-game skid on Saturday after dropping its last three non-conference contests which included a home loss to Campbell (58-86) and road defeats at Central Arkansas (71-73) & Vanderbilt (53-105).
SERIES HISTORY: The Citadel & UTC will meet for the 95th time in the series' history, which dates back to 1926 when Chattanooga claimed a 36-29 home win in the inaugural matchup. The Mocs have claimed wins in six of the last eight meetings but have dropped the last two and three of the last four inside McAlister Field House in Charleston. UTC leads the all-time series 73-21 including a 68-18 mark in SoCon regular season games.
CHAMPION'S BREAKOUT GAME IN HOME STATE: After missing extended time to begin the year due to injury, North Georgia transfer Frank Champion put together a breakout performance in Wednesday's tight OT loss at Mercer. The Lithonia, Ga., native stuffed the stat sheet with 24 points, seven rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block in 34 minutes of floor time. His contested layup with 0.9 seconds left in regulation tied the game & forced overtime.
FIRST FOR EVERYTHING: Dropping a 99-94 overtime contest at Mercer on Wednesday afternoon, Chattanooga suffered its first loss in the Dan Earl era when scoring 90 or more points. UTC had won all 10 previous games under Earl when scoring 90 or more before Wednesday's defeat.