GAME NOTES | FAN CUTOUT PROGRAM | ABOUT CHATTANOOGA BASKETBALL
 
CHATTANOOGA---The Chattanooga Mocs opened the season 2-0 but have quite the road ahead with four games from Saturday to Saturday. It starts with two-time defending Horizon League Tournament Champion Northern Kentucky Saturday afternoon.
 
That's followed by trips to Middle Tennessee (Monday) and Bellarmine (Wednesday) before hosting North Georgia next Saturday. The challenge ahead is sure, but this squad looks up to it.
 
The opening win over Lander was an offensive show. Last Monday's triumph at Tennessee Tech came with a strong defensive stretch run. Down four (52-48) with 4:57 to play, UTC went on a 14-0 run behind nine straight defensive stops. It ended with 10 seconds to go on a meaningless Golden Eagles basket for the final tally of 62-54. The start of the run included four scores in five trips for the good guys.
 
The Mocs and Norse have squared off 12 times, but only twice since Chattanooga's move to DI in 1977. The two split the home-and-home series over the 2013 and 2014 seasons. The other 10 came in the 1972-77 campaigns.
 
Game 3: Northern Kentucky (2-0) vs Chattanooga (2-0)
Dec. 5 | Chattanooga | McKenzie Arena (10,995)
 
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
TV: ESPN+: Chris Goforth (PxP) & Todd Agne (Analysis)
 
RADIO: WFLI 97.7 FM/1070 AM. Jim Reynolds is in his 41st year as the "Voice of the Mocs". The audio broadcast is also available on the TuneIn app.   
 
SERIES INFO
Record: 8-4 | 13th meeting | Home: 6-0 | Away: 2-4.
 
COACHES
Chattanooga: Lamont Paris (Wooster '96) | UTC: 44-56 (4th season) | Career: Same | vs. NKU: 0-0
NKU: Darrin Horn (Western Ky. '95) | NKU: 25-9 (2nd) | Career: 196-120 (11th) | vs. UTC: 0-0
 
3 NOTES TO KNOW
- 1st time 2-0 since 2015-16 season when opened 3-0 beating Georgia, Hiwassee & Illinois. That team went on to win a school-record 29 games. 28 Mocs teams have opened 2-0, 14 moved forward 3-0.
- Malachi Smith is the first Moc to open a season with back-to-back double-doubles. He followed his 18-point, 10-rebound and 5-assist start against Lander with 15 points, 14 boards and five steals at Tennessee Tech posting new career highs in points, rebounds and steals along the way. The last time a Moc had three straight double-doubles at any point in a campaign? Z. Mason '14 in Jan. 2014: at App St (22 pts/12 reb), at Wofford (12/15) & Elon (27-11) powering three wins. It was a stretch of nine double-doubles in 10 contests for Mason.
- David Jean-Baptiste's next game will be the 100th of his career. Kenić is five shy of 100 including 66 (59 starts) at Cleveland State University before transferring August 2019. He (5 meetings) and Smith (3 at Wright State) have experience against Northern Kentucky from their Horizon League days prior to coming to Chattanooga.
 
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