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MURFREESBORO, Tenn.---The Chattanooga Mocs made it four in a row Monday night with an 80-70 victory at Middle Tennessee. It's the first 4-0 start since going 5-0 in 1987-88.
 
"I thought the guys really competed against a really physically talented team. It was a good test for our guys. They made it hard to get catches…hard to run offense like we wanted. It forced us into some pretty aggressive things off the dribble. I just liked the fight I saw especially young guys like Jamaal (Walker) and Jaden (Frazier)."
 
David Jean-Baptiste tallied 20 points, his second straight 20-point effort. Malachi Smith recorded another double-double, his third, with 18 points and 13 rebounds, while Stefan Kenić matched his Saturday output of 17 points.
 
It was a see-saw affair with the Mocs down three, 62-59, with 9:47 remaining off Jo'Vontae Millner-Criss' three. A familiar pattern came into play.
 
Chattanooga zoomed past their hosts with a 14-2 stretch that included stops on seven out of eight defensive possessions. Smith scored the first eight points giving his squad the lead for good on a three-point play at 8:21. Kenić book-ended two Jean-Baptiste free throws to make it a 73-64 contest with 4:13 left on the clock.
 
The Blue Raiders cut it to six late, but Smith and Jean-Baptiste slammed the door with back-to-back scores to extend the lead to 10 which became the final margin.
 
"Sometimes I think it's good to face that adversity," Smith shared about the midpoint of the second half. "Every game is not perfect. We've had good shooting nights and bad. It's good for us to get the experience to getting those stops.
 
"You can't control the shots falling, but you can control what you do defensively."
 
The Mocs are midway through a brutal stretch of games including Saturday's home win over Northern Kentucky. It continues at Bellarmine Wednesday before returning home to host North Georgia Saturday. Links for video, audio and live stats for each contest is located on the men's basketball schedule page.
 
RECORDS
Chattanooga 4-0 | Middle Tennessee 1-3
 
QUOTABLE
"You've heard the old saying 'jack of all trades, master of none'. That's pretty appropriate to describe A.J. We're nicked up with some injuries and having to play guys like A.J. out of position at times. He's has a calming presence out there. He just gets a lot of things done." – Paris on A.J. Caldwell getting halfway to a quadruple-double with five points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals
 
"Defense is our backbone." – Malachi Smith
 
"This is one of the better wins we've had in a long time. We need to keep playing the way we have and keep playing together as a team." – Caldwell on how to build off the momentum of a 4-0 start
 
Check out all we heard at the link above.
 
3 NOTES TO KNOW

• Chattanooga won its fourth straight on the road dating back to the end of last season. It's won six of the last seven away games.
• 4-0 for the first time since 1987-88 and just the second time in the DI era (since 1977-78). It's the eighth time in school history including 1929, 2930, 1972-73, 1973-74, 1974-75 and 1975-76.
• 34-32 all-time against the Blue Raiders. It's the ninth-longest series in school history, second among school the Mocs have never shared a conference with.

Check out all the notables at the link above.
 
3 STATS TO KNOW

• +17 at the free throw line shooting 80.8 percent (21-26) to 44.4 percent (4-9) for the home team.
• Tonight's 80 points is more than 20 points higher than the Blue Raiders defensive average coming in (59.3 ppg). They allowed 60 to Omaha, 57 to ETSU and 61 to Murray State in their first three outings.
• 22 points off turnovers tonight, 97 in the first four games (24.3 pts off TOs per game).

Take a deeper dive into the numbers at the link above.
 
SOCON SCOREBOARD
at The Citadel 96, Columbia International 57
Richmond 77, Wofford 72
 
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