Chattanooga Basketball Postgame Notes
Mercer at Chattanooga
McKenzie Arena – Chattanooga
Wednesday – Jan. 13, 2021
TEAM
- The Chattanooga Mocs scored an 83-80 win over Mercer in SoCon action tonight … UTC improved to 11-3 overall and 2-3 in league action, while the Bears dropped to 7-4 and 0-3 in the conference. 

- UTC trailed by 19 with 2:25 left in the first half, but closed the frame on a 10-0 run. 

- Mocs shot 8-31 (25.8%) from the field and 3-9 (33.3%) from three in the first half, but only trailed 40-31 ... 12-13 (92.3%) from the FT line kept them in the game. 

- 4-2 when trailing at the half this season … only had six such wins in the previous three years under head coach Lamont Paris when trailing at the break.

- 700th Southern Conference regular season game for the Mocs with a 433-267 (.619) record all-time.

- Mocs were 20-28 (71.4%) from the field, 4-7 (57.1%) from three, in the second half. 

- UTC was 20-22 (90.9%) from the FT line in the game … came into the game 14^th in the NCAA in FT% (78.6%) … Mercer was 8-9 (88.9%) from the FT line … Mocs are 10-0 when shooting more FTs than opponent this season.

- Back-to-back games with 90% or greater from the FT line … 17-18 (94.4%) at The Citadel … third time this season. 

- Mocs had a 16-0 run overall from the last 2:25 of the first half until Mercer's Maciej Bender scored a layup at the 17:59 mark in the second to give the Bears a 42-37 lead. 

- Mercer outrebounded UTC 37-28 … Mocs have been outrebounded eight times this season, but are 6-2 in those games.

- Mocs only had seven turnovers in the game … four of five SoCon games have seen 10 or less turnovers … only averaging 8.8 TO/game in league play.    

SERIES NOTES
- 81^st meeting
- 41-40 overall
- 22-13 at home.
- 7-6 in SoCon regular season games.
- 3-4 under Lamont Paris.

INDIVIDUAL
Darius Banks – Sr.-F
- 10 points on 4-10 shooting, 2-2 from the FT line.
- Started and played 36 minutes in his first action as a Moc.
- Added three boards, two assists and two steals.
 
David Jean-Baptiste – Sr.-G
- 20 points on 8-13 shooting, 2-5 from three and 2-2 from the FT line.
- Game-high four assists.
- Added seven boards and two steals. 
- Made last 20 FTs in a row.
- Fifth game with 20+ points … eighth in his career.
- 1,117 career points passes Ronrico White ('15), Gary Davis ('65), Derrick Kirce ('91) and Justin Tuoyo ('22) to tie Tim Parker ('03) for 21^st place on the Mocs all-time scoring list. 
- Jean-Baptiste's 168 3pt made passes Wes Moore ('98) to tie with Omar Wattad ('12) for fifth all-time at UTC.

Stefan Kenic – Sr.-F
- Career-high and game-high 27 points.
- Shot 8-13 from the field, 4-5 from three and 7-8 from the FT line.
- Most threes made in a game this season.
- Second 20-point game of the season.
- Third time leading the team in scoring.
- Added seven boards and a steal.
- 57-66 (86.4%) from the FT line this season.
- Topped 1,000 collegiate points … includes 617 in 66 career contests at Cleveland State (Ohio) and 393 in his 41 outings at UTC.

Malachi Smith – So.-G
- 14 points, seven boards and three assists. 
- Shot 4-12 from the field, 1-3 from three and 5-6 from the FT line.