GAME NOTES | FAN CUTOUT PROGRAM | ABOUT CHATTANOOGA BASKETBALL
 
CHATTANOOGA--- The Chattanooga Mocs are in the midst of three of four at home stretch. Wednesday is the one in four on the road traveling to Samford on Wednesday. The Bulldogs are their fourth of five in a row at home.
 
The Mocs are coming off a disappointing finish Saturday afternoon. They were tied 52-52 with 6:24 to go after two Malachi Smith free throws. The Terriers closed it out with a 25-7 spurt scoring 16 of their last 20 at the free throw line.
 
The Bulldogs snapped a 4-game losing streak Monday with an 82-78 win over Western Carolina. Samford held off a Catamount comeback in the final minutes with Richardson Maitre hitting four free throws in the final 14 seconds after Western closed within one. Christian Guess led five in double figures with 19.
 
Chattanooga captured the first matchup 73-68 in the Roundhouse. David Jean-Baptiste was huge early, and Smith took over late. DJB scored 16 of his 22 in the first half, while Smith registered 13 in the final 6:59 of play holding off a persistent Samford group.
 
Jean-Baptiste leads the way with an 18.6 point-per-game average. Smith (16.3), Stefan Kenić (13.5) and Darius (10.5) join him in double digits with Smith just south of a double-double average grabbing 9.8 boards per contest. Guess paces Samford with 15.9 points and 9.1 rebounds per game.
 
Watch on ESPN+ or listen on WFLI 97.7 FM/1070 AM in Chattanooga as well as the TuneIn app.
 
Game 16: Chattanooga (11-4/2-4) at Samford (6-7/2-4)
Jan. 20 | 8 p.m. | Hanna Center (5,000)
 
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
TV: ESPN+. Curt Bloom (PxP) & Boyd Kaiser (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.          
 
VS. SAMFORD
105th meeting | Record: 65-39 | Home: 41-12 | Away: 22-27 | Neutral: 2-0 | SoCon Regular Season: 18-7
Last Meeting: STORY | STATS | NOTES | QUOTES | PHOTOS
- Won six of last seven in the series.
- 22 wins at Samford is tied for second-most (Western Carolina) in school history behind 30 at The Citadel.
- 18-7 in regular SoCon contests vs the Bulldogs, 6-6 in Birmingham.
- Shooting 45.7 percent (43-94) from 3pt range over last three matchups.
- A.J. Caldwell registered his first career double-double in the win in Chattanooga almost earning the program's fourth triple-double with 11 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.
- David Jean-Baptiste (22) and Malachi Smith (21) combined for 43 of the 73 points.
 
COACHES
Chattanooga: Lamont Paris (Wooster '96) | UTC: 53-60 (4th season) | Career: Same | vs. Samford: 6-2
Samford: Bucky McMillian (Birmingham-Southern '06) | Samford: 5-7 (1st) | Career: Same | vs. UTC: 0-1
 
3 NOTES TO KNOW
- Won eight straight games against Alabama schools including three in a row in the state. Last loss was 80-76 in OT at Samford on Feb. 16, 2019.
- Tied for 10th nationally with 11 wins (thru Jan. 18).
- David Jean-Baptiste continues his climb up the record books. He moved into the program's top 20 in scoring with 1,130 passing Eric Smith '81 (1,122) and is now fifth in 3pt made (169) breaking a tie with Omar Wattad '12 (168). More on pages 5 & 6 of the notes package.
 
3 STATS TO KNOW
- Jamaal Walker is shooting 50 percent from 3pt range (13-26) outside the Scenic City. Three of his four games with three or more 3pt made came on the road including a career-best five at Bellarmine in December. Coach Lamont Paris announced Walker earning a scholarship at the end of practice Monday.
- The Mocs have six shooting better than 80 percent at the free throw line: Darius Banks (100%), Walker (92.9%), Stefan Kenić (86.8%), Malachi Smith (83.9%), Jean-Baptiste (82.1%) & Josh Ayeni (81.1%). More on page 4 of the notes package.
- Smith is averaging 18.4 ppg, 11.1 rpg and 3.4 apg on the road. His career high of 29 came in Nashville at Tennessee State on Dec. 22.
 
Walker's scholarship surprise moment…

Here we go! Congrats @jaySlade_2 on a very well earned scholarship! #MocsFlyTogether #RepTheC pic.twitter.com/p4eyRhoQvq

— Chattanooga Mocs MBB (@GoMocsMBB) January 19, 2021

 
NEXT 3 OPPONENTS
Jan. 23: UNC Greensboro, Noon | Current Record: 9-5/4-2 | Next Opp: at Chattanooga (Jan. 23)
Jan. 27: at ETSU, 7 p.m. | Current Record: 7-5/3-1 | Next Opp: at Western Carolina (Jan. 20)
Jan. 30: at Furman, Noon | Current Record: 10-3/4-0 | Next Opp: at VMI (Jan. 20)
 
GoMocs.com is the official website of the Chattanooga Mocs. Buy officially licensed gear in our online store. The Mocs can also be followed on their official Facebook page or on Twitter. Find out how to join the UTC Mocs Club and support more than 300 student-athletes by clicking here.