Chattanooga Basketball Postgame Notes
Western Carolina at Chattanooga
McKenzie Arena – Chattanooga, Tenn.
Wednesday – Feb. 17, 2021

TEAM NOTES
- The Chattanooga Mocs scored an 89-81 overtime win against Western Carolina in Southern Conference in McKenzie Arena tonight.  UTC improved to 18-5 overall and 9-5 in league action with the win, while the Catamounts dropped to 9-13 and 2-11 in league play.

- Senior Stefan Kenic led all scorers with a career-high 29 points.  He was 8-10 from the field, 7-7 from three and 6-6 from the FT line.  His seven threes without a miss are the most on a perfect night from behind the arc in school history.

- Sophomore Malachi Smith had 20 points, followed by seniors David Jean-Baptiste and Darius Banks who added 12 each. 

- Sixth-straight win … most SoCon wins in a row since nine-straight Jan. 11 - Feb. 8, 2016.

- 14-4 in single-digit margin games.

- UTC came into the game No. 16 in the NCAA in FT% at 78.1% … shot 17-19 (89.5%) tonight … 9-9 in the second half and overtime.   

- WCU opened the game 12-20 from the field and 7-10 from three with nine assists.

- 13th win when trailing in the second half.

- Mocs cut the lead to 63-61 with 9:02 left to play after an A.J. Caldwell three … WCU went on a 10-0 run over the next 3:16 to take a 73-61 lead … WCU went up 75-63 with 4:09 to play … Mocs ended regulation on a 12-0 run to send the game into overtime … Western Carolina was 0-3 from the field, 0-1 from three and 0-2 from the FT line with three turnovers in that final stretch of regulation. 

- 12-point comeback that late in the game is the largest deficit overcome inside five minutes on record at UTC … second time this season the Mocs have overcome a 10-point deficit inside of 10 minutes to play. 

- Western Carolina held the lead for over 33 minutes in tonight's game.

- Last OT game for the Mocs was an 84-80 win over Troy on Dec. 15, 2019.

- Last OT game in SoCon play was an 80-76 loss at Samford on Feb. 16, 2019.

- Last OT win in SoCon play was an 87-85 victory against UNCG on Jan. 29, 2018.

- 89 points are the second-most scored this season (99 vs. Lander 11/25) … most in a SoCon game since 105 against Samford on Jan. 11, 2020.    

SOCON STANDINGS
UNCG – 10-4, 15-7
Wofford – 10-5, 13-8
Furman – 8-4, 14-7
Chattanooga – 9-5, 18-5
ETSU – 8-6, 12-10
VMI – 7-6, 12-10
 
SERIES NOTES
- 97th meeting, second most frequent opponent behind Samford (105).
- Record: 68-29 … tied for most wins against a SoCon team [The Citadel (68-19)].
- Home: 38-6
- SoCon Regular Season: 56-26 … 82 SoCon regular season games are most of any opponent … 56
triumphs in SoCon regular season play is second to The Citadel (64).
- Under Lamont Paris: 3-5
- First regular season sweep since 2017.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Darius Banks – Sr.-G
- 12 points on 5-6 shooting, 1-1 from three and 1-1 from the FT line.
- Added two boards.
- Fouled out four the second time this season.
- Eighth game in double-figures … 10^th played this season.

KC Hankton – Jr.-F
- Tied for game-high with 12 boards.
- Second time with 10+ boards.
- Second time leading the team in rebounding.
- Added seven points on 3-9 shooting, 1-4 from three>
- Also had two steals and a block.

David Jean-Baptiste – Sr.-G
- 12 points on 4-16 shooting, 2-11 from three and 2-2 from the FT line.
- Game-high and season-high seven assists … all seven resulted in a three-pointer … five by Stefan Kenic.   
- Added two boards and a steal.

Stefan Kenic – Sr.-F
- Career-high and game-high 29 points.
- Shot 8-10 from the field, 7-7 from three and 6-6 from the FT line.
- Third Moc this season with 29 points in a game [David Jean-Baptiste at VMI (01/02/21) and Malachi Smith at Tennessee St. (12/22/20)]
- Most threes without a miss in school history … Gary Robb (at Alaska-Anch.-11/27/92) & Brandon Born (So. Miss-1/2/94) both went 6-6 in a game. 
- 12^th game in double-figures this season.
- 3^rd career 20-point game … all this season.
- 4^th time leading the team in scoring.
- Added six rebounds.
 
Malachi Smith – So.-G
- 20 points on 7-14 shooting, 0-3 from three and 6-7 from the FT line.
- Fifth game with 20+ points.
- Added seven boards, three assists and four steals.
- One off a season-high for steals (5 at Tennessee Tech 11/30).
- 21st game in double-figures scoring.