ABOUT CHATTANOOGA BASKETBALL
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CHATTANOOGA---It was a long wait for
Malachi Smith. He sat out the 2018-19 season after transferring from Wright State. He made up for lost time and then some completing the campaign in the most historical way.
Trivia question! How many Chattanooga Mocs led the men's basketball squad in scoring, rebounding and assists in a single season?
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Answer:
Malachi Smith. That's it. That's the list. You can even add total steals to that list although he nipped on average by
David Jean-Baptiste. It's no wonder he was an All-Southern Conference first team performer. He joined the likes of Derrick Kirce, Keith Nelson, Tim Brooks, Gary Robb, Johnny Taylor, Ashley Champion, Stephen McDowell, Omar Wattad and Justin Tuoyo earning that honor in their first season in Blue & Gold.
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For the tally books, he registered 16.8 points, 8.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists per contest. He shot 46.0 percent from the field including 38.3 percent from 3pt range to go with an 80.2 percent mark at the free throw line. Once he shook off the year's rust those numbers were staggering.
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He logged heavy minutes which is usually a drag to shooting numbers. Instead it shines a bright light to his dedication to conditioning and work with athletics performance guru
Tyler Dobratz. He converted 53.3 percent of his shots down the stretch with 47.2 percent efficiency behind the arc. That came under the pressure of the program playing under SoCon title hopes into the final week posting a 7-3 mark over those contests.
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Smith had a strong stretch run, but his start wasn't shabby. It was as historical as his finish becoming the first Moc of the DI era to open his career with back-to-back double-doubles as he turned that trick in seven during the 9-0 start, the only undefeated non-conference record in program history. His combination with Jean-Baptiste is best summed up in this tweet.
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What's next? Well there is this.
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Conventional wisdom suggests a return for the talented guard. His growth over two years in the Scenic City is significant and only scratches the surface of what is to come for the St. Louis area native. Follow along on social media as
Malachi Smith's season review takes over our Twitter and Instagram accounts @GoMocsMBB throughout the day including a message or two from the man himself.
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