CHATTANOOGA --- The Chattanooga Mocs men's basketball team is back on the road this week with a Wednesday night matchup at Western Carolina in Southern Conference action inside the Ramsey Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
 
Chattanooga (13-3, 3-0) is coming off an 85-67 home victory over The Citadel on Saturday to push its win streak to four games as the squad sits atop the SoCon standings. Malachi Smith scored a game-high 27 points, the sixth time with 27 or more this season, and has now averaged 25.0ppg on 61.1% (91-of-149) shooting over his last 10 games. He was named the SoCon Player of the Week on Monday for the third time this season.
 
Western Carolina (7-9, 1-2) is looking to bounce back after suffering an 87-69 loss on the road at ETSU on Monday night as part of a COVID rescheduled contest. The Catamounts have dropped five of their last six games with a win coming over The Citadel (94-90 OT) in its league opener back on January 5. Wednesday's game against UTC will be WCU's fourth in the last seven calendar days.
 
The game at Western Carolina (7-9, 1-2) is available for streaming on ESPN+ through the Watch ESPN platform or fans can listen on WFLI 97.7 FM/1070 AM in Chattanooga as well as the Varsity Network app.
 
GAME BASICS
▪ Chattanooga (13-3, 2-0) at Western Carolina (7-9, 1-2)
▪ 7:00 p.m. ET | Ramsey Center (7,826) | Cullowhee, N.C.
▪ WATCH (ESPN+) | LISTEN (WFLI 97.7FM/1050AM) | STATS

GAME NOTES
Chattanooga | Western Carolina (currently unavailable) | SoCon
 
SERIES HISTORY – 98^th Meeting
All-Time: 68-29 – Chattanooga
Last: 89-81 (OT), Chattanooga – Feb. 17, 2021 (McKenzie Arena)
Home: 38-6 – Chattanooga
Away: 23-21 – Chattanooga
Neutral: 7-2 – Chattanooga
 
TIP-OFF
- Chattanooga enters the game with an 13-3 record and a 3-0 mark in SoCon play... coming off an 85-67 victory over The Citadel on Saturday... last time starting 13-3 was 2015-16 reaching 22-3... 8th time at 13-3 in program history.
 
- In its last meeting, Chattanooga defeated Western Carolina 89-81 in overtime inside McKenzie Arena on February 17, 2021... Stefan Kenic went a perfect 7-for-7 from 3PT and posted a career-high 29 points in the victory... Malachi Smith scored 20 points and added seven rebounds, three assists and four steals to aid the Mocs... UTC trailed by as much as 12 before completing the comeback in overtime.
 
- Western Carolina enters the matchup with a 7-9 overall record and a 1-2 mark in SoCon play... the Catamounts are coming off an 87-69 defeat to ETSU on the road on Monday... the game was part of a COVID reschedule... WCU has dropped five of their last six contests... opened SoCon 1-0 with a 94-90 OT win over The Citadel at home on January 5... fourth game in seven days.

BY THE NUMBERS 
- Chattanooga sits at No. 30 in the latest NET Rankings (1/10)... highest team in the SoCon... third highest in state of TN (Tennessee, 11 – Belmont, 28)… Chattanooga moved up two spots to No. 11 in the latest Collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll... 1/2 SoCon teams (Furman, 22).
 
- Malachi Smith leads the Southern Conference and ranks 13th in NCAA Division I basketball this season with a 20.8ppg average... 333 total points is 4th in NCAA DI... named a midseason mid-major All-American by Field of 68 outlet... named 6th best player in the country by Heat Check CBB.
 
- Head Coach Lamont Paris moved into sole possession of sixth place on the all-time wins list at UTC following Saturday's win... improved career record to 73-67 in his fifth season at the helm... passed Henry Dickerson (1998-2002) who claimed 72 wins in 145 games.

- Chattanooga is a perfect 6-0 this season when scoring 80 or more points in a game... 11-1 in games with 75 or more... coming off an 85-67 win vs. The Citadel on Saturday… the Mocs are a combined 58-22 since 2017-18 under head coach Lamont Paris when scoring 70 or more points in a game.

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