2021-22 Chattanooga Mocs Men's Basketball
Game 18 – Furman
Jan. 15 – McKenzie Arena – Chattanooga, Tenn.
Postgame Notes
 
GENERAL
- The Chattanooga Mocs claimed a hard-fought 71-69 victory against Furman Saturday afternoon in McKenzie Arena…Mocs are now 14-4, 4-1 in the Southern Conference…the Paladins move to 12-7, 4-2 in the league.
- Chattanooga takes over the lead in the SoCon at 4-1 with Furman dropping to third by percentage points at 4-2 (.667) behind Mercer at 3-1 (.750).
- +12 rebounding margin grabbing 37 to Furman's 25…sixth time with a double-figure positive rebound margin this season.
- Trailed 38-33 at halftime after the Paladins shot 50 percent (15-30) from the field and 58.3 percent (7-12) from long range…limited the visitors to 38.5 percent (10-26) in the second 20 including a strong 18.2 percent (2-11) beyond the arc…5-1 when trailing at halftime this year…Paladins are 9-2 when leading at the half.
- Key run came with 18:15 to go in the game…trailing 42-38, Chattanooga took advantage of a 14-2 spurt to flip the script leading by eight, 52-44, on Malachi Smith's and-1 with 12:53 remining…the run lasted 6:03 when Jalen Slawson scored to break the Mocs momentum at 12:12.
- Overcame a -6 turnover margin (11-6) and 10-point deficit in points off turnovers (6-16).
- Both teams were 9-23 (39.1%) from 3pt range…Mocs made 19 of 36 inside the arc (52.8%) as Furman made 48.5 percent (16-33).
- Six lead changes and five ties in what ended up a one possession game…both teams largest lead was eight with Furman's coming in the first half and the Mocs in the second.
- 11-1 when scoring 75 or more points…3-3 when scoring less.
- 8-1 at home this season…27-8 over last three campaigns.
- No. 38 in the latest NCAA NET Rankings…Paladins were No. 110 at tipoff.
- No. 44 on ESPN's College Basketball Power Index (BPI)…Furman is No. 95.
- No. 75 on KenPom with Furman coming in at 117.
- No. 11 in the collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll…Furman is No. 22.
- 1,373-1,111 in season No. 103…45th campaign as a DI program with an 827-542 ledger.
- 445-273 in 45th SoCon campaign…243-80 in the Roundhouse in league play…175-184 on the road.
- 47-32 all-time on Game 18 of the campaign…last year's game 18 was the 74-67 road win at Western Carolina.
- 19-14 all-time on Jan. 15…12-1 in SoCon action…14-6 at home…2-0 against Furman with the lone other meeting coming in 2000, a 72-63 home win.
- New director of volleyball Julie Torbett was introduced to the Roundhouse crowd at the first media timeout of the game…she's the seventh indoor head coach in program history joining the Mocs after two seasons at IUP…she's led programs at UNC Asheville, Winthrop and East Carolina as well.

SERIES
All-Time Meetings: 92 | Record: 55-37 | Home: 31-11 | Away: 18-25 | Neutral: 6-1

• 49-31 in regular season SoCon play…30-11 at home.
• One of six programs beaten 50 or more times overall: The Citadel (69), Western Carolina (68), Samford (66), Furman (55), Tennessee Wesleyan (51) & ETSU (50).
• 9-11 in last 20 meetings.

 
COACH
Lamont Paris (College of Wooster '96)
Record: 74-68

• Home: 43-22 | Away: 27-40 | Neutral: 4-6
• SoCon Regular Season: 33-42 | Home: 20-18 | Road: 13-24
• vs. Furman: 1-7 | Home: 1-4 | Away: 0-3 | Neutral: 0-0

 
INDIVIDUAL
- Another 20-point game for Malachi Smith tallying 21 on the day…7-14 shooting (2-4 3pt) and 5-6 at the FT line…21 of 27 (77.8%) at the line this week…added a game-high nine rebounds.
- Smith's 12th 20pt effort of the season…fourth in a row and seven of last eight…12 are most since 13 by Z. Mason in 2013-14…DI era record is 22 for a season by Gerald Wilkins in 1984-85…averaging 25.3 points per game over the last 12 with 10 contests scoring 20 or more during the stretch.
- Smith is up to 806 points in 42 games donning a Chattanooga uniform (18.7 ppg)…he is four shy of 1,000 counting 190 as a freshman at Wright State.
- Grant Ledford added 13 in 19:37 off the bench…5-6 shooting including 3-4 from three…third double-digit game of the season…career best against a DI opponent.
- Darius Banks was halfway to a triple-double, lliterally…seven points, five rebounds and five assists to go with three steals…one off season high for assists…three steals matches season's best with three in three of the last four games…26th time in his collegiate career with three or more steals.
- Silvio De Sousa chipped in 11 points and seven rebounds in 22 minutes…5-10 from the floor including 1-2 effort beyond the arc…45 rebounds in his last 88 minutes of game time (20.5 rebounds per 40 minutes).
- David Jean-Baptiste and Jamaal Walker were unavailable for tonight's game… due to HIPAA regulations, we do not disclose student welfare.