2021-22 Chattanooga Mocs Men's Basketball
Game 20 – at VMI
Jan. 22 – Cameron Hall – Lexington, Va.
Postgame Notes
 
GENERAL
- The Chattanooga Mocs gutted out a 78-74 win at VMI early Saturday afternoon…Mocs are now 16-4, 6-1 in the Southern Conference…the Keydets move to 11-9, 4-4 in the league.
- Chattanooga remains atop the SoCon standings at 6-1…all other games were later in the day with the Mocs entering action a half-game up on Mercer at 4-1 and a full ahead of Furman (4-2).
- Won five of last six meetings…14-6 in last 20…10-4 since VMI rejoined the league in 2014-15…more on the series below.
- Led 41-37 at halftime…11-3 this season leading at the break, 6-2 on the road.
- Teams combined for 42 points off 26 total turnovers…23-19 advantage for the Mocs with a +6 TO margin (10-16)…13 of the Keydets' 19 points off TOs came in the second half.
- Led by 10, 59-49, with 10:28 to play…game was tied 67-67 on Jake Stephens' layup at 5:03…Keydets took the lead with 1:24 to go on Travis Bonham layup, 74-73, at 1:24…Mocs scored final five points with two stops including key David Jean-Baptiste steal with 19 seconds on the clock and a then one-point lead.
- VMI's 54.0 percent (27-50) shooting is second highest by an opponent this season (59.6% at Belmont)…best opponent shooting percentage in a win since Wofford 58.0 percent (29-50) performance in the 84-77 win in Spartanburg on Feb. 8, 2020.
- Keydets' 46.2 percent (12-26) from three is a season high by an opponent as was the 12 made.
- Season-low 53.3 percent free throw shooting for VMI…made 8-15…came into game shooting 80.3 percent…Mocs hit 90% for second straight game going 20-22 (90.9%)…best since the same exact numbers in the 83-80 comeback win over Mercer on Jan. 13, 2021.
- Even with the see-saw feel of the four-point margin, there were just four ties and five lead changes…6-1 when there are five or more lead changes in a game this season.
- 12-1 when scoring 75 or more points…4-3 when scoring less.
- 8-3 on the road this season (3-1 SoCon)…24-15 over last three campaigns (12-9 SoCon).
- No. 46 in the latest NCAA NET Rankings…Keydets were No. 149 at tipoff.
- No. 46 on ESPN's College Basketball Power Index (BPI)…VMI was No. 133.
- No. 75 on KenPom with VMI coming in at 176.
- No. 13 in the collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll.
- 1,375-1,111 in season No. 103…45th campaign as a DI program with an 829-542 ledger.
- 447-273 in 45th SoCon campaign…243-80 in the Roundhouse in league play…177-184 on the road.
- 41-33 all-time on Game 20 of the campaign…last year's game 20 was the beatdown at Wofford winning 78-66.
- 19-7 all-time on Jan. 22…10-3 in SoCon action…7-7 on the road…2-0 against VMI with the last matchup in 2015, an 86-64 win in the Roundhouse.

SERIES
All-Time Meetings: 62 | Record: 47-15 | Home: 23-4 | Away: 20-9 | Neutral: 4-2

• 42-13 in regular season SoCon play…20-9 in Lexington.
• One of four opponents the Mocs have defeated 20 or more times on the road: The Citadel (30-13), Samford (23-27) and Western Carolina (23-22).
• 42 regular season conference wins against VMI ranks fourth behind The Citadel (64), Western Carolina (56) and Furman (49).
• Two schools have only met as members of the Southern Conference.

 
COACH
Lamont Paris (College of Wooster '96)
Record: 76-68

• Home: 43-22 | Away: 29-40 | Neutral: 4-6
• SoCon Regular Season: 35-42 | Home: 20-18 | Road: 15-24
• vs. VMI: 5-3 | Home: 2-1 | Away: 3-2 | Neutral: 0-0

 
INDIVIDUAL
- Another 20-point night for Malachi Smith with 25...12 straight road games with 20+ dating back to the road finale at Mercer (22) last season…averaging 25.6 points per game on the road this campaign.
- Smith's 14th 20pt effort of the season…sixth in a row and nine of last 10…14 are most since 16 by Ashley Champion in 2003-04…DI era record is 22 for a season by Gerald Wilkins in 1984-85…averaging 25.0 points per game over the last 14 with 12 contests scoring 20 or more during the stretch.
- Six in a row with 20 or more ties the school's DI era record set first by Derrick Kirce in 1991 and matched three years later by Chad Copeland.
- Smith is up to 853 points in 44 games donning a Chattanooga uniform (19.4 ppg).
- Smith's career-high six steals give him 36 for the season, one off his total of 37 from 25 games a season ago…101 for his career including 28 as a freshman at Wright State.
- David Jean-Baptiste scored 15 today shooting 3-9 from the field, 3-7 from three and a perfect 6-6 at the free throw line…1,543 career points which 105 points shy of fourth all-time – David Bryan (1966-69) with 1,648.
- Jean-Baptiste's 40th career game with three or more 3pt made…254 for his career building on his school record…81st contest in double figures.
- 13 points for Silvio De Sousa…double figures in five of his last six appearances…played 17 minutes.
- 10 points by Darius Banks shooting 3-5 from the field and 4-5 at the free throw line…his seventh of his game-high tying seven rebounds in the game came on VMI's final possession collecting desperate 3pt effort and made a free throw for the final 4-point margin of victory.