2021-22 Chattanooga Mocs Men's Basketball
Game 22 – at The Citadel
Jan. 29 – McAlister Field House – Charleston, S.C.
Postgame Notes
 
GENERAL
- The Chattanooga Mocs cruised to a 75-62 triumph at The Citadel Saturday afternoon…Mocs are now 18-4, 8-1 in the Southern Conference…the Bulldogs move to 9-11, 3-6 in the league.
- Chattanooga remains atop the SoCon standings at 8-1…Furman stays in second at either 8-2 or 7-3 depending on their matchup tonight at Mercer which gets to 6-3 with a win or 5-4 with a loss keeping its third-place slot…UNCG (4-4) is at Wofford (4-5) with a chance to tie for third or drift out of the top 5 with VMI's win over ETSU moving the Keydets to 5-5.
- Won seven of last eight meetings…70 wins in the series are the most against any opponent…15-5 in last 20…more on the series below.
- 8-1 in the SoCon…7th time winning eight of first nine league games (1982-83, 1986-87, 1991-92, 1992-93, 2013-14, 2015-16)…best start all-time was 10-0 in 1981-82 finishing the year at 15-1 which was matched the next season as well….1984-85 and 1996-97 teams opened 9-0 are the only other squads to be undefeated through eight league games.
- 5-game win streak…three of the five came on the road…won nine of last 10.
- 11th win by double-digit margin in 2021-22…most since 15 in 2016-17…the '17 team's first 13 wins were all by double figures…36-3 all-time when the final margin is 10 or more against the Bulldogs.
- Took full advantage of winning the turnover battle…+11 turnover margin (7-18) led to +23 in points off turnovers (27-4)…1.50 points per Citadel turnover while the hosts manage 0.57.
- Tied season high with 11 steals…also had 11 against Tennessee Wesleyan and at VMI…10+ steals six times…most since seven in 2016-17.
- Led for 36:05…it was a little topsy-turvy with three lead changes and two ties in the first 4:10…zero after two Darius Banks free throws gave the good guys the lead for good with 15:50 to go in first half.
- 90 percent from the free throw line making 18 of 20…third time in last four games making 90 percent or better…only Mocs team of the DI era with three games making 90% or better while attempting at least 20 in a game.
- 70 of 80 at the FT line (87.5%) over last five games.
- Second regular season conference sweep in as many tries this week defeating Wofford on Wednesday...swept the Bulldogs three of last four seasons and 23rd all-time…31 points total margin over the two victories are the most in a single season since 46 in 2020 with a pair of 23-point victories in the Roundhouse and at McAlister…fourth total sweep with two non-conference – Tennessee Tech and UNC Asheville.
- 13-1 when scoring 75 or more points…5-3 when scoring less…15-1 when opponents score less than 70.
- 9-3 on the road this season (4-1 SoCon)…25-15 over last three campaigns (13-9 SoCon).
- No. 44 in the latest NCAA NET Rankings…Bulldogs were No. 239 at tipoff.
- No. 47 on ESPN's College Basketball Power Index (BPI)…The Citadel was No. 222.
- No. 68 on KenPom with The Citadel coming in at 256.
- No. 7 in the collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll.
- 1,377-1,111 in season No. 103…45th campaign as a DI program with an 831-542 ledger.
- 449-273 in 45th SoCon campaign…244-80 in the Roundhouse in league play…178-184 on the road.
- 41-32 all-time in Game 22…last year's 22nd matchup was the thrilling 53-51 home victory in the regular season sweep of ETSU on Feb. 15.
- 17-8 all-time on Jan. 29…25th game on this date…10-5 in SoCon action…5-7 on the road…oddly first time playing The Citadel on the 29th day of the year…last time was a 92-84 win at Samford in 2020.

SERIES
All-Time Meetings: 89 | Record: 70-19 | Home: 38-6 | Away: 31-13 | Neutral: 1-0

• 66-16 in regular season SoCon play.
• One of six programs beaten 50 or more times overall: Western Carolina (68), Samford (66), Furman (55), Tennessee Wesleyan (51) & ETSU (50).
• Only program beaten 30 or times on the road by the Mocs...Samford (23), Western Carolina (23) and VMI (20).

 
COACH
Lamont Paris (College of Wooster '96)
Record: 78-68

• Home: 44-22 | Away: 30-40 | Neutral: 4-6
• SoCon Regular Season: 37-42 | Home: 21-18 | Road: 16-24
• vs. The Citadel: 8-2 | Home: 5-0 | Away: 3-2 | Neutral: 0-0

 
INDIVIDUAL
- 19 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals for Malachi Smith…breaks streak of 20 points or more in road games at 12…25.1 ppg in 12 road games this season…10th Mocs game with three or more steals, seventh in 2021-22.
- David Jean-Baptiste scored 12 today on 5-10 shooting, 2-5 from three…1,568 career points is 80 points shy of fourth all-time – David Bryan (1966-69) with 1,648.
- Smith is up to 890 points in 46 games donning a Chattanooga uniform (19.4 ppg)…topped 150 assists with his first today.
- Jean-Baptiste is one 3pt made from 260 for his career building on his own school record.
- 15 points, seven rebounds and three assists for Darius Banks…season-best 8-9 from FT line…most points since 20 in the second game of the year (UNC Asheville)…73rd career game in double figures including his career at James Madison.
- Banks and Smith were both game-high +16s (scoring margin when on court)…A.J. Caldwell was right behind at +13.
- Avery Diggs contributed 10 points and career-high tying three assists…made 4-5 from the floor and 2-2 at free throw line in 12:35 of court time.