2021-22 Chattanooga Mocs Men's Basketball
Game 31 – Samford
Feb. 26 – McKenzie Arena – Chattanooga, Tenn.
Postgame Notes
 
GENERAL
- The Chattanooga Mocs closed out the regular season with a 70-57 triumph over Samford in McKenzie Arena Saturday afternoon…Mocs are now 24-7, 14-4 in the Southern Conference…the Bulldogs drop to 20-10, 10-8 in the league.
- Chattanooga won 14 in SoCon play…9th time winning 14 or more.
- Ended up with a 2-game advantage in the standings over second-place Furman (12-6).
- The Mocs are the No. 1 seed in Asheville…they'll face the winner of Friday's ETSU/The Citadel 8-9 matchup in Saturday's first quarterfinal contest…the other half of the bracket is still up in the air with a possibility of four teams ending up in a tie for third at 10-8 including UNCG which doesn't finish its season until Sunday.
- Chattanooga took an eight-point lead into intermission and controlled the game until a mini-spurt by the Bulldogs closed the advantage to four, 45-41 on a Jermaine Marshall three with 12:27 to go...the Mocs scored back-to-back buckets to get it back to nine...the Bulldogs got no closer than seven the rest of the way with the hosts holding a comfortable double-digit advantage over the final 6:01.
- 107th all-time meeting…most frequent opponent in school history…one of four programs played 90+ times: Western Carolina (99), ETSU (96) and Furman (93)…more on the series below.
- 12-3 (.800) home record…7-2 (.778) in conference play…most home wins overall and in league play since 13 and eight in 2015-16…22nd Mocs team to win 12 or more in the Roundhouse in a season…16th to win seven or more league games.
- 24 regular season wins ranks second only to the 2016 SoCon Champions' 26…also won 20 in the regular season in 1973-74 (21), 1976-77 (22), 1981-82 (23), 1982-83 (23), 1984-85 (21), 1986-87 (21), 1991-92 (21), 1992-93 (23), 1993-94 (20) and 2014-15 (22).
- +5 turnover margin (8-13) against a team that pressed a good portion of the game…12-7 advantage in points off turnovers.
- +9 rebound margin (42-33)…10-6 lead in second chance points…19th time out-boarding an opponent this season…15-4 in those contests.
- Led for 36:03 of the contest...two ties but only one lead change as the Mocs took the lead for good on a Grant Ledford three with 15:06 left in the opening frame for a 9-6 advantage…it was part of a 17-5 run to go up 12 just past the first half's midpoint.
- Nine steals led be three each from seniors Darius Banks and David Jean-Baptiste…nine or more in 12 games this campaign.
- 15-2 when scoring 75 or more points…9-5 when scoring less…19-1 when opponents score less than 70.
- No. 69 in the latest NCAA NET Rankings…Bulldogs were No. 169 at tipoff.
- No. 67 on ESPN's College Basketball Power Index (BPI)…Samford was No. 220.
- No. 78 on KenPom with Samford coming in at 187.
- 1,383-1,114 in season No. 103…45th campaign as a DI program with an 837-545 ledger.
- 455-276 in 45th SoCon campaign…247-82 in the Roundhouse in league play…181-185 on the road.
- 14-12 all-time in Game 31…last 31st matchup was the thrilling 74-72 home win over UNCG on Feb. 29, 2020.
- 14-13 all-time on Feb. 26…last was the 71-64 2020 road win at VMI…9-3 in the SoCon on this date…5-3 at home…3-0 against Samford on Feb. 23.
 
SERIES
All-Time Meetings: 107 | Record: 67-40 | Home: 42-12 | Away: 23-28 | Neutral: 2-0

• 20-8 in SoCon regular season games against the Bulldogs.
• One of six programs beaten 50 or more times overall: The Citadel (70), Western Carolina (69), Furman (56), Tennessee Wesleyan (51) & ETSU (51).
• 42nd home win in the series…most against any institution…more wins in Chattanooga over Samford than anywhere against all but eight opponents in school history but in fewer games than all eight.

 
COACH
Lamont Paris (College of Wooster '96)
Record: 84-71

• Home: 47-23 | Away: 33-42 | Neutral: 4-6
• SoCon Regular Season: 43-45 | Home: 24-19 | Road: 19-26
• vs. Samford: 8-3 | Home: 5-0 | Away: 2-3 | Neutral: 1-0

 
INDIVIDUAL
- Team-high 16 points for Darius Banks…second time this season leading the squad in points (26 at Furman)…6-11 shooting, but 6-7 inside the arc…added seven rebounds, two assists and three steals…tied season high for thefts doing it for the fourth time, all in SoCon play (at Wofford, The Citadel & Furman).
- 12 points, eight rebounds and three assists for Malachi Smith…efficient making 4-8 from the field, 2-3 from three and 2-2 at the FT line.
- Tada Stricklen was a team-best +11 in his 14:01 of playing time…KC Hankton joined Banks and Smith at +10.
- Smith is tied for 33rd-place all-time in scoring at Chattanooga with 1,047…28 points shy of top 30: Keith Nelson '91 (1,047), Johnny Taylor '97 (1,070) and Stephen McDowell '09 (1,075).
- 66 points shy of Derrick Kirce '91 for most points in first two years of his career (1,113).
- 632 points this season for Smith is sixth in Mocs history…there are seven 600-point campaigns all-time with Smith joining William Gordon (700, 1976-77), Gerald Wilkins (672, 1984-85), Wayne Golden (657, 1976-77), Golden (635, 1974-75), Stephen McDowell (633, 2008-09) and Chad Copeland (604, 1993-94).
- David Jean-Baptiste saved the best for last…seven points with one three made…the three came at the end of the shot clock in the final possession sending the Roundhouse aroar.
- Jean-Baptiste is fourth all-time in scoring with 1,699 points…third-place is the incomparable Willie White '84 who is the DI era scoring leader with 1,969 points.
- DJB continues to build on his 3pt record at Chattanooga with 282…18 shy of becoming 8th SoCon student-athlete with 300 made in a career.