2021-22 Chattanooga Mocs Men's Basketball
Game 25 – at Mercer
Feb. 7 – Hawkins Arena – Macon, Ga.
Postgame Notes
 
GENERAL
- The Chattanooga Mocs captured a 74-72 overtime win over Mercer in Hawkins Arena Monday night…Mocs are now 20-5, 10-2 in the Southern Conference…the Bears move to 13-12, 6-6 in the league.
- 99th overtime game in school history with a 54-45 mark...45th time in a regular season SoCon game going 25-20 in those instances...5th time in the eight years Mercer has been a SoCon member the game in Macon was extended into extra time...2-3 in the five contests.
- 3-1 all-time in the second game when playing a league opponent in back-to-back contests…first back-to-back matchups with a SoCon opponent since beating UNC Greensboro 74-72 in the 2020 regular season finale in Chattanooga following up with a 78-68 triumph a week later in the SoCon Tourney Quarterfinals…first time it's happened in the regular season.
- Chattanooga retains the SoCon lead at 10-2, 1.5 game clear of Furman's 9-4 mark…VMI (6-5) is third while Mercer (6-6), Wofford (6-6) and UNCG (6-6) round out the top 5.
- Third of a four-game-in-seven-day stretch…next up is a visit Wednesday by Western Carolina (7 p.m.)…play three times in six days this week with a high-leverage trip to Furman on Saturday.
- 84th all-time meeting with Mercer but just 16th in conference play…five of the eight SoCon games in Macon ended in overtime (2-3)…the cumulative score of the eight league visits to Hawkins Arena is 575-572…Mocs are 3-0 over that span when limiting the Bears to less than 70 points, 1-4 when they reach 70 or more…more on the series below.
- 80th career win for Coach Lamont Paris…Wednesday's matchup with Western Carolina is his 150th…sixth in games coached at Chattanooga behind Mack McCarthy (365), John Shulman (291), Leon Ford (252), Ron Shumate (200) and Murray Arnold (181)…more on his coaching record below.
- Eighth team in the country to reach 20 wins joining Auburn, Murray State, Providence, Houston, Belmont, Purdue and South Dakota State…there are three other 19-win teams playing for 20th triumph still tonight: Arizona (at Arizona State) & Kansas (at Texas).
- 21st 20-win season all-time…one of seven Mocs squads to do in 25 games or fewer…school record for wins is 29 by the 2015-16 edition.
- Seven combined 3pt made with a season-low tying four by the Mocs and season-low three by an opponent for the Bears…Mercer's 16.7 percent (3-18) beyond the arc was also a season low by the opposition.
- 13 turnovers by the Mocs tonight…-5 turnover margin with eight by the hosts…10-point deficit in points off turnovers (6-16).
- Mercer led for 36:30 in the contest…eight lead changes and three ties…Bears largest lead was 11, 37-26, with 16:05 remaining…trailed by eight, 53-45, with just over six minutes to go…Avery Diggs scored eight points in a 17-9 run to the final horn to extend the game by five minutes.
- Trailed by four, 53-49, with 5:00 remaining...first win this season when down with five minutes to go (1-5)...10-2 when the score is within five points (leading or behind) with 5:00 to go.
- Diggs' 10-11 shooting performance (90.9%) is a season-high by a Moc…best FG percentage with 10 or more FG made since Tyler Troupe's perfect 10-10 night against King College on Dec. 21, 2006...more on Diggs' night below.
- 14-1 when scoring 75 or more points…6-4 when scoring less…16-1 when opponents score less than 70.
- 10-4 on the road this season (5-2 SoCon)…26-16 over last three campaigns (14-10 SoCon).
- 10 road victories rank as second-highest total all-time behind the 11-4 mark in 2015-16…there are five instances with nine road Ws: 1972-73 (9-7), 1976-77 (9-5), 1981-82 (9-3), 1991-92 (9-5) & 2020-21 (9-4).
- Clinch winning road record in conference play for the 20th time in 45 campaigns...2nd time under Coach Lamont Paris (5-4 in 2019-20) and fifth in last nine campaigns (40-37).
- No. 57 in the latest NCAA NET Rankings…Bears were No. 207 at tipoff.
- No. 54 on ESPN's College Basketball Power Index (BPI)…Mercer was No. 233.
- No. 68 on KenPom with Mercer coming in at 218.
- 1,379-1,112 in season No. 103…45th campaign as a DI program with an 833-543 ledger.
- 451-274 in 45th SoCon campaign…245-80 in the Roundhouse in league play…179-185 on the road.
- 39-22 all-time in Game 25…last year's 25th matchup was the season finale losing in OT at Mercer on Feb. 24.
- 42nd game played on Feb. 7…23-19 all-time…13-5 in SoCon action…10-11 on the road…1-2 against Mercer with the prior matchups coming in 1929 (38-40) and 1941 (33-43)…first time playing Macon on this date.

SERIES
All-Time Meetings: 84 | Record: 43-41 | Home: 24-13 | Away: 24-28 | Neutral: 2-0

• 9-7 in SoCon regular season games against the Bears.
• 84 total meetings rank as the sixth-most frequent opponent in school history: Samford (106), Western Carolina (98), ETSU (95), Furman (92) & The Citadel (89).
• 68 meetings outside SoCon membership is third behind Samford (76) and Tennessee Wesleyan (69).

 
COACH
Lamont Paris (College of Wooster '96)
Record: 80-69

• Home: 45-22 | Away: 31-41 | Neutral: 4-6
• SoCon Regular Season: 39-43 | Home: 22-18 | Road: 17-25
• vs. Mercer: 5-5 | Home: 3-2 | Away: 2-3 | Neutral: 0-0

 
INDIVIDUAL
- Career-high 21 points by Diggs besting prior high of 13 from earlier this season against Covenant…tied season high of five rebounds playing 20:55 of the 45 minutes tonight…Mocs were +13 with him on the floor…fourth double-digit scoring game of the season…raised his field goal percentage to 68.0 (51-75).
- Diggs scored 17 of his 21 in the second half (15) and overtime (2)…8-9 after intermission.
- Buzzer-beater (0.1 seconds) three by A.J. Caldwell was the second of his career…the last was 366 days ago beating ETSU in Johnson City on Feb. 6, 2021…that was less dramatic since it came at the regulation but in a similar vane with the hosts taking a late lead coming from behind in the final seconds only for Caldwell to shock the road crowd.
- 15-point effort for Malachi Smith…recorded a game-high eight rebounds, four assists and three steals…15th multi-steal contest with nine coming in league games (2.6 per SoCon game).
- Smith has 516 points this season…moved into 22nd on the season scoring list passing the likes of Matt Ryan (2019-20), Wayne Golden (1973-74), Brandon Born (1993-94) and Ralph Simpson (1971-72) along the way…25 shy of top 20 with the 20th spot held by Daren Chandler's 541 record during the 1989 season.
- Smith is 65 points shy of 1,000 for his UTC career…935 in 50 games (18.7)…currently third all-time in career scoring average behind Wayne Golden (1974-77) at 20.4 and Derrick Kirce (1990-91) at 19.5.
- 15-point night for David Jean-Baptiste…rose his career scoring number to 1,623 which is 25 short of fourth all-time – David Bryan (1966-69) with 1,648…271 career 3s continues to build on his school record…29 shy of becoming 8th SoCon student-athlete with 300 made in a career.
- Well-rounded night for Darius Banks...10 points, three rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks...74th career double-digit scoring game...first one with multiple blocks, eighth time for his career.