2021-22 Chattanooga Mocs Men's Basketball
Southern Conference Championships – Semifinal Round
Game 33 – Wofford
March 6 – Harrah's Cherokee Center – Asheville, N.C.
Postgame Notes
 
GENERAL
- The Chattanooga Mocs sent Wofford home with a 79-56 triumph in the semifinals of the Southern Conference Championships Sunday afternoon…Mocs are now 26-7, while the Terriers move to 19-13.
- 59-33 all-time in the SoCon Tournament…19-6 in the semifinals…25th semifinal game ranks only behind and Davidson (33), Furman (27) in league tourney lore….19 wins matches Davidson's all-time record for doorstep contests.
- Top-seeded Mocs advance to Monday's title game at 7 p.m., on ESPN…play the winner of Furman-Samford in game two of the day…19th finals appearance all-time with 11 wins…ties Davidson for the league record for finals reached with a chance to match the Wildcats' mark of 12 wins…West Virginia (10) is the only other team with double-digit tourney crowns.
- Have never met Furman nor Samford in a league final.
- Swept all three games this season from the Terriers…won 75-67 in Spartanburg (1/5) and 71-60 in Chattanooga (1/26).
- 49th all-time meeting…4th in the tournament and only second in the semifinals…last time the two met in the tournament was the 72-70 heart-breaking semis loss in Asheville in 2020…more on the series below.
- 6th time with 26 or more wins in a season...last was school-record 29 by the 2016 SoCon Champions...topped 26 in 1976-77 (27-5), 1981-82 (27-4), 1982-83 (26-4), 1992-93 (26-7) & 2015-16 (29-6).
- 56 points are the fewest allowed by Chattanooga in a SoCon Tournament game since the 2016 SoCon Champs held Samford to 54 (March 5)…fewest in a semifinal matchup since the 2005 SoCon Champs limited Appalachian State to 51 (March 4).
- Led 38-20 at the half…out-scored tournament opponents 75-43 in the first half so far…allowed 43 to The Citadel in the second half Saturday and 36 tonight…21-2 when leading at the half this season.
- +2 turnover margin (11-13) but took full advantage of Wofford mistakes with 20 points while limiting their own turning into points with seven for the Terriers.
- Scored an efficient 79 points on 48 shots…averages out to 1.65 points per shot attempt.
- Equally stingy on defense as the Terriers manage their 56 points in the same number of shots (1.17).
- Shot a scintillating 58.3 percent (26-48) for the game, 38.5 percent (5-13) from three…added an 18-23 performance at the free throw line (78.3%).
- +12 rebound margin (32-20)…controlled the defensive glass allowing just five offense rebounds claiming 82.6 percent of the Terriers 29 misses.
- Wire-to-wire win with the Mocs leading for 38:57…game was tied 0-0 for first 1:03 on a Darius Banks layup.
- 16-2 when scoring 75 or more points…10-5 when scoring less…21-1 when opponents score less than 70.
- No. 60 in the latest NCAA NET Rankings…Terriers were No. 106 at tipoff.
- No. 71 on ESPN's College Basketball Power Index (BPI)…Wofford was No. 100.
- No. 81 on KenPom with the Terriers coming in at 107.
- 1,385-1,114 in season No. 103…45th campaign as a DI program with an 839-545 ledger.
- 4-7 all-time in Game 33…last 33rd matchup was the 2020 semis loss to Wofford mentioned above.
- 10-3 all-time on March 6…last was the 73-69 semifinal win over Wofford en route to the 2016 Championship.
 
SERIES
All-Time Meetings: 49 | Record: 29-20 | Home: 15-7 | Away: 12-11 | Neutral: 2-2

• Fourth tourney matchup with a 2-2 mark.
• Today's matchup broke a natural progression from games 1-3: 2007 1st Round (64-55), 2017 Quarters (67-79) & 2020 Semifinals (70-72).
• Fourth in a row over the Terriers and sixth of last eight.

 
COACH
Lamont Paris (College of Wooster '96)
Record: 86-71

• Home: 47-23 | Away: 33-42 | Neutral: 6-6
• SoCon Tournament: 4-4 | Semis: 1-1
• vs. Wofford: 6-6 | Home: 2-3 | Away: 3-2 | Neutral: 1-1

 
INDIVIDUAL
- SoCon Player of the Year Malachi Smith put on a show with 25 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and two steals…9-14 shooting (3-4 3pt) and 4-4 at the free throw line…30th double-figure game this season, 60th career…19th 20-point effort (25th career) which is three shy of Gerald Wilkins' DI era record of 22 20+ games in 1984-85.
- 676 points this season for Smith is second in Mocs history and most in the DI era…Smith jumped from fourth past long-time NBA starter Gerald Wilkins '85 and all-time leading scorer Wayne Golden '77…he's 24 points shy of William "Go-Go" Gordon's '77 700 tallied in the 1977 NCAA Division II Championship run…there are seven 600-point campaigns all-time with Smith joining Gordon (700, 1976-77), Wilkins (672, 1984-85), Golden (657, 1976-77), Golden again (635, 1974-75), Stephen McDowell (633, 2008-09) and Chad Copeland (604, 1993-94).
- Smith moved into the top 30 in scoring at Chattanooga with 1,091…shot past Johnny Taylor '97 (1,070), Stephen McDowell '09 (1,075), James Jones '81 (1,081) and Gary Stitch '77 (1084) into 28th…needs 22 to make into the top 25: (current Murray State assistant) Ronrico White '15 (1,100), Gary Davis '65 (1,102) and Derrick Kirce '91 (1,113)…he's 50 behind No. 20 Alphonso Pugh '06 (1,141).
- 22 points shy of Derrick Kirce '91 for most DI era points in first two years of his career (1,113)…Wayne Golden '77 holds the all-time record with 1,142 in 54 games over the 1974 and '75 campaigns.
- 13 career double-double and four 20/10 nights...all three double-doubles this season are of the 20/10 variety.
- 17 points and three steals for Darius Banks…ties season high for steals for the fifth time…13 multi-steal games this season…203 career steals including 148 over three seasons at James Madison.
- Silvio De Sousa had 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals in 20:38…three assists ties career high (Nov. 14 vs UNC Asheville).
- 14 points for David Jean-Baptiste…still fourth all-time in scoring at UTC with 1,733 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 285…15 shy of becoming 8th SoCon student-athlete with 300 made in a career.