CHATTANOOGA (January 16, 2026) --- After a thrilling comeback victory at Wofford on Wednesday, the Chattanooga Mocs men's basketball team heads to Western Carolina for a key early Southern Conference matchup on Saturday afternoon inside the Ramsey Center in Cullowhee, N.C. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. (ET) on ESPN+.
 
Chattanooga (8-10, 2-3 SoCon) will look for its third-straight win inside SoCon play after the team posted a home victory over Samford (W, 88-79) last Saturday and a road victory at Wofford (W, 76-67) on Wednesday night. Trailing by 10 late in the second half, the Mocs outscored the Terriers by a wide 36-15 (+21) margin over the final nine-plus minutes to come away with a crucial 76-67 victory.
 
Western Carolina (6-10, 2-3 SoCon) handed rival ETSU its first loss in SoCon play on Wednesday night after capturing a 72-68 home victory inside the Ramsey Center. The Catamounts five SoCon games so far have all been decided by five points or less with two of the five contests reaching the overtime period.
 
Full game details, notes, links and more are located below.

GAME DETAILS
Chattanooga (8-10, 2-3) at Western Carolina (6-10, 2-3)
Date: Sat., Jan. 17 ∙ Time: 1 p.m. ET
Site: Cullowhee, N.C. (Ramsey Center)
TV: ESPN+ ∙ Radio: Mocs Sports Network
Follow: Live Stats ∙ @GoMocsMBB on X/Twitter

SERIES HISTORY VS. WCU
106th Meeting: 73-32 (H: 41-7; A: 25-23; N: 7-2)
Last Meeting: at Chattanooga 91, WCU 86 – 2/19/25 (McKenzie Arena)
SoCon Regular Season: Chattanooga leads 61-29  

GAME NOTES
Chattanooga ∙ Western Carolina
 
GAME HEADLINES
MOCS CATCH FIRE LATE TO DOWN TERRIERS
• Chattanooga (8-10, 2-3 SoCon) earned its second-straight SoCon win with a 76-67 victory at Wofford... UTC trailed 51-41 with 9:47 left before outscoring the Terriers 36-15 from that point... team made its last six 3FGA over the final six-plus minutes.
 
WESTERN CAROLINA SCOUT
• Western Carolina (6-10, 2-3 SoCon) handed rival ETSU its first SoCon loss of the season after battling to a 72-68 home victory on Wednesday night... Marcus Kell hit a second-chance layup with 12 seconds to play to break a 68-68 tie during the win... WCU ended the game on a 12-5 run.
• Western Carolina's five SoCon games this season have all been decided by five points or less... two OT games so far (W, 80-77 @FUR; L, 77-79 @CIT)... both OT games came amidst a three-straight road game stretch... at Furman, at Samford and at The Citadel.
 
CLUTCH DOWN THE STRETCH
• Chattanooga made its final six 3FGA in Wednesday's win at Wofford... Brennan Watkins (2), Tate Darner (2), Jordan Frison & Billy Smith accounted for the six 3FGM... all in the final 6:27... UTC started 0-5 from 3FG in the second half... ended 6-11 (54.5%)... 10-24 (41.7%) for the game.
 
BENCH CONTRIBUTING AT HIGH LEVEL
• Chattanooga's bench outscored Wofford's 27-14 (+13) in Wednesday's win... followed a 36-5 (+31) edge in Saturday's win over Samford... +31 is the widest against a DI opponent this season... UTC bench is averaging 30.6 PPG (551 total)... opponents 19.4 PPG... +11.2 edge for UTC.
 
EARL APPROACHING CAREER MILESTONES
• Head coach Dan Earl earned career victory No. 149 after Wednesday's win at Wofford... 149-187 (.443) in 11 seasons between VMI (2015-22) & Chattanooga (2022-Pres.)... currently 76-48 (.613) in 4th season at UTC... Wednesday's win at Wofford marked his 70th career SoCon victory.

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