The UTC Mocs men’s basketball team came into this season with high expectations and thus far they’re meeting those expectations as the team has ripped off four straight victories to begin this 2021-2022 season with notable road wins at Loyal Marymount and VCU.
Thus far it’s been a big-time team effort but returning guard Malachi Smith has really stood out as he’s been named your Southern Conference Player of the Week.
This honor is really no surprise after Smith put a dagger through VCU’s chances of pulling the home win last week with this last-second shot…
.@maliworld11 CALLED. GAME!!! 😤
𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋
» Chattanooga 56, VCU 54 pic.twitter.com/DtOo6a8yre— Chattanooga Mocs MBB (@GoMocsMBB) November 20, 2021
Great defense by the defender yet better offense from Malachi Smith who averaged 19 points per game last week.
This is the second time the sophomore guard has grabbed Player of the Week honors in the SoCon, his first coming December 22nd of last season and he’s just the fourth UTC Moc to win the award surprisingly since the 2015-2016 season.
During the first game of the week, the Mocs downed Tennessee Tech 69-62 in which Smith played 34 minutes and flirted with a triple-double by pouring in 18 points, recording six assists, and grabbing eight rebounds. In the game against VCU, the Mocs won 56-54 on Malachi Smith’s mid-range jumper that netted him 20 of the 56 team points to push the team to 4-0 early in the season and they rose in the mid-major weekly rankings to #12.
3 new teams in the latest Mid-Major Top 25®
The complete Top 25: https://t.co/bM3IUsJZmc pic.twitter.com/l0EvY8ER5s
— College Insider Inc. (@collegeinsider) November 23, 2021
UTC is back on the floor Tuesday at 11 a.m. against Covenant at McKenzie Arena.
For all of my inner sports thoughts and to keep up with everything I’m doing around the Chattanooga area follow along on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Comments