*This article is courtesy of Mocs Athletics*
CHATTANOOGA — The Chattanooga Mocs men’s basketball team caps off its three-game road stretch with a crucial Saturday afternoon matchup against Southern Conference foe Western Carolina inside the Ramsey Center. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. ET on ESPN+. Chattanooga (12-12, 4-7 SoCon) is coming off a 79-58 defeat at league-leading and preseason favorite Furman on Wednesday night. The 21-point defeat was the largest defeat since an 89-53 loss at Florida State back on November 20, 2019. The Mocs, who were without Jake Stephens for the fourth-straight game due to injury, were dominated on the glass by the Paladins. Furman out-rebounded Chattanooga by a wide 53-32 (-21) margin which marked the biggest rebounding difference since a -25 (48-23) at UAB on November 13, 2017. Dalvin White continued to lead the offense in Stephens’ absence, tying for a team-high 15 points (Jamaal Walker, 15) on the help of a 4-of-6 performance from three. In the last four games, White is averaging 14.3 points per game on 46.3% (19-of-41) shooting including a 54.2% (13-of-24) mark from three. Western Carolina (12-12, 5-6 SoCon) enters the game on Saturday looking to rebound from an 85-77 loss at home to Samford on Wednesday. The Catamounts have dropped three of its last four games after starting the SoCon slate winning three of its first four matchups. Fans can watch the game LIVE on ESPN+ through the Watch ESPN and ESPN App platforms or fans can also listen LIVE on WFLI 96.1 FM/100.3 FM/ 1070AM in Chattanooga as well as the Varsity Network app.GAME INFOChattanooga (12-12, 4-7 SoCon) at W. Carolina (12-12, 5-6 SoCon)Saturday, Feb. 4 · 2 p.m. ET · Cullowhee, N.C. · Ramsey Center (8,000)ESPN+ · Listen · Live Stats GAME NOTESChattanooga · W. Carolina · SoConSERIES INFO101st Meeting · Record: 70-30 · Home: 40-6 · Away: 23-22 · Neutral: 7-2Last Meeting: January 11, 2023 – W, 95-76 – McKenzie Arena (Chattanooga, Tenn.)LAST TIME OUTChattanooga (12-12, 4-7 SoCon) suffered its largest defeat since 2017 after falling 79-58 at SoCon-leading and preseason favorite Furman on Wednesday night in Greenville. Dalvin White and Jamaal Walker led the Mocs in scoring with 15 points each. Chattanooga was out-worked on the glass by a wide 53-32 (-21) margin, its largest rebounding discrepancy since November 2017. CLEANED OFF THE GLASSChattanooga struggled on the glass at Furman on Wednesday, suffering a -21 (53-32) margin in total rebounds. The +/- margin was the worst since Nov. 2017 and the 53 rebounds were the most allowed since Jan. 2009 (56, at Elon). THREE-POINT BENCHMARKAfter shooting 52.2% (12-of-23) from 3PT in Saturday’s win at ETSU, Chattanooga improved to a perfect 8-0 this season when shooting 40.0% or better from deep which includes a 4-0 mark in SoCon play. The 52.2% effort on Saturday marked the most efficient 3PT shooting day inside league play this year. 1,000 POINT SCORERSChattanooga featured two guys who surpassed 1,000 career points during Wednesday night’s game against Wofford. Both Jamal Johnson and Dalvin White reached the 1,000-point milestone as the duo finished with 22 and 13 points, respectively, during the contest. Johnson totaled 712 points prior to transferring to UTC between stops at Memphis, Auburn and UAB. White racked up 818 points during his four-year tenure at USC Upstate. STEPHENS REACHES CAREER MILESTONE FEW ACHIEVEGraduate transfer Jake Stephens became just the 23rd player in NCAA Division I basketball over the past 25 season to accomplish a certain feat. Stephens surpassed 1,800 career points, 900 career rebounds and 200 career blocks following last week’s contest against Furman. Stephens is the active leader in the Southern Conference in career points (1,851), rebounds (934), blocked shots (200), assists (355) and 3-point FGs made (231). STEPHENS IN NATIONAL COMPARISONHow does Jake Stephens’ impressive season compare to others around the country? Stephens is currently the only player in NCAA DI averaging at least 20 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two blocks per game. Stephens and Purdue’s Zach Edey are the only two players in NCAA DI averaging at least 20 points and 10 rebounds per game. If the season were to end today, Stephens would be the first DI player to average 20ppg, 10rpg, 3apg & 2bpg since Tim Duncan (Wake Forest) in 1996-97.
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