CHATTANOOGA — The Chattanooga Mocs men’s basketball team will host head coach Lamont Paris‘ alma mater College of Wooster in an exhibition contest inside McKenzie Arena on Thursday with tip-off set for 7 p.m. ET.
Paris, a ’96 graduate, was a two-time All-North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) selection and helped the Fighting Scots to three NCAA Division III Tournament appearances during his playing career from 1993-96. Adding to the connections, Paris was former teammates of current Wooster head coach Doug Cline.
“I don’t think they have too many statutes of me hanging around anywhere,” Paris laughed when asked about facing the familiar opponent at his media press conference on Tuesday.
“But it’s fun. This is a fun game. I’m really excited about them coming to town. They’re used to winning, they know how to win, they know how to play basketball, they know where to be. It’ll be a fun game.”
BASICS
▪ Chattanooga (0-0, 0-0) vs. College of Wooster (0-0, 0-0) – Exhibition
▪ 7:00 p.m. ET | McKenzie Arena (10,995) | Chattanooga, Tenn.
▪ Listen Live (Varsity Network)
▪ Live Stats (no live video)
TICKETS
Tickets for Thursday’s exhibition as well as season tickets (starting at under $100) are available through the Chattanooga ticket office. Get yours today by clicking HERE or by calling the McKenzie Arena box office at (423) 266-MOCS. Box office hours inside McKenzie Arena run Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. ET. The box office will be open on game day.
FAN INFORMATION & COVID-19 GUIDELINES
Masks are always REQUIRED inside McKenzie Arena except when actively drinking or eating. McKenzie Arena and parking services will operate on a CASHLESS basis for the 2021-22 season. Ticket purchases at the box office will still accept cash. Will Call will be located at Gate 1.
Parking ($5) is available in Lots 7, 34 as well as the nearby visitor’s parking garage located adjacent to the University Center on Mocs Alumni Drive. All gates (1, 2, 3) will be open for fan access. Please review UTC’s Clear Bag Policy structure HERE.
TIP-OFF
– Chattanooga head coach Lamont Paris is a ’96 graduate of The College of Wooster (Business Economics)… native of Findlay, Ohio which sits less than 100 miles from campus.. former teammate of current Wooster head coach Doug Cline (’95).
– Chattanooga was selected as the Southern Conference preseason favorite in both the coaches and media polls… debuted at No. 21 in the initial CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 rankings… lone SoCon team featured in the poll.
– College of Wooster carries a high tradition of winning… the Fighting Scots are the winningest NCAA Division III program since the start of the 1999-00 season… .818 (525-117) is the second-highest winning percentage among all NCAA programs (I, II, III) except for Gonzaga (.834; 630-125)… first exhibition against DI opponent since 2017-18.
– Chattanooga opens the regular season on Tuesday, November 9 at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles, California with tip-off scheduled for 10:30 p.m. ET… LMU was slotted No. 92 while UTC was lodged at No. 98 in the CBS Sports Network All-358 Preview… the Mocs are currently riding an 11-game non-conference win streak which is a school record.
BY THE NUMBERS
– Graduate guard David Jean-Baptiste and sophomore guard Malachi Smith were named to the All-Southern Conference Preseason team… both return in 2021-22… Smith led the team in points (16.8) and rebounds (8.8) per game last season… Jean-Baptiste followed with a 16.1ppg average while pacing the Mocs in 3-pt FGs (59).
– Two ‘big’ graduate transfer additions highlight the newcomers in 2021-22… Silvio De Sousa (Kansas) and Avery Diggs (UCF) will showcase a presence in the paint… De Sousa (PF) stands at 6’9 and 250lbs while Diggs (C) adds a 6’10 255lbs frame.
– A veteran squad… UTC features four graduate students on the 2021-22 roster… the team returns 80.6% of its total minutes (4,235 of 5,250) and 78.5% of total points (1,482 of 1,888) from last year’s team… the 2020-21 team blistered out to a 9-0 start and marked the only undefeated non-conference run in school history.
– Malachi Smith became the first Moc in school history to lead the team in scoring, rebounding and assisting for a season last year… also became the first Moc to open career with back-to-back double-doubles with eight coming in the first 10 games… ranked T27th in NCAA DI with nine total.
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