UTC (14-8, 5-4 SoCon) vs. WESTERN CAROLINA (13-7, 5-4)
2 p.m. Saturday at McKenzie Arena
Video & radio: ESPN3 & 97.7 FM/1070 AM
Storyline: The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga is seeking a regular-season split with the much-improved Catamounts, who have won two consecutive games at the Roundhouse after losing 37 of their previous 40 games in Chattanooga. For UTC, the magic number appears to be 70. When the Mocs have scored 70 or more points this season, they are 12-1 – though the only loss was 87-77 to the Catamounts in early December in Cullowhee, North Carolina – and Western Carolina is 0-3 this season when it has scored fewer than 70. The one constant on offense in UTC’s third season under coach Lamont Paris has been redshirt junior post Ramon Vila, who has scored in double figures in 12 of the past 13 games and has shot 50% or better in every game since the loss to the Catamounts. Western Carolina has one of the league’s top inside/outside tandems in post Carlos Dotson – with averages of 14.3 points and 9.2 rebounds per game – and Mason Faulkner (18 points per game, 127 total assists), and it also has a pair of 43% 3-point shooters in Matt Halversen and Onno Steger. The Mocs can match points with their visitors in this one, but to win they must hold their own on the boards, where the Catamounts held a 39-25 rebounding edge in the first meeting.
What’s at stake? It’s huge for maintaining a top-half standing in the Southern Conference, where two losses separate first place from seventh with half the season in the books. If the Mocs hope to contend for a top-four seed at next month’s conference tournament, they cannot afford to be swept by the Catamounts.
Up next: The Mocs host rival East Tennessee State at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.