CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.---March Madness for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball team starts Saturday night, March 7, at home in the McKenzie Arena at 7 p.m.. The Mocs have one of two byes from sharing the North Division title with
While the Mocs are the No. 1 seed from the North Division, Wofford is the No. 4 seed from the South and Elon No. 5 from the North. The Terriers and the
March Madness begins in earnest for the Mocs on Saturday as the Southern Conference’s automatic bid to the Big Dance is on the line.
WHO: Stephen McDowell/Nicchaeus Doaks. The duo repeated on the All-Southern Conference teams with both earning All-SoCon in the Coaches Poll. McDowell is first team in the media poll, while Doaks received second team honors. Coaches All-SoCon Team/Media All-SoCon Team
WHAT:
WHERE: Only the Mocs quarterfinal game can be seen via video stream on GoMocs.com. Live stats will be available at GoMocs.com as well. All tournament games prior to the semifinals can be seen at SoCon.TV at SoConSports.com. Video streaming is a subscription-based service.
HOW: The Mocs are 48-22 (.686) in the 31 previous SoCon Tournaments. By round, the Mocs are 2-0 in the First Round, 21-10 in the Quarterfinals, 16-5 in the Semifinals and 9-7 in the Finals.
WHY: The Mocs are the No. 1 Seed from the North Division by virtue of tiebreaker over co-champ
PEP RALLY: The Chattanooga Mocs and Big River Grille have teamed up to host a Pep Rally on each day of the Southern Conference Tournament, beginning Saturday, March 7 at 5 p.m. at the downtown location.
The Pep Rally is free for all fans and Mocs giveaway items will be
distributed at the event. Fans attending
in their blue and gold Mocs gear will also receive a 10% discount. Each day will feature appearances by the UTC
Pep Band, Cheerleaders and Sugar Mocs. The pep rallies will be held in the billiards
area of the Big River Grille.
The
Saturday, March 7
5 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Sunday, March 8
11 a.m. – Noon (If the Lady Mocs advance to the semifinals)
or
5 p.m. – 6 p.m. (If only the men’s team advances to semifinals)
Monday, March 9
11 a.m. – Noon (If the Lady Mocs advance to the finals)
or
5 p.m. – 6 p.m. (If only the men’s team advances to finals)
There is only one event on Sunday and Monday with times depending on which Mocs team is still competing in the tournament. If the Lady Mocs, or both teams, are still in the tournament the Pep Rally will be the earlier time. If just the men advance, the Pep Rally will be at the later time listed.
SHUTTLE: In addition to the Pep Rallies, Big River Grille will also run shuttles from the downtown location to The McKenzie Arena and back. The shuttles will run every 20 minutes on Friday and Saturday from noon until the end of the games on each day.
Big River Grille is located at
LEAGUE LEADERS: Doaks leads the SoCon in rebounding (8.9 rpg) which ranks 39th in the country...McDowell is the league leader in three-pointers made per game (3.9) which is No. 4 in the nation...McDowell is also No. 22 nationally in three-point field goal percentage (42.3%) and 60th in scoring (18.3 ppg).
REBOUNDING AND DEFENSE: When asked his keys to victory in the upcoming tournament, Head Coach John Shulman repeats the same mantra time and again...rebounding and defense. The Mocs are the only team in the league to feature three players averaging seven or more rebounds per game in Doaks (8.9), Khalil Hartwell (7.2) and Kevin Goffney (7.0). All rank in the league’s top 10 with Doaks first, Hartwell seventh and Goffney ninth.
BRACKET WATCH: UTC is 6-3 in games against its half of the bracket this season splitting season series with Elon, Furman and Wofford, sweeping two from Samford and winning the lone matchup on the road with The Citadel.
