The Chattanooga Mocs (17-3), the Southern’s top shooting team, will go head-to-head against the VMI Keydets (6-11) at Cameron Hall. Action begins at 1:00 pm ET on Saturday, Jan. 23 and can be seen on ES3.
The Keydets enter this game hoping for similar success after topping Samford 83-76 on Thursday. QJ Peterson was the game’s leading scorer with 34 points on 13-for-21 shooting. The Mocs, meanwhile, are coming off a 73-60 win against UNC Greensboro on Thursday. Eric Robertson led the game in scoring by accounting for 22 points on 7-for-11 shooting.
Justin Tuoyo has been hot for the Mocs, averaging 15.4 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 0.8 steals, and 2.8 blocks over the past five games.
The Keydets have gone 6-11 Straight Up (SU) and 2-8 Against The Spread (ATS). Over their last 10 games, they have only managed a record of 1-6 ATS.
Over on the other bench, the Mocs have 17-3 SU and 9-6 ATS records. Chattanooga performed well ATS during its last 10 games, earning a 5-2 record. The Mocs convert their shots at a high percentage, ranking 38th in the country at .475. Moving on to the Chattanooga defense, teams with weak ball handling have not fared well against the Mocs, who rank 30th in the nation with 8.2 steals per game.
This game marks the season’s first head-to-head clash between the conference foes. Their previous game was a Mocs victory, bumping their SU record to 5-0. The Mocs also lead the matchup ATS with a record of 4-1.
Predictions: SU Winner – Chat, ATS Winner – Chat
Notes
Chattanooga sits at 6-1 SU against the conference, while VMI is 1-5 SU.
Chattanooga averages 77.1 points per game (ranked 99th). VMI, on the other hand, allows 73.3 points per game (ranked 219th).
The Chattanooga Mocs have a defensive rating of 97.9 (ranked 85th), while the VMI Keydets have an offensive rating of 97.3 (ranked 303rd).
VMI averages 69.4 possessions per game, scoring .973 points on each possession. While Chattanooga averages fewer possessions per game with 68.3, they score more points per possession with 1.128.
VMI has an average effective field goal percentage of 48.0%. Chattanooga is a superb 10-2 when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage.
On average, VMI attempts 24.0 three pointers and Chattanooga attempts 21.0. In games where they have 20 or more three point attempts, the VMI Keydets are 6-9 while the Chattanooga Mocs have an exceptional 11-2 record.
Chattanooga ranks 61st in the nation with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.26. VMI is ranked lower at 320th with an A/TO of .79.
The VMI Keydets make an average of 5.9 steals per game. When the Chattanooga Mocs allow 5 or more steals, they are a formidable 11-3.
