CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Citadel men's basketball team (9-10, 3-5) takes two consecutive impressive wins into its home SoCon meeting with first-place Chattanooga (17-4, 7-1) Saturday at 1 p.m. The Bulldogs come in armed with hard-fought victories at ETSU last Saturday and versus Western Carolina Wednesday.
ON THE RADIO AND ESPN+
All games for the 2021-22 season will be carried on 102.1FM and 1450AM. The voice of the Bulldogs, Luke Mauro, returns for his fourth season behind the mic. The game can be seen on ESPN+ with Kyle West and Jason Kempf on the call.
A HISTORY OF COMING BACK
The Citadel rallied from a 19-point deficit in the last 12 minutes to defeat Western Carolina Wednesday, 68-66, for the biggest comeback win in school history. The Bulldogs doubled down to erase a 12-point margin in the final three-and-a-half minutes with
Hayden Brown scoring the team's final ten points, including the game-winning and-one layup with 5.7 seconds remaining. The Bulldogs previously rallied from a 15-point haltime deficit to knock off UNCG on Jan. 13. In both contests, The Citadel went into halftime trailing 33-18. Additionally, they created late second-half drama versus VMI on Jan. 15 after trailing by 13 points in the first half to take a brief 73-72 lead with over five minutes to play.
HAYDEN BROWN DOUBLE-DOUBLES DOWN
Hayden Brown had 26 points and 12 rebounds in the comeback win over Western Carolina, with 24 of his points coming in the second half and scoring the Bulldogs' last ten points. He shot 9-of-15 from the field and 8-of-12 on free throws. It marked the graduate student's 21st career double-double (fifth this season) and 19th career 20-point game.
RISING THROUGH THE RANKS!
Hayden Brown moved into 19th all-time with 1,196 career points and ninth all-time with 618 career rebounds. He is four points away from becoming the eighth person ever to reach 1,200 points and 600 rebounds.
Stephen Clark's three blocks puts him at 50 blocks this season for sixth all-time and a career total of 112 for fifth all-time.
Jason Roche had four of the Bulldogs' six 3-pointers Wednesday, putting his freshman season total at 72 made threes for fifth all-time.
MOFFE'S CENTURY MILESTONE
Tyler Moffe made his 100th career NCAA start in Wednesday's win, contributing four assists and three rebounds. The graduate point guard played one season at Jamestown C.C. and three at Mansfield University before coming to The Citadel in 2020-21.
HISTORY WITH CHATTANOOGA
The Citadel and Chattanooga meet for the 89th time on the hardwood with the Mocs holding a 69-19 advantage in the series. The teams split the two meetings last season with each team winning on their home floor. The Mocs kept with tradition in the first game this year, winning 85-67 in McKenzie Arena on Jan. 8.
SCOUTING THE MOCS
Chattanooga holds the best scoring defense in the SoCon allowing 63.8 ppg., best scoring margin at +12.6, and the highest field goal percentage at 47.6 (587-1233). Guard Malachi Smith ranks first in the SoCon and seventh nationally with 21.5 ppg., while ranking tenth in the league averaging 6.3 rpg. 6'9", 250-lbs. forward Silvio De Sousa possesses the SoCon's best field goal percentage at 56.8 (100-176) and sixth in rebonds at 7.1 rpg.
THE LAST MEETING...
Saturday, Jan. 8: Chattanooga 85, The Citadel 67
Stephen Clark had a career day with 22 points and 9-of-15 shooting. The Bulldogs kept close with the Mocs in the first half, trailing only 36-31 at the break, but Chattanooga's efficiency shooting an even 50.0 percent for the contest (35-70) and 10-of-25 from 3-point range helped them pull away in the second half, stretching its lead to as much as 20.
STEPHEN CLARK'S BLOCK PARTY
Stephen Clark leads the SoCon with 50 blocks that ranks sixth all-time in school history, while his 112 career swats puts him at fifth all-time. He's had three games this year totaling five or more blocks.
CHANGE IN FORTUNES
After using the same starters in all but one of the first 15 games, head coach
Duggar Baucom inserted
David Maynard in the starting lineup the last four games, the first starts of the graduate transfer's career. Results have picked up with two straight wins, erasing for good a 1-7 stretch between Dec. 16 and Jan. 19.
ROCHE LEADS SOCON IN THREES, MINUTES PLAYED
Freshman
Jason Roche made four 3-pointers in Wednesday's comeback win over Western Carolina, improving his season total to 72 made threes (6th in all NCAA Div. I) to move into fifth all-time among The Citadel freshmen. He is eight away from the all-time record of 80 set by
Fletcher Abee in 2019-20. The 6'5" forward stands atop the SoCon averaging 3.8 made threes per game and 35.6 minutes played (29th in all NCAA Div. I).
THE 1,200-600 CLUB
Hayden Brown reached the 600 career rebound milestone at Wofford on Jan. 19. He is four points away from becoming just the eighth person in school history to reach 1,200 points and 600 rebounds.
Player Years Points Rebounds
1. Cameron Wells 2007-11 2,049 657
2. Regan Truesdale 1981-85 1,661 688
3. Zane Najdawi 2015-19 1,634 736
4. Tom Slawson 1976-80 1,407 662
5. Mike Groselle 2009-13 1,359 739
6. Demetrius Nelson 2004-09 1,264 626
7. Matt Newman 1994-98 1,239 666
--
Hayden Brown 2017-present 1,196 618
BULLDOGS BY THE NUMBERS...
1ST IN SoCON IN BLOCKS 3.9 BPG.
2ND IN SOCON IN SCORING (30th in NCAA) 79.0 PPG.
2ND IN SOCON IN ASSISTS (14th in NCAA) 17.2 APG.
3RD IN SOCON IN REBOUNDING 38.4 RPG.
THE COMEBACK TRAIL...
Games this season where the citadel rallied from double-digit deficits to take the lead.
DATE OPPONENT LARGEST DEFICIT RESULT
11/15/21 Presbyterian 11 (22-11, 9:19 1st) L, 70-74
1/5/22 WCU 10 (42-32, 0:55 1ST) L, 90-94
1/13/22 UNCG 15 (33-18 AT HALF) W, 74-69
1/15/22 VMI 13 (29-16, 9:42 1st) L, 85-90
1/26/22 WCU 19 (52-33, 11:49 2nd)* W, 68-66
*Biggest comeback victory in school history
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs have their first meetings with Furman and Samford scheduled for next week, starting with Furman on the road Wednesday at 7 p.m., then hosting Samford next Saturday at 1 p.m.
