Two teams that are still in the running for the fourth and final bye in the 2013 SoCon Men's Basketball Tournament will battle as UT Chattanooga travels to Western Carolina's Ramsey Center on Thursday, February 28th, for their second and final meeting in the regular season.
The Catamounts won the first meeting in Chattanooga back on January 19th at one of the most difficult locations in the Southern Conference for the Catamounts to win, McKenzie Arena - by a final score of 90-81. (Read about that game here)
While both teams need help from others to reach that elusive bye, a loss by either team in this game eliminates that team from the race. However, for the winner of this game, there remains hope that the other dominoes will fall into place, leading to the bye.
The Catamounts not only need to win this game, they need big-time assistance from their arch rival to accomplish their goal and set up a run at Samford, the current holder of that bye.
So, what is the help the Cats needs from Appalachian State? Simply put, we need the Mountaineers to beat Samford on Thursday night, while we take care of Chattanooga. If they don't accomplish that - and Samford wins their game, all three remaining schools hoping for that bye, Western, ASU, & UTC are eliminated in this bye race. If the Bulldogs win, they lock up the bye, regardless of what else happens in the Thursday and Saturday's games. Go Mountaineers!
Chattanooga comes to Cullowhee having been on a very similar roller coaster ride that the Catamounts have been on this season. The $64 thousand dollar question is - which Mocs team will show up in the Ramsey Center?
Will it be the Mocs team that was blown out by UNCG, 94-68 last Thursday or will it be the Mocs team that upset Elon, 72-68 just two days later? Hopefully the answer to that question lies in the Mocs' win/loss record on the road.
Chattanooga has played a total of only 11 road games thus far this season, but, and this is a critical point, they have won only 3 of those games away from the somewhat friendly confines of McKenzie Arena.
Chattanooga's road game losses are where some of their largest margins of defeat occurred. The last road win for Chattanooga came at The Citadel, back on Jan 10, 2013.
Currently the Mocs are 12-17 over all and 7-9 in SoCon play. While the Mocs are averaging 68.8 points per game placing them in 6th place in the SoCon, - as a team, Chattanooga is hitting only 67.1% at the free throw line, a very important stat if you are a Catamount fan.
Chattanooga has two players currently scorning in double figures - Z. Mason leads the team scoring with 14.3 ppg, and 7.3 rebounds per game, but is closely followed by Gee McGhee, Chattanooga's candidate for freshman of the year, with 12.4 ppg and 3.8 rebounds per game.
This should be a battle to the end, with so much ridding on the outcome for both teams.
Too close to call, but here's hoping the Ramsey Center gives the Cats an edge.
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