JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Jan. 20, 2024) – The ETSU men's basketball team continues its rivalry with Chattanooga on Sunday afternoon when the Buccaneers and Mocs clash on ESPN2. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. inside Freedom Hall. 
 
GAME INFO
DATE: Sunday, Jan. 21
TIME: 3 p.m. 
LOCATION: Johnson City, Tenn. (Freedom Hall)  
TEAMS: ETSU (9-9, 1-4) vs. Chattanooga (11-7, 3-2)  
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN2 / ESPN+ (Brock Bowling / Dean Keener) 
LIVE STATS: ETSUBucs.com
RADIO: WXSM-AM 640 | 104.9 NASH ICON (Jay Sandos)
TWITTER: @ETSU_MBB
TICKETS: ETSUTickets.com
GAME SPONSOR: Mahoney's
 
ABOUT THE BUCS

• ETSU is looking to snap a four-game slide as the Bucs sit 9-9 overall and 1-4 in league play
• The Bucs have lost to UNCG, Western Carolina, Furman and Wofford during this stretch 
• Despite dropping the last two games, ETSU has improved offensively with the Bucs shooting 45 percent from the field (54-120) and 38 percent from beyond the arc (18-47) … Overall, the Bucs are averaging 73 points per game in the last two games … The difference maker in the two contests has been free throw shooting … ETSU has made two more field goals (54-52) than the opposition, while both teams have netted 18 threes over the last two contests; however, opponents are shooting 81 percent at the line, compared to the Bucs going 65 percent at the charity stripe … Opponents are 35-of-43, while ETSU is 20-of-31 … Jaden Seymour is averaging 20 points and 4.0 rebounds, while shooting 60 percent (15-25) and 57 percent (4-7) from three-point range … Tyler Rice has accounted for five of ETSU's 18 made triples over the last two games with a career-high four in the Bucs' last game at Wofford … In that Wofford game, Rice scored 15 points on 4-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc in 17 minutes of action
• Quimari Peterson has scored in double figures in his last seven games … Over this run, Peterson is averaging 16.3 points per game … Peterson's run began with three straight 20-point scoring games against Utah State (20 points), East Carolina (21 points) and Mercer (22 points)
• After missing eight straight games from Dec. 10-Jan. 10, sophomore guard Allen Strothers has returned in a big way for the Blue & Gold … Over the last two contests, Strothers has dished out 10 of ETSU's 29 assists, while also tallying five rebounds, three steals and seven points … Strothers, who has 10 assists to just three turnovers during this run, made his first start of the year Wednesday night at Wofford where he totaled five points, six assists, three rebounds and two steals in 31 minutes of play
• ETSU is 6-1 at home this season … In the seven home games, ETSU has a plus-13.1 scoring margin (76.7-63.6), while the Bucs are holding the opposition to a 36 percent shooting clip (148-413) and a 28 percent mark from beyond the arc (42-149) … The Blue & Gold are forcing 15.3 turnovers per game … Individually, Ebby Asamoah is averaging 17.8 points per game in six home games
• Since Feb. 16, 1987 in a game against Davidson, the Bucs have made at least one 3-pointer in 1,142 consecutive games ... ETSU was 0-for-8 in that 1987 game ... With Western Kentucky going 0-for-21 from beyond the arc on Nov. 9 at Wichita State, the Bucs now have the third-longest streak in the country behind Duke and UNLV … UNLV tops the list with 1,209 games
• The 2023-24 Buccaneer roster features 15 players ... ETSU's roster consists of one graduate player, two redshirt juniors, four juniors, one redshirt sophomore, three sophomores and four freshmen … Three players hail from North Carolina and Indiana, and one each from Tennessee, Iowa, West Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Kentucky, Virginia and Maryland
• The Bucs return four players from last year's roster who logged minutes, including starters Jaden Seymour and Allen Strothers, along with Justice Smith and Braden Ilic … Overall, ETSU only returns 29 percent of its scoring, 37 percent of its rebounding and 38 percent of its minutes played in 2022-23 … Seymour totaled 253 points, 218 rebounds and 1,793 minutes, Smith posted 237 points, 111 rebounds and 683 minutes, while Allen Strothers recorded 109 points, 51 rebounds and 776 minutes and Braden Ilic added for 46 points, 33 rebounds and 199 minutes
• After losing three starters and eight players from last year's team, head coach Brooks Savage and his staff brought in 11 new guys for the 2023-24 season … Seven of the Bucs are transfers – Ebby Asamoah (Delaware), Karon Boyd (USC Aiken), DJ Hughes (Butler), Jadyn Parker (North Florida), Quimari Peterson (John A. Logan), Tyler Rice (William & Mary) and Timmy Fasehun (Gulf Coast State College) … Four Bucs are true freshmen – Maki Johnson (Huntington Prep), Gabe Sisk (Ballard HS), Jaxson Jones (The Skill Factory) and David Meriwether (Lawrence North HS)

ABOUT CHATTANOOGA

• Chattanooga enters Sunday's game at 11-7 overall and 3-2 in SoCon play 
• The Mocs have won three of their last four and are coming off a 74-60 win at Mercer on Wednesday 
• Chattanooga is led by a pair of transfers in Trey Bonham and Honor Huff – both who started their careers at VMI … Bonham, who played two seasons at VMI and one year at Florida, is averaging 18.0 points and 4.9 rebounds, while shooting 54 percent from the field and 50 percent from beyond the arc … Huff is posting 15.6 points and leads the team in three-pointers (51), assists (52) and steals (30)
• As a team, the Mocs are posting 78.3 points and allowing 70.3 … Chattanooga is also averaging 10.4 made threes per contest 
• Chattanooga ranks fourth nationally in three-point attempts per game (30.6) and 11th in three-pointers made per game 

SERIES HISTORY 

• Sunday is the 99th all-time meeting between the two historic rivals with Chattanooga holding a 52-46 advantage
• The teams split last year's regular season series with the Bucs winning in Chattanooga and the Mocs returning the favor one week later inside Freedom Hall 
• The Bucs have won four of the last seven and seven of the last 12 meetings over the Mocs in Johnson City; however, Chattanooga has claimed the last three inside Freedom Hall
• ETSU has not lost four straight to the Mocs at home since at least the start of the 1978-79 season
• ETSU had won 10 straight in the series from Jan. 28, 2017-Feb. 5, 2020, but since then, the Mocs have won five of the last seven meetings

UP NEXT 
ETSU hits the road for a midweek game at VMI Wednesday night at 6 p.m. inside Cameron Hall. 
  
For more information on ETSU men's basketball, go to ETSUBucs.com and click on the men's basketball tab.