JOHNSON CITY — If East Tennessee State is going to cure the curse of playing at home, it will have to come against the team its fans consider its biggest rival.
ETSU hosts Chattanooga in a Southern Conference men’s basketball game at 4 p.m. on Saturday. It will be the second meeting between the teams in eight days and the Bucs hope to pick up right where they left off. Last Saturday, ETSU walked out of Chattanooga with a 78-62 victory, one in which they shot 79% in the second half to win going away.
But a team that is 0-4 in SoCon games at Freedom Hall and has lost its last seven home games isn’t taking anything for granted.
“It’s a big game,” ETSU guard Jamarius Hairston said. “The rivalry dates back a long time.”
Jake Stephens, Chattanooga’s star 7-foot center, is out for what is expected to be an extended period of time with a hand injury. Stephens, who was averaging 21.8 points and 10.2 rebounds a game as the favorite for SoCon player of the year, missed the teams’ last meeting.
In Stephens’ absence, Bucs center Jalen Haynes dominated with 23 points and 13 rebounds. He made 11 of 13 shots from the field in the surprisingly easy win.
Haynes, a 6-8, 255-pound sophomore, has become one of the top big men in the SoCon when he imposes his will. He had 27 points in an overtime loss to Mercer on Wednesday night, but threw away the ball in a key moment down the stretch when the Bucs (8-14, 4-5) ran an isolation play that had been consistently ending in baskets.
“We had scored off of that same ISO like seven straight times,” ETSU coach Desmond Oliver said. “It just came down to a little bit of nerves. Being in position to be the guy. It’s his first time being the guy that’s going to impact winning and losing on that shot. He’s going to arrive at that point where he just has tough guts and will not worry about it. I think he may have panicked a little bit. He wanted to find Jordan (King). He trusts Jordan. But he had a one-on-one from 3 feet. We called the play for him to go get a basket.
“That’s the thing with young teams. As you get older you have those moments and the shock value of that moment isn’t the same when you’ve had it five, six, seven times. He’s a tremendous young player. He’s going to figure it out soon.”
The Mocs (11-11, 3-6) arrive in Johnson City on a four-game losing streak.
Without Stephens in the lineup, the Mocs are expected to take even more 3-point shots. They already lead the country in attempts (683) and makes (253). Chattanooga was 3-for-22 on long-range shots in the second half against ETSU last week.
After Stephens, Jamal Johnson is the Mocs’ leading scorer with an average of 13.6 points a game. He is coming off a 22-point effort against Wofford. Point guard Dalvin White leads the country in assist-to-turnover ratio (4-1) and is shooting 43.8% from 3.
The hot-and-cold King was on in the first meeting with the Mocs, getting 29 points. In his next game, against Mercer, King shot 2-for-12 and had seven points. He still leads the Bucs in scoring at 14.2 points per game.
ETSU’s women open the Freedom Hall doubleheader with a game against UNC Greensboro (10-10, 3-3). Brenda Mock Brown’s Bucs (16-6, 3-3) tip off at 1 p.m. looking for their third straight win.
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