Chattanooga 73, Kennesaw State 69

Check the stats. It's easy to see why the Mocs won.

Rebounding? Mocs 35, Owls 33.

Free throws? Mocs 73.3%.

Turnovers? Mocs commit 10.

Three point shots? Mocs take 16 out of 58 total shots (27.6%).

I said before the game that the Mocs don't win a close game because they weren't rebounding well, and weren't shooting free throws well. Kennesaw State was also struggling with rebounding, so I was hoping maybe that would balance out.

And it did.

I was hoping the Mocs free throw shooting against Tennessee was more what we should expect than how they shot against Austin Peay.

And for tonight, it was.

The three point shots and turnovers were just an added bonus.

The player that I said before the season would be the Most Important Player on the team was DeAntre Jefferson, and tonight, Jefferson had 16 points and ten rebounds. The double-double that Jefferson accounted for makes him the key player in this game. Jefferson double-double made all the difference in this team's performance.

Odem scored 14 off the bench again. He made 6 of 6 from the free throw line, including two huge ones that put the game away with under five seconds left. Odem stunk it up against Tennessee, but seems to be playing much better now. Maybe he got a fire lit under him with that performance.

Very confused by the minutes stats currently listed on GoMocs.com. It only adds up to 192 mninutes. If accurate (and honestly I don't remember), then Shulman has really shut down the rotation. Only six played double digit minutes. The five starters played the vast majority, with Odem playing 14 minutes and scoring 14 points, and Cage playing four minutes and scoring seven points.

Dontay Hampton may have been the key to the game tonight. He made some defensive plays that really helped win the game with Bell in foul trouble and eventually fouling out. Wattad also fouled out, and took just seven shots. He had six assists tonight- maybe changeing the shoot first attitude that he has had so far this year. He looked very good tonight.

Taylor also made some big shots.

This was an all-around good team performance. Do the Mocs need to play better than this? Absolutely. The Mocs can not settle on this. Kennesaw State had just beaten Georgia Tech by 17 at home. The Mocs play at Georgia Tech later on in the year. So the Owls are playing very well, and Chattanooga had been 0-2 on the season. Getting a win (any win) right now was really important.

Can the Mocs build on this? Possibly. They need to play better if they want to beat Marshall or Louisville on the remainder of this road trip, obviously. Is it possible? Sure it is.

But this is the start. And an important one for the Mocs.

GO MOCS!