Glen Rice Jr. scored 27 points while Iman Shumpert recorded a double double in leading the Yellow Jackets to a 62-53 victory over the Chattanooga Mocs. The win snapped Tech's five game losing streak and couldn't have come at a better time with a trip to Duke coming up on Sunday.
In the preview, I spotlighted the Mocs rebounding as a potential problem for Tech. Chattanooga did out rebound the Yellow Jackets slightly but Tech was able to negate that advantage by taking the ball to the basket and earning trips to the free throw line. Tech attempted 16 more free throws in this game than Chattanooga and made eleven more. That proved to be the difference as both teams shot just under 40% from the field.
Chattanooga had no answer for Rice Jr. who continues to emerge as a capable scorer in his sophomore season. Iman Shumpert finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds. No other Yellow Jacket was in double figures but it was enough to pull out a much needed victory and stopped a long losing streak.
Omar Watted scored 18 points to lead the Mocs. DeAntre Jefferson and Ricky Taylor rounded out the Chattanooga players in double figures with 14 and 13 points respectively.
The road doesn't get any easier for the Yellow Jackets who return to ACC play on Sunday when they travel to Cameron Indoor Stadium to take on Duke.