A formidable opponent visited the Carolina First Arena when the Cougars hosted the Chattanooga Mocs Feb. 4.
The Cougars have lost two of their last three games in the absence of starting center Jeremy Simmons, but are still ranked atop the SoCon with a 9-2 record and 14-8 overall.  
The Mocs (13-10) (4-5) came to town riding a two-game winning streak, most recently defeating Appalachian State 85-80.  Chattanooga relies heavily on 6-foot-6-inch senior guard Ty Patterson, who leads the Mocs in scoring, averaging 15.7 points a game.  But in the first half Patterson was nonexistent, going 0-9 from the field and 0-1 from the charity stripe.  
The Cougars welcomed back 6-foot-8-inch junior Simmons, who missed the last four games with a sprained MCL.  Simmons averages 12.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocks a game.
“I think he’s the best player in the SoCon, and people are afraid of him,” said junior guard Andrew Goudelock. “If he’s not blocking shots he’s setting great picks on the offensive end. He makes me feel more comfortable when he’s out there.”
The Cougars’ freshmen had to play larger roles while Simmons was out, and 6-foot-6-inch forward Willis Hall responded nicely. Hall averaged 12.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and a block a game while in the starting lineup the last four games.
“We went 2-2 without Jeremy but Willis Hall played great, I couldn’t have asked for more from him,” said Head Coach Bobby Cremins.
The Cougars started the game giving up two quick baskets to the Mocs as they looked to capitalize off Charleston misses by pushing the ball up the court on fast breaks.  But that was the only lead change of the night for the two teams, as the Cougars responded well going into the half with a 19-point lead.
Senior Tony White Jr. led the Cougars with 13 points in 18 minutes of play, while Goudelock added nine points and was 3-3 from three-point range.  Small forward sophomore Matt Sundberg added another eight points, shooting three of seven in 10 minutes of play.  
Early in the second half the Cougars went on a 16-5 run and were up as much as 29 points with just over 16 minutes to play.  But just when Cougs thought they had put Chattanooga away the Mocs went on a 16-0 run of their own in three minutes and 30 seconds.  
Sundberg finally bailed the Cougars out when he knocked down his third three-pointer of the night.  Charleston did not allow Chattanooga within 10 points for the rest of the night and pulled away by as much as 18 when Sundberg knocked down another three-pointer.
Sundberg finished with a career-high 17 points while shooting 6-12 and 5-9 from behind the arc in only 19 minutes of play. Goudelock chipped in with another 17 points to go along with a game-high six assists for the Cougars. Junior guard Donovan Monroe added 10 points and five boards, while White led all scorers with 19 points on the night.  
The big story was Sundberg’s performance.
“We’ve found another weapon in Matt Sundberg,” Cremins said. “He’s what you call a tweener; he’s not strong on the inside or quick on the outside, but we need to find a way to get him in games.”  
When asked about having a 29-point lead turn into just a 10 Cremins said, “We played great ball for 25-30 minutes and then they pounded it away inside.  We need to improve on our post defense. They took advantage of that.”  
The Mocs came out in the second half having changed their defense from a 2-1-2 to a 1-3-1, which shut down the Cougars’ offense during their 16-0 run.
The Mocs got 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench from forward DeAntre Jefferson as well as 12 points from guard Ricky Taylor.  Guard Ty Patterson turned it on in the second and added 11 points for Chattanooga.
The Cougars beat the Mocs and finished the game victorious 86-74 in front of 4,015 at the Carolina First Arena.