CULLOWHEE, N.C. – The Western Carolina men's basketball team makes its lone regular season visit to the Central Time Zone on Wednesday as the Catamounts visit Samford in Birmingham, Ala. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT.
The game will air on ESPN3 with live stats available via a link on
www.catamountsports.com.
Western Carolina is 14-7 overall and 6-4 in the Southern Conference following a hard-fought 64-61 victory at Chattanooga on Saturday afternoon.
Carlos Dotson recorded his fifth straight double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds.
Mason Faulkner tallied a game-high 18 points.
Tyler Harris made his first career start and finished with 12 points while
Onno Steger finished in double figures with 10 points. The victory gave WCU the season sweep of Chattanooga for the second time in three years and marks its third straight win at Chattanooga.
Samford is 8-16 and 2-8 after an 80-56 loss at Wofford on Saturday night. Brandon Austin led the Bulldogs with 15 points followed by Josh Sharkey with 14 points.
Two of the SoCon's top three scorers, as well as the top two assisting guards, will be on the court in Birmingham. Sharkey ranks second in the league in scoring at 18.6 points per game while leading the SoCon at 7.6 assists per game. Faulkner ranks third in scoring at 18.1 points per game and averages 6.2 assists per game to rank second. In SoCon games, Faulkner is averaging 18.9 points per game, fifth just ahead of Dotson, who is averaging a double-double – sixth with 16.6 points per game and a league-leading 10.6 rebounds per game.
Both Samford and Western Carolina have finished their season series with two SoCon foes before facing each other for the first time this season. The Catamounts swept the season series against Chattanooga and split with Mercer. The Bulldogs were swept by both Chattanooga and Wofford.
Wednesday's game is the 24
th all-time meeting between the schools with WCU holding a slim 12-11 advantage in the series. Each team defended home court in last year's matchups with WCU winning 76-69 in Cullowhee and Samford claiming a 92-81 victory in Birmingham. The Catamounts are 2-9 all-time at Samford.
The Catamounts host chromatic rival Furman on Saturday at 2 p.m. Fans are encouraged to purchase their tickets in advance to secure the best seats and avoid lines on game day. The Catamount Ticket Office and Ramsey Center doors will open at 12:30 pm. Students sitting in the Cat Cage Student Section are eligible for the promotional giveaway, a pair of WCU logo socks courtesy of Catamount Peak Apartments.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount men's basketball and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts) and Twitter (@catamounts, @wcu_mbb).
