Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina men's basketball looks to bounce back from its first defeat of the young 2023-24 season as it travels to the Piedmont Triad on Tuesday (Dec. 5) to conclude a three-game nonconference road swing, visiting the High Point Panthers (6-3) at the 4,500-seat on-campus Qubein Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
 
Tuesday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with live streaming audio from the Catamount Sports Network (6:30 p.m. air time) and live stats available online at CatamountSports.com. Also on Tuesday, Catamount fans are invited to a special Catamount Alumni Central Pregame Party scheduled beginning at 5 p.m. at the Claddagh Irish Pub (130 E. Parris Ave., High Point). Click HERE to RSVP.

Matchup: Western Carolina (6-1) at High Point (6-3) 
Date: Tuesday, Dec. 5
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Site: Qubein Center (High Point, N.C.)
Live Stats: SideArmStats
Live Video: ESPN+ (paid subscription required)
Live Audio: Catamount Sports Network (click link to listen)
Twitter: @CatamountMBB
 
Western Carolina (6-1) is coming off its first loss of the 2023-24 season, dropping a nonconference matchup at Gardner-Webb, 82-77, on Saturday night in Boiling Springs. Senior guard Vonterius Woolbright posted his fifth double-double of the season with a career-high 35 points and 14 rebounds to lead two in double figures with DJ Campbell posting his seventh double-digit effort with 10 points.
 
Untimely scoring droughts late in both halves plagued the Catamounts, allowing the Runnin' Bulldogs to chip into WCU's game-high 14-point first-half advantage before the break and then eventually grab a 10-point lead late in the second half. Woolbright scored 12 of WCU's final 14 points and helped claw the Catamounts back to within two inside the final minute, but GWU iced the win from the free throw line as the home squad finished with 48 total free throw attempts, making 29.
 
Woolbright, who collected his second SoCon Player of the Week plaudit on Monday afternoon, continues to pace four Catamounts averaging double-figure scoring as he enters the week leading the Southern Conference in both scoring (21.7 points per game) and rebounding (11.7 rebounds per game). His averages rank him 14th nationally in overall scoring and tied for second in the NCAA in rebounding which includes ranking second in defensive rebounding with 10.14 boards per contest. The Albany, Ga., product is also third in the SoCon in assists, dishing out an average of 4.7 helpers per game.
 
Like Woolbright, Campbell has posted double-digit scoring in all seven games to date with all 10 of his points at Gardner-Webb coming in the second half to rank second on the team at 12.7 points per game. Guard Russell Jones Jr. is averaging 12.5 points per game with three games in double figures while Tre Jackson has scored eight or more points in five of the team's seven games, averaging 10.0 points per game.

WCU dropped just one spot -- from 10th to 11th -- in the CollegeInsider.com Men' Mid-Major Top 25 poll this week after the loss at Gardner-Webb. The Catamounts slipped seven positions from seventh to 14th in the Field of 698 Media Network "Cinderella Top 25" polling.
 
High Point (6-3) is riding a three-game winning streak and has victories in four of its last five games. The current streak includes home wins over Mount Olive (122-73) and Morgan State (77-59), and an impressive 86-79 victory at North Florida in Jacksonville on Saturday.
 
Averaging nearly 90 points per game, thanks in part to its season-high 122 points against UMO, four Panthers are averaging double figures. Like WCU's Woolbright, HPU's Duke Miles leads the Big South in scoring at 18.2 points per game. He's flanked by a trio of teammates averaging 13 points per game in Kimani Hamilton (13.6 ppg), Abdoulaye Thiam (13.4 ppg), and Kezza Giffa (13.1 ppg). Hamilton paces the Panthers with 7.9 rebounds per game with 29 of his 71 boards coming on the offensive end.
 
Miles collected Big South Player of the Week honors on Nov. 27, while freshman forward Juslin Bodo Bodo was named the league's top freshman in the same release. Bodo Bodo also collected top rookie honors on Monday, Dec. 4, joining freshman forward Denzel Hines who was honored as the Big South Freshman of the Week on Nov. 13.
 
High Point was picked seventh in the Big South Conference preseason poll, though the Panthers did receive one first-place vote. HPU represents the second of four straight Big South opponents for the Catamounts as WCU dropped the first last Saturday evening at Gardner-Webb. The Catamounts return home to host Big South preseason favorite UNC Asheville (Dec. 9) before visiting USC Upstate – picked sixth in the coaches polling – the following Saturday on Dec. 16.
 
Tuesday's game represents the 60th all-time meeting between the two in-state programs dating back to the 1940s with WCU trailing in the series 20-39. The Panthers have won eight of the last nine series meetings including six-straight in High Point, and five in the current stretch. The two teams meet for just the seventh time since 2003. The last series victory for the Catamounts came in Cullowhee back in 2016.
 
Following Tuesday evening's road tilt, the Catamounts return home to the Ramsey Center to host mountain-rival UNCA in Catamount hoops doubleheader action with the men hosting the Bulldogs at 4 p.m. and the women playing the nightcap at 7 p.m. WCU will honor former Catamount men's basketball standout  Kevin Martin, raising his No. 32 to the rafters in the Ramsey Center in a special ceremony.
 
Tickets for Saturday's doubleheader are available through the WCU Athletics Ticket Office, located on the first floor of the Ramsey Center, by phone at (828) 2272-401, or online at CatamountSports.com/BuyTickets.
 
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