CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina men's basketball looks for its first regular-season sweep of chromatic rival Furman since 2008-09 on Saturday as the Catamounts travel to Timmons Arena for a 2 p.m. tip-off in the Ingles Southern Conference Game of the Week.
Saturday's contest will be televised over-the-air on the Nexstar family of stations (
check local listings) and will be available through ESPN+ (
paid subscription required) with audio on the Catamount Sports Network beginning at 1:30 p.m. with longtime play-by-play voice Gary Ayers on the call.
The game has officially been announced as a sellout by officials at Furman.
Western Carolina is 14-12 overall and 7-6 in the Southern Conference following a thrilling 95-91 double overtime win at Wofford on Wednesday.
Tre Jackson led the Catamounts with a career and Division I-era best 47 points, tying the school record with 14 made field goals. He also was a perfect 11-for-11 at the free throw line. Jackson's 47 points are the second-most by an individual in NCAA Division I men's basketball this season.
In addition to Jackson's big night,
Vonterius Woolbright posted a double-double with a career-best 30 points along with 13 rebounds. Jackson and Woolbright are the first teammates at the Division I level this season to surpass the 40-point and 30-point thresholds in the same game. They are also the first teammates to record 30+ points in the same game in four years – the last two were also Catamounts as Marcus Thomas (32) and Onno Steger (30) accomplished the feat at Chattanooga on Jan. 31, 2019.
Furman is 20-6 overall and 11-2 in league games after defeating VMI 94-63 in Lexington, Va. on Wednesday. The Paladins are the first SoCon team to the 20-win plateau this season. Alex Williams led five Paladins in double figures with 18 points while Carter Whitt distributed a game-high 10 assists. Mike Bothwell enters the weekend ranked second in the SoCon in scoring at 18.7 points per game, while Jalen Slawson is fourth in the league in rebounding at 7.2 boards per contest.
WCU (7-6) enters the weekend in sole possession of fourth place behind a three-way tie atop the SoCon standings at 11-2 between UNCG, Samford, and Furman. The Catamounts hold a two-game lead over the four-way tie for fifth place between Chattanooga, ETSU, Mercer, and Wofford. Looking at the early tie-breakers for the SoCon Tournament, WCU holds the edge having swept Wofford, while it split the two regular-season meetings with Chattanooga and has scored wins at ETSU and home against Mercer, both of which remain on the WCU schedule.
With their 79-67 win on Dec. 31 on Ingles Court in the Ramsey Center in Cullowhee, the Catamounts snapped a 13-game losing skid to the Paladins, scoring the first series victory since February 2016. In that game, Jackson led four Catamounts in double figures with 17 points as WCU used a 7-0 run in the middle stages of the second half to grab the lead for good and pulled away in the final moments. WCU looks for its first consecutive victory over the Paladins since winning three straight from 2012-15. Furman leads the all-time series 52-30.
The Catamounts return to Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center on Wednesday, hosting ETSU at 7 p.m. on "Beat the Bucs" night.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount men's basketball and WCU Athletics through our social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@catamountmbb @wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@CatamountMBB @catamounts).
