Cullowhee N.C. – Western Carolina men's basketball hits the road for the third time among its first four Southern Conference games on Saturday, traveling to Macon, Ga., to face the Mercer Bears. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the on-campus Hawkins Arena as WCU concludes a stretch of 3-of-4 games played on the road to open league play.
 
WCU (14-2, 3-0 SoCon) has won eight straight games including four consecutive road victories after downing ETSU in Johnson City, Tenn., on Wednesday night. The Bears (8-8, 1-2 SoCon)  suffered a one-point, 74-73, road loss at Wofford in the mid-week. Despite the loss, Mercer has won six of its last eight games and is 5-2 at home this season.
 
Saturday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with live streaming audio from the Catamount Sports Network and live stats available online at CatamountSports.com. Fans can also listen to the game locally on 105.7 FM / 540 AM WRGC "The River" in Sylva (wrgc.com).
 
With wins in their first three league games, the Catamounts are one of just two remaining teams unblemished in SoCon play entering the weekend – and both are riding extensive winning streaks. Samford claimed its school-record 14th-straight victory with a nine-point road win at UNCG on Thursday night to join WCU atop the league standings at 3-0.
 
WCU's eight consecutive wins mark the longest streak for the Catamounts since an eight-game winning streak in the 2009-10 season.
 
On Wednesday, the Catamounts put four in double figures headlined by the second career triple-double of Vonterius Woolbright as WCU led wire-to-wire to sink mountain-rival ETSU 80-66 in Johnson City, Tenn. Woolbright finished with 20 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists in the win to post the fifth triple-dip in the program's NCAA D-I era. Tre Jackson matched Woolbright with a team-high 20 points, followed by Russell Jones Jr. with 17 points and a career-best eight rebounds. Bernard Pelote rounded out the double-digit scorers with a dozen off the bench, adding eight rebounds.
 
Four Catamounts continue to average double-digit scoring led by Woolbright who has scored in double figures in all 16 games to date and has 13 double-doubles including eight straight. He is averaging a double-double with 21.0 points and 12.4 rebounds per game, tied for 11th nationally in scoring and second in the NCAA in rebounding. The Albany, Ga., product also leads the nation in defensive rebounding at 10.12 per game, the only player to average double-digit defensive boards.
 
Woolbright is flanked by Tre Jackson who has scored eight or more points in 14 of the team's 16 games including three 20-point outings over his last four games. Jackson ranks 15th in the SoCon with a 13.7 point per game average, followed by DJ Campbell in 21st with a 12.3 ppg average. Campbell has scored in double figures 12 times. Rounding out WCU's four double-digit scorers is Russell Jones Jr. at 11.3 points per game – 24th in the SoCon – who has finished in double figures eight times including five of his last seven games.
 
Mercer (8-8, 1-2 SoCon) lost last time out, rallying from a 10-point deficit before falling on a pair of late free throws at Wofford on Wednesday night – Mercer's third-straight league road game. Despite the defeat, the Bears have won six of their last eight games with two of the losses in conference play to the Terriers and at home against ETSU.
 
The Bears are led by redshirt senior forward Jalyn McCreary at 15.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, ranking eighth and 17th in the SoCon, respectively. He is also tied for third in the conference with 1.5 steals per game and sixth with an average of 1.2 blocks per contest. Freshman forward Jake Davis (9.8 ppg) and grad transfer Robby Carmody (9.5 ppg) are just below the 10-point threshold.
 
Under fifth-year head coach Greg Gary, the Bears were picked sixth in the preseason SoCon coaches poll and were tagged seventh in the media tabulation, recording one of the 17 first-place votes.
 
Western Carolina and Mercer meet for the 28th time in men's basketball with the Catamounts carrying a slim 14-13 edge in the series. The Catamounts swept last year's two meetings for the first time since winning four straight in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons. Riding a two-game series winning streak, WCU has victories in three of the last four meetings and the Catamounts scored a victory in five of the 11 previous meetings in Macon.
 
Following Saturday's road game at Mercer, WCU's next home game is a nationally-televised match-up against current league co-leader Samford on Tuesday, Jan. 16, with a special 6 p.m. start on the CBS Sports Network (check local listings; DIRECTV Ch. 221; Dish Ch. 158). Samford (14-2, 3-0 SoCon) hosts VMI (3-13, 0-3 SoCon) on Saturday ahead of the much-anticipated match-up in Cullowhee. WCU will celebrate former Catamount Ronnie Carr who made the first 3-pointer in college basketball history back in November 1980 during next Tuesday's home date. Carr will be recognized during a special on-court halftime ceremony.
 
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).