Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina men's basketball returns to action on Saturday evening to continue a three-game homestand in the backend of a Catamount hoops doubleheader with the women's team, hosting the VMI Keydets on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center in Southern Conference action. The Catamount women host Chattanooga at 2 p.m., with the men's game slated to tip at 5 p.m.
 
Both of Saturday's games will be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with live streaming audio from the Catamount Sports Network and live stats available through CatamountSports.com. Fans can listen to the men's CSN broadcast locally on 105.7 FM / 540 AM WRGC "The River" in Sylva (wrgc.com).
 
Catamount head coach Justin Gray and his staff will participate in the Coaches vs. Cancer "Suits and Sneakers" nationwide collaboration with the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) in Saturday evening's cancer awareness game. After wearing special lapel pins in the first game of the Coaches vs. Cancer week (Jan. 22-28), WCU's staff will wear sneakers with their suits to raise awareness of cancer research and support those who have been affected by the deadly disease.
 
Western Carolina (15-5, 4-3 SoCon) looks to put the clamps on both a season-long three-game winless drought and a two-game slide at home. The Catamounts overcame a slow shooting start on Wednesday against in-state SoCon foe UNC Greensboro, knotting the game in the closing seconds to force overtime. But the Spartans escaped Cullowhee with a three-point, 85-82 win. Vonterius Woolbright collected his 12th straight double-double effort – and his NCAA-leading 17th double-dip of the season – with his second 30-point effort of the year, finishing with 34 points and 15 rebounds against the Spartans. Tre Jackson matched his season-high with six 3-pointers in scoring 22 points as the only other Catamount in double figures.
 
Entering the weekend, Woolbright has moved up to sixth in the nation in scoring at 21.7 points per game while remaining second in rebounding with 12.8 boards per contest including an NCAA-best 10.2 defensive rebounds per game. Jackson now leads the SoCon with an average of 3.1 made 3-pointers per game and his 35.4% from long range ranks fourth in the league. Defensively, graduate transfer Charles Lampten has moved into the runner-up position in the SoCon in blocks per game at 1.9 while his 37 blocked shots rank him tied for ninth in WCU history (Xavier Cork, 2020-21; Richie Gordon, 2009-10).
 
WCU senior guard Russell Jones Jr. also continues his quest to become the third Catamount on the roster to reach the 1,000-career point mark as a NCAA Division I player. The Columbia, S.C., product came to Cullowhee with 465 points scored over three seasons at Winthrop and enters Saturday with 527 scored at WCU for a total of 992 – eight shy of 1,000. Jones Jr. looks to join classmates Vonterius Woolbright (1,174 career points, 31st in WCU history) and Tre Jackson (1,106 pts) who both eclipsed their D-I milestone earlier this season.
 
VMI (4-16, 1-6 SoCon) heads to Cullowhee after suffering a one-point home loss against ETSU back on Wednesday evening. The Keydets fell behind by 11 in both halves but fought back to trail by just four at halftime and rallying to a one-point lead twice over the final 20 minutes. VMI got back to within one point with a 3-pointer in the final 40 seconds and had the basketball with a chance to pull out the win in the closing seconds but were unable to score.
 
The Keydets have dropped six of their last seven games overall with the lone win coming at home against archrival The Citadel. Two of VMI's losses in the conference have come by a combined three points – a two-point, 87-85 loss in overtime at Wofford and the one-point loss to ETSU. In three of its six defeats, though, a trio of SoCon opponents have hit the century mark including 134 surrendered to Samford. VMI has suffered three league losses by staggering margins of 48, 40, and 38 – two of those coming away from Lexington, Va.
 
Averaging just over 70 points per game as a team, VMI has two active players scoring in double figures to date this season led by junior guard Brennan Watkins at 15.2 points per game 12th in the SoCon. Watkins has scored in double figures 13 times and eclipsed the 20-point plateau seven times. Tyran Cook posted 10-straight double-digit scoring performances to average 12.7 points per game. Taeshaud Jackson II paces VMI on the boards, ranking second behind Woolbright in the league with 10.2 rebounds per game to accompany an 8.4-scoring average. Jackson II has six double-doubles this season.
 
Under second-year head coach Andrew Wilson, VMI was picked 10th in the 10-team SoCon preseason poll of the coaches and voting media.
 
WCU and VMI meet for the 69th time on the men's basketball hardwood in a series that dates back to 1978. The Catamounts have won three straight – and four of the last five, though the last 10 meetings overall have been evenly split, 5-5. Western Carolina has won 22 of the 33 series meetings played in Cullowhee, also winning three in a row in the Ramsey Center.
 
The Catamounts conclude their season-long three-game homestand on the final day of January, hosting Chattanooga next Wednesday, Jan. 31 on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center. Wednesday'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.
 
For tickets to WCU's home games, please visit CatamountSports.com/BuyTickets.
 
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).