Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina men's basketball returns to the hardwood on Tuesday (Nov. 26) for a pre-holiday Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) matchup against Florida State in Tallahassee. The matchup with the Seminoles is set for a 7 p.m. tip-off from the Donald L. Tucker Center.
Tuesday's matchup between the Catamounts and Seminoles from Florida's capital after the originally scheduled contest at the Harrah's Cherokee Center Asheville was moved due to the effects of Hurricane Helene and the area's recovery efforts.
The game will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra (paid subscription required) and live stats available online at CatamountSports.com.
Matchup: Western Carolina (2-2) at RV Florida State (6-1)
Date: Tuesday, Nov. 26
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Site: Donald L. Tucker Center (Tallahassee, Fla.)
Live Video: ACC Network Extra (paid subscription required)
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast
Twitter: @CatamountMBB
About Western Carolina:
Western Carolina plays its second-straight game against a member of the ACC, looking to rebound from an 82-69 defeat at Wake Forest last week. The Catamounts have been idle since the trip to Winston Salem, while Florida State comes in with a 6-1 record after defeating UMass on Sunday afternoon to extend its win streak to three in a row. The Seminoles won both games against the Minutemen and Temple in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off for their last on-court action.
Catamount junior Ice Emery and redshirt sophomore Cord Stansberry both finished with 20 points apiece at Wake, but WCU was unable to overcome a first-half burst by the Demon Deacons as WCU opened its stiff three-game road swing. Emery posted his second straight 20-point performance, making 7-of-18 field goals including three from deep, to fill up the stat sheet. The Appleton, Wis., native also had three rebounds and a pair of assists. Stansberry had the best offensive performance of his collegiate career as he made 7-of-11 from the floor including four 3-pointers also adding five boards and a pair of steals.
After a pair of games scoring in single-digits, Emery has heated up and filled up the basket in the last two games for the Catamounts. He has posted back-to-back 20+ point outputs as he has shot 47.1% (16-of-34) from the field and is shooting 36.4% (8-of-22) from deep to lead to his 24 points against Truett McConnell and 20 at Wake Forest.
In the opening four games of the 2024-25 season, WCU has averaged a SoCon-best 46.5 rebounds per game led by senior Bernard Pelote at 9.3 rebounds per game. He ranks second in the SoCon while also pacing the league with 7.5 defensive rebounds per game.
Redshirt junior Chase McKey has pulled down 22 rebounds (5.5 per game) with a season-high nine against Truett McConnell and eight against Bob Jones. Junior Vernon Collins has tallied 20 boards including a season-high seven along with four blocks against Queens.
Head coach Tim Craft and the Catamounts face a strong nonconference slate that includes teams from the ACC, SEC opposition and a Big East counterpart as all three programs eclipsed 17 wins last season with a pair of them getting to 27 wins and those two advancing to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament.
Craft is accustomed to playing big-name schools during his time at Gardner-Webb and Western Carolina as he totaled 42 contests against schools from the ACC, SEC, Big 10, PAC 12, Big East, and American Athletic Conference (AAC). The Catamounts matchup with Wake Forest, Florida State, Marquette, and Tennessee all before SoCon play with Craft-led teams have had their most success against the league with three wins coming against the likes of Clemson, Georgia Tech, and Wake Forest during his tenure in Boiling Springs. Craft's Runnin' Bulldog squads also claimed wins over Purdue, Nebraska, and UGA during his time at Gardner-Webb.
Scouting the Opposition:
Florida State enters Tuesday's nonconference showdown with wins in each of its last three games including a convincing 92-59 win over UMass on Sunday afternoon. The Seminoles have also opened the 2024-25 season with wins over Northern Kentucky, Rice, Tarleton State, Hofstra, Temple & Sunday's opponent UMass. FSU's lone blemish to open the season came against in-state foe Florida.
Redshirt senior guard Jamir Watkins leads the Seminoles averaging 17.7 points per game through the opening seven games of the season including a season-high 30 points against Rice. Watkins has totaled 14 or more points in six of the opening seven games including each of the past four contests for FSU. Junior forward Malique Ewin is second in scoring for FSU with 10.3 points per contest as Ewin has scored in double figures in four straight contests. Ewin also paces the Seminoles with 39 rebounds including 19 offensive boards.
Sophomore forward Jerry Deng leads the Noles from deep with 11 triples as freshman guard Daquan Davis paces FSU with 17 assists. Florida State has a quartet of players with double-digit steals averaging 10.9 per contest as a squad.
Florida State was picked 15th in the 18-team ACC Preseason Media Poll. Watkins was tabbed among the second-team all-conference as nine different teams were represented. FSU is led by Leonard Hamilton in his 23rd season with FSU as the veteran has totaled over 400 wins in his tenure in Tallahassee. Florida State finished with a 17-16 record during the 2023-24 season before falling to North Carolina in the second round of the ACC Tournament.
Series History:
Western Carolina and Florida State meet for the fifth time in program history as the Seminoles hold a 3-1 edge in the all-time series. FSU earned a tight 79-74 victory in Tallahassee back in November of 2019. Mason Faulkner posted 21 points and dished out seven assists in that matchup in Florida to pace the Catamounts, but the Seminoles outscored the Catamounts in the second 20 minutes 43-31 to flip a seven-point deficit to a five-point win in the last head-to-head meeting.
WCU's 2001 victory over the Seminoles saw the Catamounts led by WCU Athletics Hall of Famer Kevin Martin who scored eight of his game-high 19 points in the final four minutes to lead a 26-9 finish and propel the Catamounts to the 79-69 victory in Florida back in the 2001-02 season. At the time it was the Catamounts first win over an Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) foe in 21 seasons and just its second in 36 tries at the time.
WCU looks to pick up a win over a Power-Four opponent for the second-straight season as the Catamounts earned two wins a season ago with victories at ACC-foe Notre Dame (71-61) and SEC opponent Vanderbilt (63-62).
The Catamounts close out the tough three-game stretch with a trip to Milwaukee, Wis., on Sat., Nov. 30 at 2 p.m. EST as WCU battles nationally-ranked Marquette. The matchup with the Golden Eagles will be shown on Fox Sports 2 (paid subscription required), with live stats available on CatamountSports.com.
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