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MBB Preview at Marquette

Men's Basketball Greg Hartlage, Director of Media Relations

Men’s Basketball Battles #10/11 Marquette in Post-Thanksgiving Matinee

Cullowhee, N.C. – Following consecutive contests against Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) foes, Western Carolina men's basketball closes a grueling three-game nonconference road stretch with a post-Thanksgiving tilt against #10/11 Marquette out of the Big East Conference on Saturday afternoon. The matchup with the Golden Eagles tips at 2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT from Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wis.
 
Saturday's matchup will be shown on Fox Sports 2 (paid subscription required) and live stats available online at CatamountSports.com.
 
Matchup: Western Carolina (2-3) at #10/11 Marquette (7-0)  
Date: Saturday, Nov. 30
Time: 2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT
Site: Fiserv Forum (Milwaukee, Wis.)
Live Stats:  Sidearm Stats
Live Video: Fox Sports 2 (paid subscription required)
Twitter: @CatamountMBB
 
About Western Carolina:
Western Carolina closes a three-game gauntlet run on Saturday as the Catamounts make the trip to Wisconsin to battle nationally-ranked Marquette. The Catamounts enter Saturday's action off of a 91-57 road loss at Florida State in Tallahassee, while Marquette comes in with an unblemished record after defeating Stonehill on Wednesday night to improve to 7-0 on the young season. The Golden Eagles have already tallied victories over Maryland, Georgia, and nationally-ranked Purdue.
 
Catamount junior transfer Brandon Morgan posted a season-high 13 points as one of three in double figures, but Western Carolina couldn't overcome a strong early offensive showing by Florida State as the Seminoles handed the Catamounts a 91-57 loss back on Tuesday night at the Donald L. Tucker Center. Morgan connected on 5-of-7 field goals including 3-of-4 from deep to match his best in a Catamount uniform. Classmate Ice Emery joined those in double-figure scoring on Tuesday for his third straight game, adding 10 points while redshirt sophomore Cord Stansberry likewise finished with 10 points including a pair of 3-pointers.
 
Saturday's action marks WCU's first ranked opponent since the 2018-19 season when the Catamounts battled #23 Iowa before falling 78-60 to the Hawkeyes in Iowa City. Marquette's No. 10 ranking in the latest Associated Press (AP) poll is the highest ranked WCU opponent since the 2010-11 season when the Catamounts faced second-ranked Ohio State in Columbus.
 
After a pair of games scoring in single-digits, Emery has heated up in the last three games for the Catamounts. He has posted back-to-back 20-plus point outputs and three straight double-figure performances for WCU. The Appleton, Wis., native – who returns to his home state on Saturday – has shot 45.5% (20-of-44) from the field and is shooting 35.7% (10-of-28) from deep to lead to his 24 points against Truett McConnell and 20 at Wake Forest.
 
In the opening five games of the 2024-25 season, WCU has averaged a SoCon-best 43.4 rebounds per game led by senior Bernard Pelote at 8.0 rebounds per game. He ranks second in the SoCon while also second in the league with 6.4 defensive rebounds per game. 
 
Redshirt junior Chase McKey has pulled down 26 rebounds (5.2 per game) with a season-high nine against Truett McConnell and eight against Bob Jones. Redshirt sophomore Marcus Kell has totaled 23 rebounds including a team-high 12 offensive rebounds, followed by junior Vernon Collins has tallied 22 boards including a season-high seven along with four blocks against Queens.
 
Catamount first-year 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 as during his time at both Gardner-Webb and Western Carolina, he's totaled 43 contests against schools from the ACC, SEC, Big 10, PAC 12, Big East and American Athletic Conference. The Catamounts match up with Wake Forest, Florida State, Marquette, and Tennessee all prior to SoCon play, 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 Georgia during his time at Gardner-Webb.
 
Scouting the Opposition:
Marquette enters Saturday afternoon's post-holiday tilt with an unblemished record after defeating Stonehill on Wednesday night 94-59 in Milwaukee. The Golden Eagles hot start includes wins over Maryland, #6 Purdue, and SEC-foe Georgia among the opening seven wins. In the past four seasons under head coach Shaka Smart, Marquette has defended its home court with a 48-6 (.889) record including wins in each of its past five games and 11 of the past 12 dating back to last season with the lone loss coming to eventual national champion UConn.
 
Senior guard Kam Jones leads the Golden Eagles averaging 19.6 points per game as Jones has scored double-figures in all seven games to begin the season. Jones posted a season-high 32 in the opener against Stony Brook and also tallied a triple-double with 17 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in a win over Purdue. Jones was named to the first-team All-Big East Conference honor and has been named the Big East's Player of the Week on two separate occasions.
 
Senior forward David Joplin checks into the matchup with a 16.9 points per game average along with a team-high 6.4 rebounds per contest. Joplin has put together three games of 20+ point showings including a season-high 29 against Georgia, 27 points and 10 rebounds vs George Mason and 27 points against Stonehill. Junior guard Chase Ross enters play with a 12.4 points/game followed by senior guard Stevie Mitchell averaging 12 ppg to round out the double-figure scoring for Marquette. 
 
Ross sits among the nation leaders in steals with 22 as the Golden Eagles are top five in the nation averaging 12.0 steals per game. Marquette sits among the top 15 in the country averaging just 9.3 turnovers per game.
 
Marquette was tabbed fourth in the 11-team Big East Preseason Coaches Poll including being one of two schools to get a first place vote as the other 10 votes went to the reigning national champion, UConn. Senior Kam Jones was picked to the conference's first team as one of 15 players to be selected to the Big East's three preseason teams. The Golden Eagles are led by Shaka Smart who's in his fourth year leading Marquette as Smart has totaled a 354-172 (.673) win percentage at his three stops at VCU, Texas and Marquette. He's made 11 NCAA tournament appearances in his coaching career and played postseason basketball in 13 of 15 completed coaching seasons. Marquette finished with a 27-10 record during the 2023-24 season before falling to N.C. State in the Sweet 16.
 
Series History:
Western Carolina and Marquette meet for the sixth time in program history with the Golden Eagles having claimed each of the previous five battles including a 90-44 win in the last all-time meeting back in 2016. Haboubacar Mutombo led the Catamounts in the last meeting with Marquette tallying 17 points and seven rebounds while Elijah Pughsley had 12 points and three assists.
 
The first three all-time meetings with the Golden Eagles saw WCU put a trio of games within 12 points including the 1975 battle that was a 63-53 decision in Milwaukee.
 
Western Carolina vs. the Power Five:
WCU looks to pick up a win over a Power-Five opponent for the second-straight season as the Catamounts earned wins over ACC-Foe Notre Dame (71-61) and SEC opponent Vanderbilt (63-62) last season.
 
Up Next for Western Carolina:
The Catamounts return to Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center on Wednesday, Dec. 4, with a matchup against Bellarmine in the second contest of the ASUN-SoCon Challenge. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. The matchup with the Knights, who are in their first full year as a NCAA Division I member institution, will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live stats available on CatamountSports.com. and live streaming audio from the Catamount Sports Network.
 
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).
 
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Players Mentioned

Marcus Kell

#23 Marcus Kell

F
6' 8"
Redshirt Sophomore
Bernard Pelote

#3 Bernard Pelote

F
6' 8"
Senior
Cord Stansberry

#0 Cord Stansberry

G
6' 4"
Redshirt Sophomore
Chase McKey

#1 Chase McKey

F
6' 10"
Redshirt Junior
Ice Emery

#8 Ice Emery

G
6' 0"
Junior
Vernon Collins

#33 Vernon Collins

F
6' 10"
Junior
Brandon Morgan

#5 Brandon Morgan

G
6' 4"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Marcus Kell

#23 Marcus Kell

6' 8"
Redshirt Sophomore
F
Bernard Pelote

#3 Bernard Pelote

6' 8"
Senior
F
Cord Stansberry

#0 Cord Stansberry

6' 4"
Redshirt Sophomore
G
Chase McKey

#1 Chase McKey

6' 10"
Redshirt Junior
F
Ice Emery

#8 Ice Emery

6' 0"
Junior
G
Vernon Collins

#33 Vernon Collins

6' 10"
Junior
F
Brandon Morgan

#5 Brandon Morgan

6' 4"
Junior
G