Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina men's basketball flips the calendar to 2025 with a league opening matchup on Wednesday afternoon against chromatic rivals Furman to continue a three-game homestand. The New Year's Day tilt is set for 1 p.m. against the Paladins from Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center.
The matchup between the Catamounts and Paladins will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required). Live streaming audio from the Catamount Sports Network and live stats are available online at CatamountSports.com. Fans can also listen to the game locally on 105.7 FM / 540 AM WRGC, "The River" in Sylva (www.wrgc.com).
Matchup: Furman (12-1, 0-0 SoCon) vs Western Carolina (4-7, 0-0)
Date: Wednesday, Jan. 1
Time: 1 p.m.
Site: Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center (Cullowhee, N.C.)
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Live Video: ESPN+ (paid subscription required)
Live Audio: Catamount Sports Network
Radio: 105.7 FM / 540 AM WRGC "The River" (wrgc.com)
Twitter: @CatamountMBB
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About Western Carolina:
Behind a 20-point performance by senior Bernard Pelote and Western Carolina's record Education Day attendance of 3,514, the Catamount men's basketball team closed out nonconference play with a 78-69 home win over upset-minded NAIA opposition Milligan.
Pelote led a trio of Catamounts in double figures with a season-best 24 points and was an efficient 8-of-12 from the field, making all four of his 3-pointers and all four from the foul line. He also pulled down nine rebounds for the Catamounts, one of three to slightly miss a double-double.
Redshirt sophomore Cord Stansberry added 14 points, connecting on three from beyond the arc to accompany a career-high seven rebounds. Junior Brandon Morgan rounded out the double-figure scoring for WCU with 12 points, doing most of his work at the foul line where he connected on 7-of-8 to go along with a career-high nine rebounds.
Wednesday's SoCon opener features the third matchup in NCAA DI basketball during the 2024-25 season between two teams that have faced a No. 1 team this year. WCU battled No. 1 Tennessee back on Dec. 17 as Furman faced off with the only other No. 1 squad in the 2024-25 campaign, battling Kansas back on Nov. 30 in Lawrence. The only other matchups between two teams that have faced a No. 1 team occurred on Nov. 27 when North Carolina faced Michigan State (both squaring off with Kansas prior to the head-to-head battles) and Michigan State and Oakland on Dec. 17 (both battled Kansas).
The Catamounts look to open league play with a 1-0 mark for the second straight season and the fourth time in the last six years as WCU began the 2019-20, 2021-22, and 2023-24 seasons each with wins as two of those came against The Citadel. WCU and Furman meet in a league opener for the first time since Dec. 1, 2018, when the Paladins edged WCU in double overtime in Greenville to open the 2018-19 SoCon season.
The Catamount bench has filled the scoreboard throughout the start of the 2024-25 season, averaging 27.1 points per game, which ranks fourth in the SoCon.
Morgan posted his second double-figure output in reserve with a 12-point performance in the win over Milligan as he's scored 44 points over seven games. Redshirt sophomore Marcus Kell has tallied 38 points over the past seven games, followed by redshirt junior Chase McKey, totaling 36 points off the bench. Sophomore Jamar Livingston is fourth with 35 bench points, followed by freshman Fischer Brown with 34. The Catamounts have seen a bench player with double-figures eight times, led by junior Ice Emery's 24 against Truett McConnell.
Western Carolina is in the SoCon with 40.27 rebounds per game over the first 11 games, led by Pelote at 7.5 per game – the second-best average in the SoCon. He leads the league at 5.82 defensive rebounds per game, with the second-most defensive rebounds in the league at 64 defensive boards. Kell is tied for sixth in the conference, averaging 2.09 offensive rebounds per game as he leads the squad with 23 offensive boards.
Stansberry sits second in the SoCon with a 92% (23-of-25) at the free throw line. Collins leads the Catamounts with 12 blocks, sitting in a tie for fourth as he's averaging just over a block a game and is tied for fifth in rejections in the league. McKey ranks sixth in the league with a 62.1% (18-of-29) field goal percentage, while Collins is seventh in the conference at 60.9% (28-of-46) shooting performance.
WCU has been well-tested to begin the 2024-25 season, the first under veteran head coach Tim Craft. Per the NET strength of schedule (SOS) rankings, the Catamounts maintain the top spot in the SoCon with the 30th toughest schedule, just ahead of Wofford at 113. The Catamounts are one of four teams in the league to have played multiple opponents in quadrant one, in the form of Marquette and Tennessee. UNCG, Samford, and Chattanooga each join WCU in playing a stiff nonconference slate with multiple quadrant one opponents.
Scouting the Opposition:
Furman begins SoCon play with a 12-1 record after defeating Harvard 77-63 before the holiday break to extend its win streak to six in a row. The 12 nonconference wins mark a school record for the current SoCon leaders.
The Paladins opened the 2024-25 season with a seven-game win streak before having it snapped by then-No. 1 Kansas in Lawrence in late November. The Paladins hold one of the longest win streaks in DI, entering the new calendar year with six straight games. Furman added a quadrant two win on the road against Belmont, who currently sits at 119 in NET rankings, and a solid 117 NET win over Princeton as the Paladins sit in the top spot in the SoCon with a NET ranking of 80.
Senior PJay Smith leads the Paladins with 17.3 points per game. He's eclipsed 20 points in five games, including 29 in wins over Tulane and Oglethorpe, ranking second in the SoCon. Smith has done his damage from deep thus far, connecting on a league-high 50.6% (41-of-81) three-pointers to rank among the national leaders. Smith has garnered a pair of SoCon Player of the Week honors, leading the team with 41 assists and hitting 51.6% (63-of-122) field goals.
Senior guard Nick Anderson enters averaging 11.4 points per contest, shooting 37.2% (32-of-86) from deep and making 22-of-23 (95.7%) from the charity stripe. Graduate student Garrett Hein leads the Paladins on the glass with 5.4 rebounds per game as he tallied a double-double (11 pts, 14 rebs) in a nonconference win over Jacksonville. Furman has limited opponents on the scoreboard throughout the opening 13 games with a conference-best 63.8 points/game allowed as it held opponents under 60 points four times with a conference-high 15.1 scoring margin.
Under ninth-year head coach Bob Richey, Furman was tabbed fifth in the 10-team SoCon Preseason Poll led by Smith, who was named to the league's 10-player Preseason All-League team. The Paladins finished the 2023-24 season with a 17-16 record, including a 10-8 mark in league play, before falling to eventual league champion Samford in the semifinals of the 2024 conference tournament.
Series History:
Wednesday's tilt marks the 88th all-time meeting between the two purple-clad programs with the Paladins holding a 56-31 lead in the all-time series with Furman winning four of the last five matchups. Furman claimed a pair of wins a season ago with a 79-76 overtime win the SoCon tournament.
WCU holds a 22-17 record in the head-to-head matchups that have been contested in Cullowhee. The Catamounts earned an eight-point win in their home finale over Furman a year ago, led by Russell Jones Jr., who scored 20 points, with Vonterius Woolbright registering 15 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds with his final board coming in the waning seconds for the triple-double. Furman has taken five of the past seven meetings in Cullowhee, but WCU has earned back-to-back home wins in the head-to-head clashes.
Up Next for Western Carolina:
The Catamounts close out their three-game homestand with a SoCon matchup on Saturday, Jan. 4, against Samford from Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. between the Catamounts and Bulldogs.
The Saturday afternoon tilt will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live audio coverage through the Catamount Sports Network available on 105.7 FM / 540 AM WRGC "The River" in Sylva and streaming LIVE through CatamountSports.com. Live stats are also available on CatamountSports.com.
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).
