Cullowhee, N.C. – Riding a two-game win seasonal winning streak, Western Carolina men's basketball hits the road on Wednesday night as it visits the first-place Samford Bulldogs in a nationally-televised matchup from the Pete Hanna Center in Birmingham, Ala. Tip-off is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. CT.
 
Wednesday's game will be broadcast on ESPNU with a simulcast stream available on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) and the Watch ESPN app. Live streaming audio from the Catamount Sports Network and live stats are also available at CatamountSports.com. Fans can listen to the game locally on 105.7 FM / 540 AM WRGC, "The River" in Sylva (www.wrgc.com).
 
Western Carolina (18-7, 7-5 SoCon) enters the week tied for fourth in the SoCon standings with both Wofford (7-5) and Furman (7-5). The Catamounts have scored back-to-back wins at home over The Citadel (71-64) and Mercer (79-46), and have won three of their last five overall with each win coming at home. WCU has dropped back-to-back games away from Cullowhee, though it enters Wednesday's matchup tied for the most road victories in the SoCon this season with eight.
 
WCU picked up its 18th victory of the season last Saturday to match last year's entire win total, dominating Mercer in a 33-point victory on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center. Vonterius Woolbright – who secured his league-record-tying eighth SoCon Player of the Week honor on Monday – posted his third triple-double of the season with 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists in just under 30 minutes of court time in the winning effort. He was joined in double figures by Tre Jackson (16 pts), Mercer transfer Kamar Robertson (15 pts), and Bernard Pelote (12 pts).
 
As good as WCU's offense played in last Saturday's win – scoring 46 second-half points that matched Mercer's 46-point game total – it was the Catamount defense that essentially stole the show in the home victory. WCU held the Bears to an opponent-low 46 points on a season-low 28.6 shooting percent (18-of-63). It was the lowest field goal percentage by the opposition since Dec. 20, 2022, when WCU limited Toccoa Falls to just 24.3 percent – and the lowest by an NCAA Division I opponent since holding Appalachian State to just 26.5 percent (13-of-49) in a 58-53 road win in Boone on Dec. 3, 2016.
 
Entering the week, Woolbright continues to pace the SoCon in both scoring (22.4 ppg, 4th in the NCAA) and rebounding (12.3 rpg, 2nd in the NCAA), while ranking second in assists at 5.6 per contest. He has scored in double figures in all 25 games this season with 21 double-doubles, tied for the most in the nation. WCU's roster also features the top two 3-point shooters as Tre Jackson leads the conference with 81 3-pointers for a league-best 3.2 made per game while ranking overall in 3-point field goal percentage (37.5%). Russell Jones Jr. has made 64 triples this season with his 2.7 per game average ranking sixth while he leads in percentage, connecting on 41.3 percent.
 
Statistically speaking, Wednesday's game is a contrast in style. Samford (22-3, 11-1 SoCon) leads the league in scoring (88.0 ppg), field goal percentage (49.8%), creating turnovers (17.5 per game) and steals at 11.08. The Catamounts boast the SoCon's top-scoring defense (68.2 ppg) and the best field goal percentage defense (40.9%) and are averaging a league-low 10.0 turnovers per game. WCU also paces the SoCon in rebounding with 39.9 boards per game.
 
The Bulldogs have four players averaging double-figure scoring led by Achor Achor who is seventh in the SoCon in scoring (15.3 ppg) and 10th in rebounding (5.9 rpg). AJ Staton McCray is 18th at 12.6 points per game, followed by Jaden Campbell (25th, 11.0 ppg) and preseason All-SoCon selection Jermaine Marshall (10.7 ppg). As a team, Samford averages 10.4 made 3-pointers per game, accounting for around 35% of the 'Dogs scoring.
 
After dropping its first two games of the season, Samford has won 22 of its last 23 – a run that included a school-record 17-straight wins with 13 victories coming at home. The Bulldogs are a perfect 14-0 overall at the Hanna Center in 2023-24.
 
Wednesday's 32nd all-time series meeting, Wednesday marks the second nationally televised meeting between the Catamounts and Bulldogs this season. Samford escaped Cullowhee with a 75-71 win back on Jan. 16, in a game that was broadcast on the CBS Sports Network. In that game, WCU's Woolbright (23) and Jones Jr. (22) both eclipsed the 20-point mark, but could not overcome the career-high 35-point, 10-rebound effort of Australian-born Achor Achor who hit a career-best five 3-pointers. The Catamounts limited the nation's top-scoring team – Samford at the time with a 91.5 points per game average – 16 points below its average in the loss.
 
WCU trails in the head-to-head series 14-17 with the Bulldogs having won six straight since the 2019-20 season. The Catamounts have struggled on the road in the series, dropping 12 of the 15 previous meetings in Birmingham including three straight since 2020.
 
Following Wednesday's road game, the Catamounts return home on Saturday in the front end of a hoops doubleheader to host mountain-rival ETSU at 4 p.m. on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center. Saturday's men's game is a "Beat the Bucs – Black Out!" with the team wearing its black Nike uniforms and all fans encouraged to wear their black WCU gear to the game. WCU's women host Samford for their "Shoot for the Cure – Pink Out" game with tip-off at 7 p.m. The team is selling special "Shoot for the Cure" T-shirts that are black and pink to accommodate both weekend promotions – contact assistant coach Shayna Gore (sgore@wcu.edu) for more information or to purchase a shirt with all proceeds to benefit the Great Smokies Health Foundation.
 
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