Cincinnati, Ohio – Redshirt junior guard Cord Stansberry scored 23 points to lead Western Carolina in Monday's 2025-26 season opener, but the Catamounts were unable to overcome a hot-shooting night by Cincinnati as the Bearcats claimed a 94-63 victory at Fifth Third Arena.
Monday's lid lifter began a two-game, season-opening gauntlet, battling the Bearcats before traveling to Top-10 ranked Duke on Saturday afternoon.
Stansberry finished a point shy of his career-high with 23 points, connecting on nine field goals, including four 3-pointers. Graduate transfer Julien Soumaoro poured in 13 points in his WCU debut, hitting five field goals, including three triples, and adding five rebounds. Redshirt junior Marcus Kell scored 12 points and recorded a team-high nine rebounds. Freshman Tahlan Pettway dished out three assists, while graduate student Tidjiane Dioumassi had three steals to lead WCU.
Shon Abaev, Baba Miller, and Moustapha Thiam led four players in double figures for the Bearcats with 18 points apiece. Miller was the best of the trio, shooting 7-of-9 and rebounding 10 misses for the lone double-double of the night for either squad. Jordi Rodriguez added 10 points off the bench for the hosts. Kerr Kriisa led the way with four assists as Sencire Harris and Tyler McKinley each finished with three steals apiece.
In Monday night's opener, Soumaoro and Dioumassi, along with sophomores Abdulai Fanta Kabba and Justin Johnson, made their WCU debuts. At the same time, Pettway and Samuel Dada saw action in their first collegiate contest.
Cincinnati (1-0) used a fast start with a 12-4 burst out of the gates, including a pair of threes, to take an early lead in the action. After WCU was able to whittle into the lead and cut it to a six-point game, the Bearcats used an 18-4 run to stretch the advantage to 20, 32-12 with 8:05 to play in the opening half.
The two teams traded runs over the next several minutes before WCU scored 11 of a 16-point span with Stansberry draining a pair of threes and Soumaoro hitting a triple to make it a 49-28 Cincinnati lead at the break. The hosts used a scorching hot start from the field, 17-of-32 (53.1%) from the floor, to seize the halftime advantage.
Cincinnati outscored WCU 10-to-3 out of the halftime locker room with a Stansberry three as the lone blemish to run the lead to 59-31 five minutes into the second half. After the Bearcats increased the advantage two minutes later, the Catamounts put together one of their best runs of the night with an 11-5 burst, including eight unanswered, to cut the deficit to 20, 69-49.
UC pushed the lead back to 24 on a pair of occasions before an 8-4 run from WCU allowed the guests to make it 77-57 with 5:22 to go. The Bearcats would not let it get any closer, though, closing the game on a 17-6 run to claim the 94-63 win on opening night.
The Catamounts shot 35.9% (23-of-64) from the field with nine 3-pointers on 33.3 percent shooting. WCU converted 8-of-14 (57.1%) at the charity stripe. Cincinnati posted an impressive 54.2% (32-of-59) shooting performance as the Bearcats made 10 threes and went 20-of-30 at the foul line.
WCU edged UC on the glass by one, 37-36, with a 14-7 advantage on the offensive glass. The Catamounts turned 15 Cincinnati turnovers into 13 points, while the hosts converted 22 turnovers into 26 points. Cincinnati outscored WCU in the paint 30-22 and won bench scoring by 16, 26-10, and had a fast break advantage 16-0.
Western Carolina (0-1) closes out their brief two-game road swing to begin the season with a trip to Durham to battle #6/5 Duke on Sat., Nov. 8. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.. It will be shown on the CW, with live stats available on CatamountSports.com. Duke opens the 2025-26 season on Tuesday, battling Texas in Charlotte before welcoming in the Catamounts to the Bull City on Saturday.
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