Cullowhee, N.C. – Coming off a season-high 124 points on Tuesday morning, Western Carolina men's basketball opens a three-game road swing to conclude nonconference play, traveling to Spartanburg, S.C., to battle USC Upstate on Saturday (Dec. 6) afternoon at G.B. Hodge Center.
Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live stats available through a link online on CatamountSports.com. Live audio from the Catamount Sports Network is available through network affiliate 105.7 FM / 540 AM WRGC in Sylva, and streaming online at CatamountSports.com.
Men's Basketball Matchup: Western Carolina (4-4) at USC Upstate (5-5)
Date: Saturday, Dec. 6
Time: 2 p.m.
Site: G.B. Hodge Center (Spartanburg, S.C.)
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Live Video: ESPN+ (paid subscription required)
Live Audio: Catamount Sports Network
Radio: 105.7 FM / 540 AM WRGC
Twitter: @CatamountMBB
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About Western Carolina:
The Catamounts opened December in style with a season-high 124 points, the highest point total since January 5, 2010. WCU rolled to a 124-62 victory over Virginia University of Lynchburg on Tuesday afternoon on Education Day, shaking a two-game slide after losses to Lipscomb & High Point. Saturday's meeting with Upstate marks the third Big South seasonal foe, previously with wins over UNC Asheville (80-73) and a loss to the preseason favorite, High Point (93-73).
Sophomore CJ Hyland led seven Catamounts in double figures in Tuesday's game with a career-high 19 points as WCU improved to 4-0 in Cullowhee this season. The Catamounts dished out a school-record 33 assists, coming on the third-most field goals (54), while tying for second-most rebounds in a single game with 64. The Purple & Gold blocked 10 shots, which is tied for the third-most by a Catamount team in a game.
With the win, Catamount second-year leader Tim Craft tallied his 200th career victory as a head coach.
Graduate transfer Julien Soumaoro and redshirt junior Marcus Kell enter the weekend tied for ninth in the league in scoring at 13.9 points per game, followed by redshirt junior Cord Stansberry at 13.0 and Hyland at 10.3 per contest. Soumaoro sits among the league leaders in 3-point shooting, making 22 threes with his treys putting him in a tie for fourth. Sophomore transfer Abdulai Fanta Kabba begins play fourth in the league in blocks with 12 rejections.
The Catamounts have crashed the boards early in the 2025-26 season, averaging a league-high 41.88 rebounds per game through eight contests as the Purple & Gold lead the way in the SoCon in rebounds per game, offensive boards per game (14.0), defensive rebounds per contest (27.88), and rebounding margin (8.9). Following his team-high tying 10 rebounds on Tuesday, Kabba maintains his lead for the Catamounts on the glass at 8.1 boards per contest, ranking fourth in the SoCon.
Behind Kabba, Kell checks into Saturday afternoon's tilt, averaging 5.8 rebounds per game, followed by freshman Samuel Dada at 5.6 per contest, as he grabbed a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double on Tuesday. The trio has at least 15 offensive boards, with Kabba leading the way with 25, tying for second in the league. WCU has won or tied the rebounding battle in six of eight games during the early season, with its largest rebounding output of the year on Tuesday with 64 boards against VUL.
Scouting the Opposition:
USC Upstate (5-5) enters Saturday's action off a thrilling 85-78 comeback overtime victory over Coastal Carolina on Wednesday night in Spartanburg to improve to 4-1 at the G.B. Hodge Center. The Spartans have lost four of their last six games, with the lone wins coming against N.C. Central and Coastal Carolina.
The Spartans finished 6-26 last season, including a 2-14 mark in the Big South, falling to Gardner-Webb in the opening round of the league's conference tournament.
Junior Mason Bendinger leads the Spartans on the offensive end, averaging 16.2 points per game, seventh in the Big South. He's had five straight double-figure scoring outputs, including a trio of 20-point performances, with 27 poured in against Coastal Carolina last time out.
Redshirt junior Karmani Gregory averages 15.1 points per contest with nine games in double figures, while sophomore Carmelo Adkins rounds out the double-figure scoring at 14.8 points per game. Junior Jafeth Martinez leads the Spartans with 56 rebounds, averaging 5.6 per game, as junior Tyler Smith tallies a team-high 35 assists and 22 steals. The Spartans sit atop the Big South in blocks per game at 5.7, led by Martinez with 22 blocks, which ranks among the top 20 in the nation.
Head coach Marty Richter is in his second season at the helm in Spartanburg after a successful six-year stint at Drake, where he served as an assistant coach for five postseason appearances and three NCAA tournament appearances with the Bulldogs.
The Spartans were tabbed ninth by the conference's head coaches among the nine-team preseason poll, as Gregory was picked as the second-team all-conference honoree.
Series History:
Western Carolina and USC Upstate have met six times before Saturday's action, with the Spartans holding a 3-2 lead in the all-time series. A quirk in the head-to-head series between the two squads has the Spartans 2-0 in Cullowhee, while the Catamounts have a 2-0 mark in Spartanburg. USC Upstate won the lone neutral-site battle in Kent, Ohio, in 2013. Saturday marks five straight years the two teams have met, with the Spartans earning a 74-68 victory in Cullowhee last season.
Up Next:
Following Saturday's action in Spartanburg, the Catamounts continue their three-game road swing with a trip to Blacksburg, Va., on Thursday, Dec. 11, with a battle against ACC foe Virginia Tech. The meeting with the Hokies is slated for a 7 p.m. tip-off and will be shown on ACC Network Extra (paid subscription required), with live audio from the Catamount Sports Network, and live stats available online at 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).
