Cullowhee, N.C. – The Western Carolina men's basketball team begins the final stretch on the road to the Southern Conference tournament with a trip to the Scenic City on Wednesday night to battle league co-leader, Chattanooga. Tip-off between the Mocs and the Catamounts is scheduled for 7 p.m. from McKenzie Arena.

Wednesday's meeting with the Mocs will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required). Live audio coverage through the Catamount Sports Network will be available online at CatamountSports.com and on 105.7 FM / 540 AM WRGC "The River" in Sylva, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Live stats are also available via a link on CatamountSports.com.

Matchup: Western Carolina (8-17, 4-10 SoCon) at Chattanooga (19-8, 11-3 SoCon)
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 19
Time: 7 p.m.
Site: McKenzie Arena (Chattanooga, Tenn.)
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

About Western Carolina:
Coming off back-to-back home wins and their first two-game win streak of the season, the Catamounts look to carry that momentum on the road on Wednesday when they visit Chattanooga. WCU scored a pair of home victories last week, knocking off ETSU in the midweek before scoring a thrilling 76-73 win over The Citadel on Senior Day on Saturday afternoon.

Marcus Kell led five Catamounts in double figures in Saturday's win over The Citadel as Western Carolina used an early second-half surge to extend its advantage before withstanding a late charge by The Citadel. Cord Stansberry joined Kell with his team-high 18 points as he tallied 15 points on a trio of 3-pointers, Ice Emery adding 11 points, while senior Bernard Pelote had 11 points and eight rebounds. The double-figure scoring was capped with redshirt junior Chase McKey tallying his best offensive showing in league play with 10 points and five rebounds.

On Monday, Kell continued to rack up the hardware, defending his Southern Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week honor. Kell guided the Catamounts to a perfect 2-0 week, averaging 18 points and a league-best 12.5 rebounds per game to claim back-to-back weekly plaudits.

The Rock Hill, S.C., product looks to continue his hot hand, entering the week with seven straight games in double figures including a career-high 29 points two weeks ago at Furman. In conference play, Kell is second on the WCU squad with a 12.9 point per game average and has reached double figures nine times, including seven straight contests. He is also second on the team with 5.7 rebounds per contest, shooting at a 43.4% (53-of-122) clip in league play.

Senior Bernard Pelote maintains a hold of a top-five spot in the league in scoring. He enters Wednesday ranked fifth in the league in scoring, averaging 16.5 points per game, and is second in the league in conference games with 6.1 field goals per game. He ranks fourth in rebounding with 7.4 boards per conference game, and he's also tied for ninth in league play with 33 made threes and tops in defensive rebounds with 86 while checking in third overall with 103 boards.

WCU is averaging 23.92 points per game off the bench from its reserves – the third-best mark in the conference. Junior Ice Emery is the leader in bench production for the Catamounts, scoring 128 points, as he tallied double-figure scoring in three straight games. He's followed closely by Kell, who tallied 116 points with double figures in his last five starts.

The Catamounts have seen a bench player reach double-figures 18 times, high-pointed by Emery's 24 against Truett McConnell. Emery has a team lead with six double-digit point performances, and Kell has five double-figure point outputs in bench outings.

Western Carolina enters the week ranked second in the league in rebounds with 38.8 per game over 25 games. The Catamounts have boarded a league-high 28.1 defensive rebounds per contest. WCU sits just 0.1 rebounds behind Mercer for the top spot in the league. WCU also ranks third in the league in free-throw percentage at 75.6%, led by Stansberry, who's buried a league-high 92.6%, ranking among the top free-throw shooters in the nation.

Pelote leads the Catamounts on the glass with 7.4 per game—the third-best individual average in the SoCon. He also ranks first in the league with 6.0 defensive rebounds per game and second in the conference with 150 total defensive boards. Pelote is fourth in the league in conference play with 16 blocks, followed closely by Kell, who's tied for sixth with 14 rejections. Junior Vernon Collins ranks fifth in conference play with 38 offensive rebounds.

Scouting the Opposition – Chattanooga Mocs:
Chattanooga enters play on Wednesday with a 19-8 record, vying for a second-straight 20-win season. The Mocs improved to 11-3 in league games after beating in-state rival ETSU on Saturday  78-71 to complete the season sweep of the Bucs. UTC has earned seven straight wins in conference play.

Junior guard Honor Huff, who also began his collegiate career at VMI, leads the Mocs with 13.7 points per game while ranking second in the league with 83 3-pointers. A preseason all-conference selection, Huff has also hit 67-of-78 (85.9%) from the charity stripe. He has eclipsed double figures in six straight games and 19 games overall.

Two-time transfer – most recently Florida two years ago – senior guard Trey Bonham – sits just behind Huff with 13.6 points per game. Playing with his second SoCon school after beginning his collegiate career at VMI, Bonham has eclipsed 20 points in four games, including a season-high 28 against Tennessee State. The 2024-25 SoCon Preseason Player of the Year selection is connecting on 45.1% (128-of-284) field goals and 67-of-83 (80.7%) from the free throw line. Bonham has also won a SoCon Player of the Week award.

Graduate student Bash Wieland – a transfer from Bellarmine a season ago – averages 13.5 points per game, connecting on 55.1% (130-of-236) from the floor. Wieland has eclipsed double figures in 17 contests, led by 26 against Morehead State. North Georgia transfer senior forward Frank Champion rounds out the double-figure scoring for the Mocs at 11.5 points per game, shooting 56.5% (83-of-147) from the field. Champion began his season on Dec. 3 and has eclipsed double figures 12 times in 19 games thus far in the 2024-25 season.

Champion leads the Mocs on the glass with 4.7 rebounds per game, followed by sophomore guard/forward Sean Cusano with 4.4 rebounds per game with a double-double against Johnson (Tenn.) with 16 points and 10 rebounds earlier this season. Senior Garrison Keeslar leads UTC in the assist column with 79 helpers, 76 with Bonham, 68 with Champion, and 65 with Huff.

Chattanooga owns the top field-goal percentage in the SoCon at 47.9%, along with the second spot in free-throw percentage at 76.2%, just ahead of WCU at 75.6%. The Mocs take care of the basketball, committing the second-fewest turnovers (10.4) per game and the third-highest points per game output in the league at 78.4. In league play, Chattanooga is the only team to eclipse 80+ points per game at 81.4 points/game, which leads the league, connecting on a league-high 50.7% of its field goals. The Mocs also hold the top spot in the Southern Conference with 18.1 assists per contest in league games.

Under third-year head coach Dan Earl, Chattanooga was tabbed second in the 10-team SoCon preseason poll, one of three schools to receive a first-place vote with two. Bonham and Huff were among 10 players recognized on the league's preseason all-conference team, with Bonham tabbed as the Preseason Player of the Year. 

Last Meeting vs Chattanooga:
Early scoring spurts in both halves and a cold-shooting night by the home-standing Catamounts led Chattanooga to an 84-60 victory over Western Carolina on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center back on Jan. 29. Marcus Kell posted his sixth double-digit scoring effort of the season with a team-best 15 points to lead WCU as the two teams concluded the first half of Southern Conference play.

Series History:
Chattanooga and WCU meet for the 105th time in series history with the Mocs holding a commanding 72-32 lead in the all-time series. The two teams have gone back and forth, and neither has strung a winning streak in the last five games. Chattanooga has seized control in the series in games on its home floor with a 39-7 lead, with the Mocs winning three of the past four matchups, but WCU has claimed the most recent win in the Scenic City.

Up Next for Western Carolina:
Following the midweek visit to Chattanooga, the Catamounts continue their road swing on Saturday, Feb. 22, with a trip to Birmingham for a matchup against Samford, who is third in the league a game behind the first-place tie between Chattanooga and UNCG. Tip-off from Birmingham is slated for 3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT.

Saturday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), as live stats are also available via a link 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).