Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina men's basketball looks for its first back-to-back Southern Conference victories this season as the Catamounts reach the halfway point of league play with a road rematch against mountain rival East Tennessee State on Thursday night at Freedom Hall in Johnson City, Tenn. WCU earned a tight 72-68 victory over the Buccaneers in Cullowhee back on January 14.
Thursday's tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. as the mountain rivalry is slated to be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live audio coverage through the Catamount Sports Network available online at CatamountSports.com and on 105.7 FM / 540 AM WRGC "The River" in Sylva for the men's game. Live stats are also available via a link on CatamountSports.com.
The Catamounts enter the rare Thursday night SoCon tilt with a 3-5 league record after earning the 88-58 decision over VMI on Saturday afternoon. ETSU rides in on a three-game win streak, earning victories over Samford (76-75), Chattanooga (67-66), and The Citadel (84-55) since leaving Cullowhee with its lone SoCon defeat a few weeks ago.
The Bucs tip the scales at No. 18 in this week's College Insider Men's Mid-Major Top 25 poll, with Wofford (28th) the only other SoCon school receiving votes.
Men's Basketball Matchup: Western Carolina (7-12, 3-5) at ETSU (15-6, 7-1)
Date: Thursday, Jan. 29
Time: 7 p.m.
Site: Freedom Hall (Johnson City, Tenn.)
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast
Live Video: ESPN+ (paid subscription required)
Live Audio: Catamount Sports Network
Radio: 105.7 FM / 540 AM WRGC
Twitter: @CatamountMBB
MEDIA CENTER
About Western Carolina:
Junior Marcus Kell posted a game-high 18 points to lead a balanced Catamount scoring attack that saw 10 players score as Western Carolina delivered its best output against a Southern Conference opponent as the Catamounts rolled to an 88-58 victory over VMI last Saturday. Stansberry contributed 17 points and a team-high five assists as both players led the Catamounts' balanced attack against VMI.
WCU's 88 points scored marked the most for the Purple & Gold against a Division I opponent this season, while the 58 points allowed are the second-fewest this season and the fewest against DI opposition.
The Catamounts improved to 7-3 when leading at the half, and 5-0 when holding opponents under 40 percent shooting. The team is 5-2 when scoring at least 80 points and 7-4 when outrebounding opponents.
In league play, the Catamounts have moved up to third in scoring offense, averaging 78.3 points per game, just above their seasonal average of 77.7. Stansberry leads the way with 16.5 points per game, ranking 10th in the SoCon, as he's reached double figures in all eight conference games thus far. He's done it from deep with 22 3-pointers at a 35.5% clip for the Bermuda Dunes, Calif. native. Kell (13.3 ppg) and Soumaoro (10.8 per game) round out the trio of double-figure scorers in league play for WCU.
The Catamounts have continued to crash the boards in 2025-26, averaging 39.9 rebounds per game through 19 contests, regaining their stranglehold of the league lead on the glass after 47 boards against VMI. The Purple & Gold lead the league in offensive rebounds per game (14.3), while upping their pre-SoCon average to 16.1 in eight SoCon contests.
Freshman Samuel Dada leads the Catamounts in rebounding with 6.9 per game, ranking seventh in the SoCon, followed by sophomore transfer Abdulai Fanta Kabba, who sits in ninth in the league in rebounding at 6.7 boards per game. Both players sit among the league leaders in offensive rebounding, Dada's 59 offensive boards (3.1 per game), second in per-game average, and tied for second in total offensive boards. Kabba checks in fourth in the league at 2.7 offensive boards per game and fifth in total offensive rebounds with 51.
In conference play, Stansberry enters Thursday making 2.8 threes per game, fourth in the SoCon through eight games. He's also sixth in the league at a 35.5% 3-point rate. Dada sits second in the league with 35 offensive rebounds, while also sitting second in offensive boards per game at 4.38 thus far in SoCon play. He's also fourth in overall rebounds at 8.63 per contest. Graduate transfer Tidjiane Dioumassi sits with 3.75 assists per contest, ranking in a tie for seventh in the league. The product of Paris, France is also tied for sixth in the SoCon in league play with a 2.14 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Scouting the Opposition:
ETSU (15-6, 7-1 SoCon) enters Thursday's action on a three-game SoCon win streak, sitting atop the league as the conference reaches the midpoint of the campaign. The Bucs, who were ranked fourth in the preseason polling, have wins over Samford, Chattanooga, and The Citadel since suffering its lone league blemish to WCU (72-68) back on Jan. 14. The Bucs have defended their home court throughout the 2025-26 season with an 11-1 mark and have won 81% (34-8) of games played in Johnson City over the past three seasons.
Graduate transfer Cam Morris III, a UMass Lowell transfer, leads the Bucs at 14.5 points per game as one of three averaging double figures this season. Morris is shooting 59.2% (109-of-184) from the floor to lead ETSU, and has seven straight games reaching double figures, including a double-double (21 pts, 11 rebs) last week against in-state foe Chattanooga.
Northwestern transfer, redshirt sophomore Blake Barkley, averages 14.2 points per game, scoring in double figures 16 times and notching five games of 20 or more points. Barkley leads the ETSU offense from the field at 61.6% (101-of-164) field goals and making 87.5% (70-of-80) at the charity stripe.
SIU Edwardsville transfer, senior Brian Taylor II, rounds out the trio of double-figure scoring for ETSU at 14.0 points per contest as he is shooting 47.8% (107-of-224) from the field, making 30 threes. Junior Jaylen Smith, a transfer from North Florida and a preseason All-SoCon selection, sits just below double-figure scoring for the Bucs at 9.6 per game over 21 games, burying a team-best 37 threes.
Barkley leads the Bucs on the glass with 5.5 rebounds per game, including a team-best 7.0 boards per game over the squad's eight league games. Redshirt senior Allen Strothers leads a trio of top 10 players in the SoCon for ETSU in assists, as he has a team-best 71 assists, with Taylor II at 62 helpers and Smith with 61 assists. Smith, with his 36 steals, ranks third in the SoCon with 1.7 thefts per contest. Morris is in a tie for third in the league with 1.5 blocks per game.
The Buccaneers are led by Brooks Savage in his third season at the helm in Johnson City after spending five years as an assistant with ETSU and a pair of seasons at Chattanooga. Savage tallied 19 wins in each of his first two seasons, which included a SoCon tournament run to the finals in the 2023-24 season before falling to top-seeded Samford.
Last Time vs ETSU:
Tied at 68 with 12 seconds to play, redshirt junior Marcus Kell beat the shot clock with a second-chance layup to help push Western Carolina past ETSU 72-68 to give the visiting Buccaneers their first league loss in SoCon play. Redshirt junior Cord Stansberry poured in a team-high 20 points, finishing with seven field goals, including 5-of-10 from beyond the arc, and adding five rebounds.
Series History:
Thursday's matchup marks the 92nd all-time meeting between the two schools, with ETSU maintaining a 59-32 lead in the head-to-head battles. Western Carolina looks to complete the third regular-season sweep in the last four years of ETSU after earning the sweep in 2022-23 and 2023-24. The Bucs have controlled the series in Johnson City with a 32-9 lead, though the Catamounts have won two of the past three road tilts.
Up Next for the Catamounts:
Following Thursday's action, the Catamounts return home to close out January on Saturday, Jan. 31, with a 1 p.m. tip against Samford. The action with the Bulldogs will be a "Turn Back the Clock" as WCU welcomes home its basketball alum, including the Catamount 1996 SoCon Championship team. A gate giveaway of replica jerseys reminiscent of the 1996 season are to be given away, courtesy of Champion Credit Union.
The action with the Bulldogs will be shown on ESPN+ (a paid subscription is required). Streaming audio from the Catamount Sports Network and live stats will be available online 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).
