Cullowhee, N.C. – Entering a pivotal week in the stretch run to the 2026 Ingles Southern Conference Basketball Championship, Western Carolina men's basketball returns home looking to "White Out" Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center for a key Southern Conference matchup against the UNC Greensboro Spartans.

Both squads remain in the thick of the battle for Asheville, with two games separating the Spartans (8-6) and the Catamounts (6-8), and an overall three-game gap between the second and eighth seeds in the current standings.

Tip-off from Cullowhee is slated for 7 p.m. and will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required). Live audio from the Catamount Sports Network is on 105.7 FM/540 AM WRGC in Sylva, with streaming audio and live stats online at CatamountSports.com. Air time is 6:30 p.m., ahead of a 7 p.m. start.

The Catamounts climbed to 6-8 in league play after a tight 81-76 decision on the road against Chattanooga last Saturday. UNCG (8-6) comes in hot, riding a four-game win streak that began with a last-second 81-78 win over WCU back on Feb. 4, and was topped on Saturday with a 99-89 win over Wofford at home.

Matchup: UNCG (12-15, 8-6 SoCon) vs Western Carolina (10-15, 6-8 SoCon)
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 17
Time: 7 p.m.
Site: Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center (Cullowhee, N.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:
Graduate transfer Julien Soumaoro scored a season-high 25 points to lead Western Carolina men's basketball as the Catamounts withstood a late-charging Chattanooga in the 81-76 decision over Chattanooga last time out.

Soumaoro was strong on Saturday, leading five Catamounts in double figures with 25 points. Graduate transfer Tidjiane Dioumassi added 16 points, while junior Marcus Kell finished with 11 points. Cord Stansberry and sophomore transfer Justin Johnson both had 10.

In SoCon play, the Catamounts have climbed to fifth in the league in scoring, averaging 78.7 points per game, as WCU has surpassed 78 points seven times in SoCon play with a 5-2 mark in those contests.

Individually in league play, Stansberry leads the squad at 14.5 points per game, followed by Kell at 13.6 per game. Soumaoro rounds out the double-figure trio at 12.4 points per contest. As a group, WCU has six 20-point individual outputs in league action, as Stansberry has three, with Kell having a pair and Soumaoro picking up his first last Saturday at UTC.

The Catamounts have continued to crash the boards in 2025-26, averaging 38.9 rebounds per game through 25 contests, second in the SoCon. The Purple & Gold maintain the lead in the league in offensive rebounds per game (13.9).

Freshman Samuel Dada leads the Catamounts in rebounding with 7.4 per game, ranking fifth in the SoCon. He is followed by sophomore transfer Abdulai Fanta Kabba, who is eighth in the league in rebounding at 6.2 boards per game. Both players sit among the league leaders in offensive rebounding: Dada's 81 offensive boards (3.2 per game) rank second in total offensive boards and his per-game average. Kabba checks in sixth in total offensive rebounds with 57 and is fourth in per-game average with 2.5.

In conference play, Dada is second in the league with 57 offensive rebounds, averaging 4.07 per game. He's also fifth in overall rebounds at 8.71 per contest. Dioumassi averages 3.08 assists per contest, ranking seventh in the league. Dada is sixth in the league at 1.14 blocks per game in conference play, with 16 rejections, sixth in the SoCon.

Scouting the Opposition:
UNCG (12-15, 8-6 SoCon) enters Wednesday on a four-game win streak with triumphs over Furman (67-64), VMI (92-71), and Wofford (99-89), with the streak started by the Feb. 4 home victory over WCU. The Spartans look for just their fourth road win on Wednesday as UNCG is just 3-7 in true road games, with two of those three wins coming in SoCon play.

Graduate transfer Justin Neely leads the UNCG offense with 17.6 points per game, sixth in the SoCon. He has recorded double-figure points 24 times, including 11 games of 20 or more. Neely, a UAlbany transfer, has a 52.1% (148-of-284) field goal percentage to help pace the Spartan offense. Neely is one of two players in the SoCon averaging a double-double with a league-high 11.9 boards per game, as he's totaled 20 double-doubles, including a 29-point, 16-rebound double-double against Wofford last time out. He's one of two players in league action to average a double-double (20.0 ppg, 12.4 rpg).

Freshman KJ Younger averages 14.6 points over 27 games, ranking 10th in the conference. He's posted six games of 20 or more points in SoCon play with a season-high 30 points against Mercer last month, as the freshman has had 19 games of double-digit points.  Graduate transfer Donald Whitehead Jr. rounds out the double-figure scoring for UNCG at 11 points per game, connecting on a team-best 46 threes at a 32.4% clip.

Neely, who tops the team with 11.9 rebounds per game, also leads the squad with 72 assists, sitting 10th in the league with Whitehead just behind with 70 helpers. Senior Valentino Pinedo sits in seventh in the league with 24 blocks, as Neely leads the Spartans with 27 thefts, and four Spartans have 19 or more steals.

Veteran head coach Mike Jones leads the Spartans in his fifth season at the helm in Greensboro after spending a decade as the head man for Radford. Jones guided the Highlanders to five 20-win seasons and has three in his time in Greensboro.

Last Time vs UNCG:
Marcus Kell sank a late jumper with 25 seconds left to push Western Carolina in front by a pair, 78-76, as the Catamounts rallied to erase a 12-point second-half deficit. However, homestanding UNC Greensboro used the charity stripe late to not only tie but ultimately pull in front in the final seconds as the Spartans escaped with an 81-78 Southern Conference victory at the on-campus Bodford Arena.

Kell led the Catamounts with a game and season-high tying 27 points. The Rock Hill, S.C., product connected on 10 field goals, including three from beyond the arc, while also pulling down a team-best seven rebounds. Freshman Tahlan Pettway added a career-best 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting and buried both of his 3-pointers.

Series History:
Wednesday's matchup marks the 68th all-time meeting between the two UNC system schools, with UNCG holding a tight 35-32 lead. The Spartans have controlled the series in recent years, with season sweeps in each of the past four plus years, winning nine straight matchups. WCU holds a 19-13 lead over UNCG in games played in Cullowhee as the Catamounts look to snap the nine-game skid against the Spartans on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center.

Up Next:
Following Wednesday's action, the Catamounts close out their road portion of the 2026 Southern Conference schedule on Saturday, Feb. 21, with a trek to the Commonwealth of Virginia to battle VMI. The action against the Keydets is slated for a 1 p.m. tip and will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), as live stats will be provided via a link 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).