Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina men's basketball hosts chromatic rival Furman on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center in the backend of a Catamount hoops doubleheader on Saturday to close the 2025-26 regular season. The Catamounts are looking to extend a five-game winning streak and secure a spot in the top six of the Southern Conference standings for next weekend's 2026 Ingles Southern Conference Basketball Championship in Asheville.
Catamount women's basketball opens the day at 3 p.m. with a SoCon matchup against in-state foe UNC Greensboro. Both teams will celebrate their annual Senior Days, as WCU recognizes its seniors in their final regular-season game at the Ramsey Center.
Tip-off from Cullowhee is slated for 5:30 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 5 p.m., ahead of the 5:30 p.m. start.
Saturday is chock-full of events, beginning with a University Open House event that is centered around the Ramsey Center. WCU Athletics will celebrate Heroes Day, presented by Veteran Services of the Carolinas, and will also host an Adoption Day with the One More One Less Project, as the Catamounts hold a foster care awareness event at the arena.
Additionally, Western Carolina Athletics Hall of Famer, Dr. Ronnie Carr, who made the first 3-point shot in college basketball history, will be on hand to commemorate his historic shot. A limited supply of special "First Three" T-shirts will be on sale, and Dr. Carr is scheduled to be in attendance from 4:45 p.m. until shortly before the 5:30 p.m. tipoff of the men's game.
Opening Tip:
Both squads remain in the thick of a tight battle for Asheville, with one game separating the Paladins (10-7) and the Catamounts (9-8) in the SoCon standings. WCU enters the week tied with UNCG (9-8) for sixth in the standings, but holds the tiebreaker thanks to two wins over regular-season champion ETSU. UNCG finishes at Samford (10-7) on Saturday evening.
Overall, there is a one-game gap between the third and seventh-place teams in the current league standings.
The Catamounts improved to 9-8 in league play and have won five straight SoCon games after a 78-74 come-from-behind decision at home on Wednesday over Mercer. Furman (10-7) has won back-to-back games, including victories over Wofford (76-67) and The Citadel (72-51).
Matchup: Furman (19-11, 10-7 SoCon) vs Western Carolina (13-15, 9-8 SoCon)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 28
Time: 5:30 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:
Celebrating his birthday on Wednesday, graduate transfer Tidjiane Dioumassi helped spark a 9-2 spurt that pushed the Catamounts past Mercer, 78-74, in a pivotal SoCon matchup in Cullowhee. Dioumassi scored seven of WCU's final nine points, including a game-tying 3-pointer and the go-ahead step-back jumper, before Samuel Dada tallied his only points of the night from the free throw line to ice the win.
Redshirt junior Cord Stansberry led the Catamounts with a team-best 21 points, adding five rebounds, and he dished out a team-best four assists. Classmate Marcus Kell poured in 18 points to join Dioumassi in double figures.
Wednesday's win marks the longest win streak in Southern Conference play for the Catamounts since the 2010-11 season, when the Purple & Gold won seven in a row down the home stretch of that season.
The Catamounts climbed to 13-3 when leading at the half and improved to 13-5 when outrebounding their opponents, including a 9-4 mark in SoCon play. Wednesday marked just the second time a team has held WCU under 80, but the Catamounts still earned the victory.
In SoCon play, the Catamounts are fourth in the league in scoring, averaging 79.5 points per game, as WCU has surpassed 78 points 10 times, posting an 8-2 mark in those contests.
Individually in league play, Stansberry leads the squad with 15.6 points per game, followed by Kell at 13.7 per game. Graduate transfer Julien Soumaoro sits at 12.4 points per contest after missing the last three games due to injury. Dioumassi rounds out the quartet with 10.6 points per game, including five straight double-figure scoring outputs.
As a group, WCU has nine 20-point individual outputs in league action, led by Stansberry with five, Kell with two, while Soumaoro picked up his first at UTC, and Pettway against UNCG.
The Catamounts have continued to crash the boards in 2025-26, averaging 38.4 rebounds per game through 28 contests, second in the SoCon. The Purple & Gold maintain the lead in the league in offensive rebounds per game (13.4). Dada leads the Catamounts in rebounding with 7.3 per game, ranking fifth in the SoCon. Dada's 83 offensive boards (3.0 per game) rank second in total offensive boards and his per-game average. In conference play, Dada is second in the league with 59 offensive rebounds, averaging 3.5 per game. He's also fifth in overall rebounds at 8.4 per contest.
Down the Stretch in SoCon Play:
Western Carolina enters the final day of the regular season just above the 6-7 cut line for the 2026 Ingles SoCon Championship, with the difference of playing on Friday or not beginning tournament play until Saturday. The Catamounts are tied with UNCG in sixth overall at 9-8, and just a game behind the three-way tie for fourth between Furman (10-7), Mercer (10-7), and Samford (10-7).
With a win on Saturday, the Catamounts can secure a top-six finish in the standings. Also, the results of other games around the conference, including the Mercer at ETSU and UNCG at Samford contests earlier in the day Saturday, could affect how seeding and ensuing tiebreakers would be determined.
WCU earned a regular-season split with UNCG and is two games clear of Chattanooga and The Citadel. A Catamount win Saturday would hand WCU a sweep of Furman, along with the ultimate tiebreaker of having swept the regular-season champion, ETSU.
Finishing in sixth-place or above nets an opening-round bye, while finishing seventh or below means opening tournament play on Friday evening in Asheville on March 6, after a pair of women's games that morning.
Scouting the Opposition:
Chasing a 20-win regular season and looking to avenge an early-season overtime loss to the Catamounts, Furman (19-11, 10-7 SoCon) enters Saturday on a two-game win streak. The Paladins earned a 21-point victory over in-state foe The Citadel in their home finale on Wednesday. The Paladins have righted the ship in February after dropping four of five in the month, with the back-to-back wins entering the weekend.
Freshman Alex Wilkins leads Furman with a 17.4 scoring average, reaching double figures 24 times with 12 games of 20 or more. Wilkins is seventh in the league in scoring and second in the conference with 5.0 assists per game, leading the way with 149 helpers. He is shooting 82.5% from the free-throw line, sixth-best in the SoCon.
Redshirt sophomore Asa Thomas has averaged 13.6 points over 23 games, hitting a team-high 74 3-pointers at a 39.8% rate. A preseason All-SoCon selection, junior Cooper Bowser averages 13.5 points per game while shooting 78.3%.
Senior Charles Johnston rounds out the quartet of double-figure scoring with 10.3 points per game, while topping the team with 9.3 rebounds per game, tallying 11 double-doubles on the season. Bowser sits at 6.0 boards per game.
Bob Richey leads the Paladins in his 10th season at the helm, where he's eclipsed 22 wins six times during his career in Greenville. Furman was picked second in the 10-team preseason poll by conference coaches, as five coaches selected Furman to win the league. Bowser and Tom House were named to the league's preseason team.
Last Time vs Furman (Jan. 3):
Graduate transfer Julien Soumaoro connected on consecutive free throws with 3:45 left in overtime to give Western Carolina a lead it wouldn't relinquish down the stretch as the Catamounts ground out an 80-77 road victory over Furman at the newly renovated Timmons Arena.
Soumaoro and Marcus Kell led WCU with 16 points apiece as two of four Catamounts in double figures. Kell was key in the second half and overtime, scoring 13 of his 16 points. Soumaoro's offense was spread out, as he went 6-of-13 from the field, hit a pair of triples, and led on the glass with eight boards.
Series History:
Saturday's tilt marks the 91st all-time meeting between the two purple-clad programs. The Paladins hold a 58-32 lead in the series, with wins in six of the last eight meetings. WCU has a slight edge in games played in Cullowhee, leading 22-18 all-time, with the Catamounts taking two of the last three games contested on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center.
Up Next:
Following Saturday's action, the Catamounts turn their attention to the 2026 Ingles SoCon Men's Basketball Championship set to begin on Friday, March 6, at the Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville. The matchups will be officially announced following the conclusion of play on Saturday across the league.
All games of the tournament will be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) and have live stats available via a link on CatamountSports.com. Live audio coverage throughout the tournament will be provided by the Catamount Sports Network and is available online at CatamountSports.com and on 105.7 FM / 540 AM WRGC "The River" in Sylva.
The Catamount Club's Catamount Central (RSVP link) will again be at The Bier Garden (46 Haywood St.) in Asheville ahead of the men's first game. More information will be made available once the official brackets are released.
SoCon Tournament Central
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