Furman Paladins (19-11, 10-7 SoCon) at Western Carolina Catamounts (13-15, 9-8 SoCon)
Cullowhee, North Carolina; Saturday, 5:30 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Western Carolina faces Furman after Cord Stansberry scored 21 points in Western Carolina’s 78-74 win against the Mercer Bears.
The Catamounts have gone 9-3 at home. Western Carolina has a 7-10 record in games decided by 10 or more points.
The Paladins are 10-7 against SoCon opponents. Furman is 2-4 in one-possession games.
Western Carolina averages 78.6 points, 8.8 more per game than the 69.8 Furman gives up. Furman has shot at a 47.2% rate from the field this season, 1.3 percentage points above the 45.9% shooting opponents of Western Carolina have averaged.
The teams meet for the second time in conference play this season. Western Carolina won 80-77 in the last matchup on Jan. 3. Marcus Kell led Western Carolina with 16 points, and Alex Wilkins led Furman with 24 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: Stansberry is scoring 14.0 points per game and averaging 3.9 rebounds for the Catamounts. Tahlan Pettway is averaging 2.5 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
Asa Thomas averages 3.2 made 3-pointers per game for the Paladins, scoring 13.6 points while shooting 40.2% from beyond the arc. Wilkins is averaging 17.3 points and 4.5 assists over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Catamounts: 7-3, averaging 81.4 points, 32.7 rebounds, 12.8 assists, 5.6 steals and 2.5 blocks per game while shooting 46.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.0 points per game.
Paladins: 6-4, averaging 74.8 points, 33.7 rebounds, 15.5 assists, 3.4 steals and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 47.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 68.8 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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