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CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel will take to the hardwood for the first time in seven days Wednesday evening at 5 p.m. as the Bulldogs welcome longtime rival and current Southern Conference leader Wofford to McAlister Field House.
A cancellation of last Saturday's game at Samford due to COVID protocols, just one of several postponements around the league this week, left the Bulldogs without a contest over the weekend.
Wednesday's game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and will feature Kyle West (play-by-play) and Jason Kempf (analysis) on the call. The game will also be carried on the radio locally on 102.1FM and 1450AM with Luke Mauro, the Voice of the Bulldogs, on the radio call.
In its most recent game, The Citadel (8-4, 1-4 SoCon) dropped its fourth straight conference matchup in an 83-63 defeat to Mercer inside McAlister Field House last Wednesday evening. The Bears netted 52 first-half points after shooting 66.7 percent (22-of-33) from the floor, and the Bulldogs were unable to rally over the final 20 minutes despite a 21-point, nine-rebound performance from
Hayden Brown.
Kaiden Rice (16) and
Brady Spence (10) joined Brown in double figures against Mercer, with Spence's 10 points a season-best for the sophomore.
Over its last three games, The Citadel has pulled down 35 offensive rebounds, collecting 14 at VMI, eight at UNCG and another 13 against Mercer on Wednesday; that is the Bulldogs' most in a three-game span against SoCon opponents since grabbing 37 between Feb. 16-23, 2019. The Citadel has turned those 35 offensive boards into 36 second-chance points, a mark that includes outscoring Mercer 14-2 in the category.
Tyler Moffe turned in one of his top ball-handling games of the season last Wednesday, dishing out six assists compared to only one turnover against the Bears. Moffe leads all SoCon players with 5.2 assists per game and has had at least five assists in six of his nine games played. In total, the grad transfer has put together a 1.8 assist-to-turnover ratio, compiling 47 assists and only 26 turnovers.
Despite cooling off from three-point range over the last two games, The Citadel remains among the nation's leaders in both three-point percentage and total three-pointers made this season. The Bulldogs have knocked down 158 triples, the 12th-most in the nation, and are connecting from three-point range at a 40.8 percent (158-of-387) clip, also good for the seventh-best mark among all Division I programs.
Wofford (9-4, 6-1 SoCon) enters Wednesday's contest on a four-game winning streak and took down Western Carolina, 91-78, in its last time out this past Saturday. Four of the Terriers six wins in conference play have come by double digits, and their lone SoCon loss came on Jan. 6 against UNCG.
Senior guard Storm Murphy stars for Wofford, scoring 20.1 points and dishing out 4.7 assists per game; Murphy has seven 20-point games this season and has scored 18 or more in each of his last six games. Tray Hollowell (12.4) and Morgan Safford (10.0) also average double figures for the Terriers, and Messiah Jones is the team's leading rebounder at 6.6 boards per outing.
Murphy, Holloway and Safford are the lone players to start all 13 games for Wofford this season.
Wednesday's game figures to feature a plethora of three-pointers as both sides combined to attempt more than 60 triples per game on average. The Citadel leads the nation with 13.2 made three-pointers per game, while Wofford trails just behind in fifth place with 11.1 makes per outing.
A rivalry that dates back to the 1920s, The Citadel and Wofford will be meeting for the 111th time in program history, with the Terriers holding a 61-49 advantage. The Bulldogs will be seeking to snap a five-game losing streak with their first victory since an 80-78 win on Feb. 1, 2018.
The Bulldogs will face a quick turnaround as they head back out on the road, heading north to take on ETSU on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. A SoCon rivalry dating back to the 1979-80 season, The Citadel will be seeking its first win over the Bucs since an 84-82 win in Johnson City on Feb. 20, 2018; since then, ETSU has claimed four straight wins over the 'Dogs.
