CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel will continue its three-game homestand with a quick rematch against Western Carolina on Saturday at 1 p.m. inside McAlister Field House, looking to avenge a 76-75 heartbreaker against the Catamounts in Cullowhee on Monday.
Saturday's game is presented by Roper-St. Francis Healthcare and will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with Kyle West and Jason Kempf 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 outing, The Citadel (9-7, 2-7 SoCon) could not overcome a hot-shooting second half from UNCG on Wednesday evening inside McAlister Field House, falling 85-66 against the visiting Spartans.
Hayden Brown finished with a team-best 19 points and seven rebounds,
Kaiden Rice poured in 13 points and
Fletcher Abee added 11 of his own.
Despite the loss, the Bulldogs enjoyed their largest free throw disparity this season, attempting 18 more free throws (25-7) than the Spartans. The Citadel knocked down 19 of the 25 attempts (76 percent), snapping a streak of three straight games shooting below 70 percent from the charity stripe; individually, Brown was 9-for-11 from the line, and Rice was a perfect 6-for-6 on Wednesday evening.
Saturday's matchup marks the second-fastest rematch in the modern era of The Citadel basketball as just five days have elapsed since the last meeting with Western Carolina. Only a four-day span between meetings with Chattanooga on Feb. 24 and 28, 1986, happened in quicker succession, and the Bulldogs split those two games against the Mocs. After dropping Monday's clash on Mason Faulkner's jumper with five seconds remaining, The Citadel will be seeking to duplicate that feat on Saturday.
Brown was named to the Lou Henson Award Mid-Season Watch List last week, the award presented annually to the top mid-major player in college basketball. The Greer, S.C., native, who leads the SoCon in both scoring (20.5) and rebounding (10.4), was one of five SoCon players on the 40-member watch list; Brown has also played his way onto the list after not being included on the initial preseason list.
The Citadel has enjoyed a strong run as of late in rebounding, including outrebounding UNCG by a 39-33 margin on Wednesday evening. Nine of those rebounds came off the offensive glass, continuing a strong run in that category for the 'Dogs; The Citadel has averaged 9.3 offensive rebounds per game over its last eight outings, with at least six pulled down in each contest.
Western Carolina (8-10, 1-8 SoCon) knocked off The Citadel last Monday but fell in its midweek clash with Chattanooga on Wednesday, dropping a 74-67 decision on its home court. Five Catamounts reached double figures for scoring in that contest, led by 18 from Xavier Cork, but the Mocs got 22 points from Malachi Smith and 18 apiece from David Jean-Baptiste and Darius Banks to secure the victory.
The Catamounts enter Saturday's game with four players averaging double figures in Faulkner (15.9), Matt Halvorsen (13.6), Xavier Cork (13.5) and Cory Hightower (13.3). Halvorsen, Cork and Tyler Harris have started all 18 games for Western Carolina, and Hightower is the team's leading rebounder at a 6.1 per game clip.
Faulkner has dished out a team-best 78 assists but also owns a team-high 52 turnovers. As a team, the Catamounts shoot just 33.6 percent from three-point range, the second-lowest mark among SoCon squads.
Longtime SoCon rivals dating back to the 1977-78 campaign, Saturday's meeting will mark the 81st all-time between the Bulldogs and the Catamounts. Western Carolina owns a 44-36 advantage in the series and has won 10 of the last 11, including seven straight since the most recent win by The Citadel on March 3, 2017, in the SoCon Tournament. In Charleston, however, The Citadel owns a narrow 21-16 edge across 37 meetings; in last year's bout in Charleston, Western Carolina escaped with an 86-82 victory inside McAlister Field House.
With Saturday's game in the books, The Citadel will finish off its three-game homestand inside McAlister Field House on Wednesday at 7 p.m. as the Bulldogs welcome ETSU to Charleston. In the first meeting this season on Jan. 30, the Bucs were 64.8 percent (24-of-37) from the field in the second half while scoring 62 points en route to a 112-84 win over The Citadel in Johnson City.
