JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Jan. 9, 2024) – The ETSU men's basketball team puts its unbeaten home mark on the line Wednesday night when the Buccaneers host Western Carolina at 7 p.m. inside Freedom Hall. 
 
GAME INFO
DATE: Wednesday, Jan. 10
TIME: 7 p.m. 
LOCATION: Johnson City, Tenn. (Freedom Hall)  
TEAMS: ETSU (9-6, 1-1) vs. Western Carolina (13-2, 2-0) 
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+ / NexStar (Pete Yanity / Dean Keener) 
LIVE STATS: ETSUBucs.com
RADIO: WXSM-AM 640 | 104.9 NASH ICON (Jay Sandos)
TWITTER: @ETSU_MBB
GAME SPONSOR: Washington County Sheriff's Office/TN Dept. Of Transportation
 
ABOUT THE BUCS

• ETSU suffered a 70-54 setback at UNCG last Saturday evening in Greensboro 
• ETSU is a perfect 6-0 at home this season … In the six home games, ETSU has a plus-17.7 scoring margin (78.5-60.8), while the Bucs are holding the opposition to a 33 percent shooting clip (117-352) and a 25 percent mark from beyond the arc (33-130) … The Blue & Gold are forcing 15.8 turnovers per game … Individually, Ebby Asamoah is averaging 18.4 points per game and shooting 45 percent from beyond the arc (18-40) in five home games
• ETSU has gone 96-31 (.756) inside Freedom Hall since the start of the 2015-16 season
• Since Feb. 16, 1987 in a game against Davidson, the Bucs have made at least one 3-pointer in 1,139 consecutive games ... ETSU was 0-for-8 in that 1987 game ... With Western Kentucky going 0-for-21 from beyond the arc on Nov. 9 at Wichita State, the Bucs now have the third-longest streak in the country behind Duke and UNLV … UNLV tops the list with 1,206 games
• ETSU, who has won six of its last eight games, is holding opponents to 65.0 points, 38% percent from the field and 26% from beyond the arc during this run … The Bucs are also holding the opposition 30 points per game (in the first half during this eight-game stretch
• Since the start of the 2015-16 campaign, ETSU has won 95 SoCon games, marking the third-most during this span … UNCG has won 104 games, Furman is at 103 wins, Wofford has 89 and Chattanooga is at 76 …  Overall, ETSU is 95-48 in the league since the start of the 2015-16
• The 2023-24 Buccaneer roster features 15 players ... ETSU's roster consists of one graduate player, two redshirt juniors, four juniors, one redshirt sophomore, three sophomores and four freshmen … Three players hail from North Carolina and Indiana, and one each from Tennessee, Iowa, West Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Kentucky, Virginia and Maryland
• The Bucs return four players from last year's roster who logged minutes, including starters Jaden Seymour and Allen Strothers, along with Justice Smith and Braden Ilic … Overall, ETSU only returns 29 percent of its scoring, 37 percent of its rebounding and 38 percent of its minutes played in 2022-23 … Seymour totaled 253 points, 218 rebounds and 1,793 minutes, Smith posted 237 points, 111 rebounds and 683 minutes, while Allen Strothers recorded 109 points, 51 rebounds and 776 minutes and Braden Ilic added for 46 points, 33 rebounds and 199 minutes
• After losing three starters and eight players from last year's team, head coach Brooks Savage and his staff brought in 11 new guys for the 2023-24 season … Seven of the Bucs are transfers – Ebby Asamoah (Delaware), Karon Boyd (USC Aiken), DJ Hughes (Butler), Jadyn Parker (North Florida), Quimari Peterson (John A. Logan), Tyler Rice (William & Mary) and Timmy Fasehun (Gulf Coast State College) … Four Bucs are true freshmen – Maki Johnson (Huntington Prep), Gabe Sisk (Ballard HS), Jaxson Jones (The Skill Factory) and David Meriwether (Lawrence North HS)

ABOUT WESTERN CAROLINA

• Western Carolina has won seven straight games and is 13-2 overall and 2-0 in league play
• The Catamounts opened SoCon play last week with a win at The Citadel and a home win over Wofford 
• Western Carolina is ranked No. 8 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Rankings 
• The Catamounts are led by SoCon Preseason Player of the Year Vonterius Woolbright as he's averaging 21.1 points, 12.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists per contest … Woolbright leads all NCAA Division I players with 12 double-doubles this season, while ranking also leading the country in defensive rebounds per game (10.2) and is second overall in total rebounds (186)
• As a team, Western Carolina is tied for 12th nationally in win percentage (.867), while Purdue, Houston, Utah State, Nevada, James Madison and Grand Canyon are the only teams with more wins than the Catamounts this season 
• The Catamounts are averaging 76.9 points per game and allowing 66.3
• Western Carolina's two losses have come on the road – at Gardner-Webb and at High Point

SERIES HISTORY 

• Tonight marks the 92nd all-time meeting between the two programs with ETSU leading the series, 62-29
• Western Carolina has won the last four meetings, including three last season – knocking the Bucs out of the Southern Conference Tournament
• The Catamounts' four-game win streak is their longest run in the series since winning five straight from March 4, 1994-Jan. 26, 1998 
• Prior to this current WCU run, ETSU had won 14 straight in the series and 31 of the last 32 meetings
• ETSU had won 15 straight home games in the series until last year's 71-60 setback on Jan. 4, 2023 … Overall, 34-9 all-time against the Catamounts in Johnson City
• Forty-seven games in the series have been decided by nine points or less with ETSU winning 28 of them … Twenty-five games have been decided by five points or less with Western Carolina going 15-10 in those contests … Seventeen games have been decided by three points or less with ETSU winning seven
• The first ever meeting was won by Western Carolina, 43-41 in 1933-34, while ETSU's first win came a year later – a 40-37 victory

 
UP NEXT 
ETSU hits the road for back-to-back games starting Saturday afternoon when the Bucs play at Furman. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. inside Timmons Arena. 
  
For more information on ETSU men's basketball, go to ETSUBucs.com and click on the men's basketball tab.