CULLOWHEE, N.C. (Feb. 11, 2025) – Winners of three straight, including sweeps over VMI and Samford, the ETSU men's basketball team carries the streak on the road as the Buccaneers take on Western Carolina Wednesday night. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. inside Ramsey Center.
 
GAME INFO
DATE: Wednesday, Feb. 12
TIME: 6 p.m.
LOCATION: Ramsey Center (Cullowhee, N.C)
TEAMS: ETSU (15-10, 8-4) at Western Carolina (6-17, 2-10)
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+ / Nexstar (Pete Yanity/Dean Keener)
LIVE STATS: CatamountSports.com
RADIO: WXSM-AM 640 (Jay Sandos)
TWITTER: @ETSU_MBB
 
ABOUT THE BUCS

• ETSU is 15-10 overall and 8-4 in SoCon play
• The Bucs have won three straight games with wins over Furman (72-59), VMI (62-55) and Samford (66-59)
• During this three-game win streak, ETSU is holding opponents to 61.0 points per game, while opponents are shooting 36 percent (66-184) from the field and 30 percent from beyond the arc (28-92)
• The Bucs are getting balanced scoring during this win streak as five players are averaging double figures – Quimari Peterson (16.3), Jaden Seymour (14.3), Maki Johnson (11.7), Karon Boyd (11.3) and John Buggs III (10.3)
• ETSU's averaging 8.7 steals and 5.7 blocks, while only turning the ball over 9.3 times over the last three games … The Bucs are plus-24 in made free throws (47-23) and plus-21 in free throw attempts (61-40), while shooting 77 percent at the line during this win streak
• The Bucs had a season-high 12 blocks in Saturday's win over Samford … ETSU is one of 18 teams with 12 or more blocks this season, while it marked the most by a Buccaneer team since swatting a school-record 15 shots on Jan. 15, 2007
• A season-high 5,472 fans filled up Freedom Hall on Saturday … The Bucs have had three straight home crowds of over 5,000 fans, marking the first time ETSU has accomplished this feat since moving into Freedom Hall in 2014-15
• Following his 22-point performance in Saturday's win over Samford, Quimari Peterson has now totaled nine 20-point scoring games this season
• Peterson leads the SoCon in scoring (18.2), points scored (455) and field goals made (171), while ranking second in assist/turnover ratio (1.9), third in steals (1.8) and fourth in assists (4.0)
• Overall, Peterson has totaled 455 points, 100 rebounds and 99 assists in 25 starts this season … Peterson is one of seven players with over 450 points, 100 rebounds and 90 assists this season
• For his career, Peterson has scored 933 points in 64 games with 927 of those points coming in 60 games in the Blue & Gold … Peterson is 73 points shy of joining teammate Jaden Seymour on the 1,000-point club at ETSU
• Over his last two games, Maki Johnson is averaging 14.0 points and 7.0 rebounds, while Karon Boyd is averaging 7.8 points, 10.6 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 1.3 blocks over his last eight games
• Six of ETSU's first 12 SoCon games have been decided by five points or less … ETSU is 3-3 in those games
• With ETSU's nine made threes on Saturday, the Bucs have made at least one three-pointer in 1,184 straight games – the third-longest streak in the country
• Jaden Seymour scored his 1,000th career point and 1,000th point as a Buccaneer in the win over USC Upstate on Nov. 22 … Seymour became the 43rd 1,000-point scorer in program history and now is 13th in program history with 1,336 career points … Seymour needs 16 points to pass Jerald Fields (2000-04) for 12th all-time on the ETSU scoring list and 32 to pass Harley "Skeeter" Swift (1967-69) for 11th … Overall, Seymour has 1,347 points with 11 of those coming during his freshman season at Wichita State … Seymour also ranks ninth in program history with 723 rebounds and needs 61 more to pass Mike Smith (2006-11) for eighth … In addition, Seymour is sixth all-time in blocks with 104 … Brad Nuckles (2002-07) is fifth with 158.
• Peterson (455 points) and Seymour (424) are one of just 11 teammates in Division I who have scored over 400 points
• ETSU was picked to finish third in the SoCon Preseason Coaches Poll … The Bucs picked up two first-place votes, while reigning champion Samford was pegged number one and Chattanooga was selected second
• Jaden Seymour and Quimari Peterson landed SoCon preseason honors
• The Bucs return 10 players from last year's 2023-24 roster
• ETSU only lost 8% of its scoring and 9% of its minutes played from last year's roster to the transfer portal – the fewest amount of production from any SoCon program  

ABOUT WESTERN CAROLINA      

• Western Carolina has lost four straight and sits 6-17 overall and 2-10 in SoCon play
• The Catamounts are coming off a 74-70 setback at UNCG on Saturday
• Two of Western Carolina's last three games have gone to overtime
• Five of the Catamounts' six wins have come at home
• As a team, Western Carolina is averaging 68.6 points and allowing 78.7
• The Catamounts are led by Bernard Pelote and Cord Stansberry … Pelote is averaging 14.2 points and 7.5 rebounds, while Stansberry is posting 11.5 points
• Pelote and Stansberry have combined for 88 three-pointers

SERIES HISTORY

• ETSU leads the all-time series, 63-30
• The Bucs defeated Western Carolina 85-58 on Jan. 22 inside Freedom Hall, snapping a six-game losing streak to the Catamounts
• Jaden Seymour set a new Freedom Hall record with 34 points and he also grabbed 13 rebounds
• As a team, ETSU made 29 field goals and turned 20 offensive rebounds into 25 second-chance points, while also being plus-22 in the paint, 36-14
• ETSU has lost the last three in Cullowhee and is searching for its first win at Western Carolina since Jan. 20, 2021, when the Bucs won 59-48
• Forty-eight games in the series have been decided by nine points or less with ETSU winning 28 of them … Twenty-six games have been decided by five points or less with Western Carolina going 16-10 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 wraps up its two-game road swing Saturday when the Bucs play at Chattanooga. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. inside McKenzie Arena.
  
For more information on ETSU men's basketball, go to ETSUBucs.com and click on the men's basketball tab.