On Thursday, January 30th, the Western Carolina Catamounts will make their final road trip to the Alumni Gym (1,607) in Elon, NC to meet the Elon Phoenix for the last time in regular season as a Southern Conference member. This will be the second meeting of the two teams in regular season, as the Cats won the opening game in Cullowhee over the preseason favorites by a final score of 74-62.
The Phoenix are 10-11 overall, and 3-3 in conference play, having lost to Western Carolina, Chattanooga and Samford. The Phoenix have SoCon wins over Appalachian State, The Citadel and Davidson (in overtime). Elon's home record is 7-2, but the Phoenix are currently on a 3 game losing streak, once at home and their last two road games.
The Phoenix are averaging 76.2 points per game, good enough for third in the SoCon, and are giving up 74.2 points ranking 5 in conference play. The Phoenix have four players averaging double figure scoring, led by Lucas Troutman with 15.5 ppg, followed by Sebastian Koch with 12.8 and Tanner Samson with 10.2 ppg, then Ryley Beaumont with 10.1 ppg. Elon's biggest 3-point threats come form Kich and Samson, shooting 45.5% and 44.4% respectively beyond the arc.
Keys to the game for the Catamounts other than a decent shooting night, will be turnovers and rebounding, as the Cats created 23 turnovers in the first game, scoring 28 points off those turnovers. The Cats also scored 18 second chance points off offensive rebounds. The Catamounts also need to limit personal fouls, as Elon scored 17 points off 26 attempts, as a result of 21 personal fouls by the Catamounts.
There is a lot riding on this game for both teams, as the winner remains in the tip tier along with Davidson and Chattanooga. If the Cats want the opportunity to win the regular season, and go into the tournament as the number 1 seed, they can not lose anymore game. It's a tall order, but this is a seasoned, veteran team. It just remains to be seen how bad they want it.
Realtime RPI projects an eleven point loss for the Cats at Elon, 69-80. However, they also projected a 5 point loss earlier in the season for the fist game.
Rankings-
RPI: Elon - 180 WCU - 231 Sagarin: Elon - 200 WCU - 226 Pomroy: Elon - 194 WCU - 228
Massey: Elon - 205 WCU: - 224
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