Game #17 - ETSU Bucs

The #1 Buccaneers travel to Cullowhee to face the #2 Catamounts in the Ingles SoCon Game of the Week that will be broadcast by the Nexstar stations, as well as, on ESPN+. The Bucs are ranked #6 in the Mid-Major Top 25, while the Cats are receiving votes and are #30.



Game #17 - ETSU Bucs 

When: Saturday, January 18, 2020, at 7:00 pm
Where: Ramsey Center, Cullowhee, NC
Radio: Catamount Sports Network
-announcer: Gary Ayers, play by play - Daniel Hooker, color
TV/video: Nexstar / ESPN+
-TV announcer: Pete Yanity - play-by-play and Dean Keener - analyst
Live Stats: WCU Live Stats
Fan Message Board: Buccaneer Nation
The Series: The Cats are 24-52 against the Bucs, and are currently on an eight-game slide against ETSU. The Cats are 14-23 against the Bucs in Cullowhee.

ETSU's 2019-20 record: 16-3 overall, 5-1 SoCon, 5-3 away games this season

The Bucs and Cats both have one loss in conference play, and that loss is to the same team, Furman. Western is coming off a road loss to Furman, while the Bucs have a road loss against the Paladins earlier in January.

In their first five SoCon games of 2020, ETSU’s defense has been stifling. The Bucs are holding opponents to 56.2 points per game while forcing 16.3 turnovers and limiting them to a 30.7 shooting clip from three (23-75). On the flip side, ETSU is averaging over 81 points and shooting at nearly the 50 percent clip in its first 14 games – has been held to 57.5 points, while shooting 38 percent from the field and 23 percent from beyond the arc (19-84).

In this week's mid-major top 25 poll, the Bucs are the SoCon top-ranked team, coming in at #6, while the Cats are in the "others receiving votes" (#30). The Bucs top this week's SoCon power ranking, while the Cats come in at #4. Western leads the league in scoring offense at 82.2 ppg, while the Bucs come in at #4 scoring an average of 76.7 ppg. The big factor in this game will be defense, the Bucs specialty. ETSU is holding teams to an average of 61.6 ppg, while the Cats are giving up 73.6 ppg. Western's 7 game home win streak is on the line, but Massey project the home-court advantage will not be enough to overcome the Bucs defensive efforts and projects a 76-72 road win for ETSU.

The Bucs have three player averaging double-digit points this season, Tray Boyd with 13.3 ppg, Bo Hodges with 12.7 and Jeromy Rodriguez with 10.7 ppg.


Probable ETSU starters:
Bo Hodges, Guard Jr. 6-5 210 - 12.7 ppg
Patrick Good, Guard Jr. 6-0 175 - 8.7 ppg
Isaiah Tisdale, Guard Sr. 6-1 195 - 7.3 ppg
Vonnie Patterson, Forward Jr. 6-4 200 - 3.2 ppg
Lucas N’Guessan, Center Sr. 7-0 230 - 7.5 ppg