Wednesday, March 1, 2023

SoCon MBB Quarterfinals: #4 WCU vs. #5 ETSU





What:  Quarterfinals, SoCon Men's Basketball Tournament
Who: #5 seed - ETSU Bucs
When: Saturday, March 4, 2023
Time: 2:30 pm
Where: Harrah's Cherokee Center - Asheville, NC
Radio: Catamount Sports Network
   -announcer: Gary Ayers (PxP)
TV/video: ESPN+
   -announcer:Pete Yanity (play-by-play), Dean Keener (analyst)  
Nickname: Buccaneers (land pirates)
Colors: Navy Blue & Gold (yellow) 
Students: 14,334
Mascot: Bucky
Message Board:  Buccaneer Nation

Head Coach: Desmond Oliver was named the 18th head coach in program history on April 5, 2021.
Oliver's record vs. WCU: 1-3
Gray's record vs. ETSU: 3-1

ETSU's current record: 12-19 overall, 7-9 home, 5-9 away, 1-1 neutral, 8-10 SoCon
ETSU's last season record: 15-17 overall, 8-6 home, 4-10 away, 3-2 neutral, 7-11 SoCon

The Series: The Cats are 27-58 all-time versus the Bucs and are 3-7 in the last ten games played against ETSU.  Western has won the last three games against the Bucs. Last year in Cullowhee the Cats broke a 13-game losing streak with ETSU. 

In the SoCon preseason polls, the Bucs were picked to finish 6th by both the coaches and the media. The Bucs picked up the 5th place in the SoCon standings by beating UNCG last Saturday. UNCG was tied with Furman & Samford for first place at the time. The Bucs currently rank 7th in scoring offense, putting up 69.5 points per game (ppg), however in scoring defense, the Bucs come in third, giving up only 69 ppg.

ETSU comes into the game having won their last two games. The Bucs have three players averaging double-figure scoring, Jordan King averaging 15.5 ppg, Jalen Haynes averaging 14.3 ppg, and Deanthony Tipler putting up 10.4 ppg.  Jaden Seymour leads the team in rebounding with 7.4 rebounds per game.  The Bucs are averaging 6 three-pointers per game, and as a team hitting 66% of their shots at the charity stripe. 







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