Western Carolina (10-3, 2-0) vs. VMI (5-11, 0-3)
Cameron Hall, Lexington, Virginia; Wednesday, 7 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Western Carolina looks to extend VMI's conference losing streak to five games. VMI's last SoCon win came against the Western Carolina Catamounts 96-83 on March 8, 2019. Western Carolina beat The Citadel by four on the road in its last outing.
ARE YOU EXPERIENCED: Western Carolina has been fueled by senior leadership while VMI has depended on freshmen this year. For the Catamounts, seniors Mason Faulkner, Carlos Dotson and Onno Steger have scored 52 percent of the team's points this season. On the other hand, freshmen Garrett Gilkeson, Travis Evee and Kamdyn Curfman have combined to account for 48 percent of VMI's scoring this season and 58 percent of the team's points over its last five games.
SPARKING THE OFFENSE: Evee has had his hand in 40 percent of all VMI field goals over the last five games. The freshman guard has 32 field goals and 19 assists in those games.
WINLESS WHEN: VMI is 0-10 this year when it scores 77 points or fewer and 5-1 when it scores at least 78.
ASSIST-TO-FG RATIO: The Keydets have recently used assists to create buckets more often than the Catamounts. VMI has an assist on 52 of 80 field goals (65 percent) across its past three matchups while Western Carolina has assists on 57 of 104 field goals (54.8 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: Both Western Carolina and VMI are ranked at the top of college basketball when it comes to 3-point shooting. The Catamounts are ranked sixth in Division I with 10.7 3-pointers made per game this season, including 11.8 per game over their last five. The Keydets are ranked second among all D1 teams and have made 11.6 3-pointers per game this year.
