Know Your Opponent: WCU

By Bobby Hundley

Western Carolina (CatamountSports.com)
Location: Cullowhee, N.C.
Rankings: WCU - No. 276 KenPom, NR AP; UNC - No. 8 KenPom, No. 11 AP
Records: WCU - 3-6; UNC - 8-1
Carolina Series History (Last Meeting): Carolina leads 1-0 (UNC 77, WCU 59, Jan. 30, 1957, Reid Gymnasium, Cullowhee)

On Jan. 30, 1957, Western Carolina College dedicated its new basketball facility by welcoming the No. 1 team in college basketball to Cullowhee. Never mind that the Catamounts played in the NAIA's North State Intercollegiate Conference. For one special night in Reid Gymnasium, Jim Gudger's Catamounts got to stand toe-to-toe with Frank McGuire's eventual national champion Tar Heels. Carolina won that night by 18, and Wednesday's contest resumes a series that has been dormant for more than 60 years.

The 2017-18 version of Western Carolina University's basketball team is still a work in progress. Long-time head coach Larry Hunter put together one of the nation's most difficult non-conference schedules and the Catamounts have certainly taken their lumps, the worst coming in a 51-point loss at Cincinnati.

But WCU has shown signs of progress as the season's second month approaches. After a 9-point loss at a good College of Charleston team last Thursday, the Cats edged 828 rival Appalachian State (which owns a win over Davidson, by the way) 72-71 in Cullowhee. Junior college transfer Mike Amius led the way Monday, sealing the win with a thunderous dunk in the final 10 seconds. Amius has emerged from a slow start to average 20.5 points and 7.0 rebounds over his last two outings.

WCU's typical starting five all average between 8.0 and 11.7 points per contest, with freshman guard Matt Halvorsen making an immediate impact for Hunter's club. The Kingsport, Tennessee, product leads the team in both 3-point shooting (42.1%) and free throw shooting (82.1%) and has taken 57 of his 74 field goal attempts from behind the arc. Senior guard Devin Peterson missed the App State game and may not play Wednesday, so a pair of redshirt seniors in Haboubacar Mutombo (Dikembe's nephew) and Deriece Parks join Halvorsen in the starting backcourt. Outside shooting has been the strength of this team, as WCU is one of just 41 teams nationally making 40 percent of its 3s against D-I competition.

That hot shooting is extra important because no Catamounts in the regular rotation stand taller than 6-7, meaning Amius and fellow junior forward Marc Gosselin have their hands full up front most nights. WCU ranks outside the top 200 in offensive rebounding percentage and outside the top 300 on the defensive glass, leading to a lack of second chances for the Cats and an abundance of them for their opponents.

Six of the 10 teams in the SoCon picked up first-place votes in the preseason media poll including sixth choice Mercer, who was chosen as the favorite by the league's coaches. So while the Catamounts finished just a game out of last in the 2016-17 SoCon, there is hope that with some continued hot shooting WCU can improve in the new year.

NOTE: While most fans will remember Larry Hunter from his time as an assistant coach under Herb Sendek at NC State, there will be another familiar face on the Catamount bench Wednesday. Former Tar Heel fan favorite Jackson Simmons joined Hunter's staff in July as the team's director of basketball operations. Simmons, a native of the North Carolina mountains who went to Smoky Mountain High School in Sylva, spent two years as a GA at Charlotte before landing the WCU job.

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University of North Carolina Athletics

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