HPU Men’s Basketball: Panthers Entertain Western Carolina Saturday

High Point vs. Western Carolina
WHEN: Saturday, Dec. 15 | 7 p.m.
WHERE: High Point, N.C. | Millis Center
SERIES RECORD: 65th meeting, HPU leads, 41-23
LIVE STATS: Click Here
AUDIO: High Point Panther Radio Network
VIDEO: ESPN+
GAME NOTES: Click here

HIGH POINT, N.C. — The High Point University men’s basketball team returns home to take on Western Carolina on Saturday (Dec. 17). Tip-off at the Millis Center is set for 7 p.m. and the game can be seen on ESPN+.

PAW PRINTS
• The Panthers (4-5) and Catamounts (3-8) meet for the 65th time, with HPU leading the all-time series, 41-23. High Point has won seven out of the last eight meetings. It will Coach Tubby Smith’s second meeting with WCU. The first came in his second game in charge of Georgia in 1995.
• High Point returns to action after defeating Valparaiso, 55-53, on Dec. 4 before taking a break for exams. Junior Brandonn Kamga hit a tough bank shot with 0.8 seconds left to give the Panthers its second road victory of the season.
• Kamga’s heroics marked the first time the Panthers had scored a last-second shot to win a game since Nov. 28, 2016 when HPU came from 20 down in the second half to Morgan State. Anthony Lindauer’s 30-footer sealed a 62-61 win for High Point.
• It was the second straight game that came down to a final-second shot for HPU. Eastern Kentucky’s Nick Mayo hit a 3-point field goal at the buzzer to defeat the Panthers, 70-69, on Dec. 1 at the Millis Center.
• Junior Jahaad Proctor led the Panthers at Valpo with 19 points and was one shy of his sixth-consecutive game with 20 or more points. Proctor was fairly quiet in the first half, but in the second half scored nine in a row for HPU and helped position the Panthers for the win.
• Senior Ricky Madison grabbed eight rebounds against the Crusaders and now has six games with eight or more rebounds this season. He had four such games in 2017-18.

HISTORY vs. WESTERN CAROLINA
This will be the 65th meeting between the two programs, who had a long-time series during the schools’ NAIA days. The Panthers lead the all-time series, 41-23. High Point, which has won seven of the last eight meetings, defeated the Catamounts, 72-61, last season on Dec. 19, 2017 in Cullowhee. Four Panthers scored in double figures, including Jahaad Proctor and Andre Fox, who each tallied 16 points.

HISTORY vs. IN-STATE OPPONENTS
High Point has complied a 336-279 (.546) record all-time against Division I programs hailing from the Tar Heel State. HPU’s most common opponents are Elon (86-76), Appalachian State (60-36) and Western Carolina (41-23). The majority of those meetings came during the NAIA era. High Point is 84-78 (.519) against Big South programs from North Carolina and 252-201 (.556) against the rest of the state’s Div. I teams. HPU is 1-0 this season against Division I opponents from North Carolina with a win at ECU on Nov. 24.

HISTORY vs. SOCON OPPONENTS
The Panthers are 75-55 (.577) all-time against current members of the Southern Conference. The Panthers most common opponents are Western Carolina (41-23), VMI (13-10) and Wofford (9-12). In addition to the long-time series with WCU during the NAIA days, HPU and VMI clashed often over the past decade during VMI’s tenure in the Big South. This season, the Panthers has fallen to Wofford and The Citadel.

A LOOK AT THE CATAMOUNTS
Western Carolina is 3-8 on the season after defeating UNC Asheville, 71-59, on Dec. 8 in Asheville. Carlos Dotson leads the Catamounts in scoring with 14.2 points per game, while Matt Halvorsen is right behind with 13.5 points per contest. Dotson is also almost averaging a double-double, leading the squad with 9.5 rebounds per game.

TUBBY SMITH vs. WCU AND THE SOCON

HPU Head Coach Tubby Smith has faced Western Carolina once in his head coaching career. Coach Smith’s Georgia Bulldogs defeated the Catamounts, 91-71, on Nov. 29, 1995 in Smith’s second game in charge at UGA. Coach Smith is 9-3 against SoCon opponents, falling to Wofford and The Citadel earlier this year.

NEXT UP
The Panthers host North Carolina Wesleyan on Monday, Dec. 17. Tip-off at the Millis Center is set for 7 p.m.