Friday, March 7th, 3:00 p.m. (et)

FACTS & STATS: Site: North Charleston Coliseum (13,600) -- Charleston, South Carolina. Television: None. Home Record: Western Carolina 8-6, Wofford 9-5. Away Record: Western Carolina 1-13, Wofford 4-10. Neutral Record: Western Carolina 1-1, Wofford 2-0. Conference Record: Western Carolina 6-14, Wofford 8-12. Series Record: Western Carolina leads, 20-12.

GAME NOTES: The eighth-seeded Wofford Terriers and the ninth-seeded Western Carolina Catamounts will do battle this afternoon in first round action of the Southern Conference Tournament. Awaiting the winner of this contest is a quarterfinal clash with top-seeded Davidson tomorrow. Western Carolina owns a 14-28 all-time record at this event, and the program captured its lone SoCon Tournament title back in 1996. The Catamounts lost their final two regular season games to fall to 10-20 overall and 6-14 against league foes. They have played 16 games away from home, and only two have resulted in wins. As for Wofford, it is still in search of its first SoCon crown. The Terriers, who are 15-15 overall and 8-12 in league play, managed to halt a crippling six-game losing skid with a win over The Citadel in the regular season finale. Wofford and Western Carolina split a pair of meetings during the regular season, and the Catamounts own a 20-12 advantage in the all-time series between the teams.

Western Carolina is not an explosive offensive team by any means, but Brandon Giles is the fourth-leading scorer in the conference with his 15.3 ppg. Giles relies heavily on his three-point shooting, and while he has been a bit inconsistent at times, he can take over a game when he gets on a roll. The only other double-digit scorer in the lineup is Jake Robinson with his 10.5 ppg, but he is shooting only 39.5 percent from the floor. The Catamounts are eighth in the Southern Conference in scoring with 64.3 ppg, and the club is surrendering 69.4 ppg. They are the worst shooting team in the league at 40.3 percent from the field, even worse than The Citadel which managed only one conference victory. Western Carolina is also last in assist-to-turnover margin.

Wofford started strong in league play, but the horrendous slide down the stretch has undoubtedly shaken the confidence of the team. Sure, the Terriers managed to beat The Citadel on March 1st, but it is hard to get too excited about a win over a team that captured only one league victory in 20 tries. Shane Nichols paces the Terriers with his 14.3 ppg. Drew Gibson is netting 11.9 ppg for Wofford, and Junior Salters is close behind with 10.0 ppg. Gibson is more than just a scorer, as he has racked up 168 assists and 47 steals. Wofford is the top three-point shooting team in the conference (.388), and the club figures to rely heavily on its perimeter game in this first tournament game. The Terriers are also tops among SoCon team in defensive rebounding.

Go with higher-seeded Wofford in this game, although the contest will likely be decided in the final minute.

Predicted Outcome

Wofford 69, Western Carolina 65