WINGATE, N.C. – The Catawba College men's basketball takes its show on the road Wednesday, squaring off with perennial South Atlantic Conference rival Wingate at Cuddy Arena for a 7:30 tip.
First Game Back
- After boasting a 19-point lead in the second half of Saturday's game against Mars Hill, the Catawba Indians saw the gap get eradicated but regrouped to take the Lions down, 83-74
- The blue and white upped their overall record to 8-5 featuring a 6-4 clip in league play
- Nick Walker enjoyed his seventh night of double-figure scoring in a nine-game span, netting 16 points and nine rebounds to near a double-double while chipping in two blocks
- Ibra Athie stacked 14 points and eight boards to maintain his top spot on the team in rebounds per game at 7.0
- Leading the scoring at half, Jashaun Hawkins supplied 13 points in the first period alone to mark his best outing against a SAC program
Winning the Battles
- Catawba is 11-0-2 in the offensive rebounding battles this season, out-grabbing its opponents 202-119 through 13 games
- The blue and white are 10-time victors in the overall board count, going 7-3 when leading the category but 1-2 when trailing
- Keeping turnovers to a minimum has been a key to Catawba's success thus far as the team has committed fewer miscues than its foe on 10 occasions
- The Catawba Indians have forced 11 or more turnovers in each tilt, while logging fewer than 11 in four different games
Extra Opportunities
- Generating extra possessions via steals and offensive rebounds have offset the trend of Catawba's foes leading the efficiency tally 10 times
- Additional chances on offense have produced five of Catawba's eight victories without the need for a better field goal percentage; four matchups featured Catawba wins in both rebounds and turnovers, but not efficiency from the floor
- Catawba is 9-4 in second-chance points with a 219-139 scoring differential while posting a 9-3-1 record and a 278-184 total advantage in points off turnovers
All-Time Series
- Catawba holds a 56-45 lead in the series that approaches meeting No. 102
- The first 12 meetings between Catawba and Wingate favored the Salisbury squad, dating back to Jan. 7, 1980 (45 years ago) when the Catawba Indians upended the Bulldogs, 86-84
- Although Wingate has an overall advantage of 26-20 at Cuddy Arena, the 'Dogs have been closer to mastodons in the 21st century with a 19-7 edge when playing host to Catawba
Scouting the Bulldogs
- Wingate enters the duel with a 5-6 record including a similarly-tight 4-5 in-conference ledger
- The 'Dogs are slated to wrap up a three-game homestand on Wednesday after taking a New Year's Eve victory over Mount Olive and surrendering a SAC tilt against UVA Wise on Saturday
- The Wingate offense is paced by Kendall Taylor whose 20.5 points per game slots second in the conference while his 8.2 rebounds average stands fourth
- Sophomore Jordan Miller also possesses a strong scoring mark of 10.7 points per contest as he leads the 'Dogs with 20 steals and holds the SAC's third-best assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.8
Follow Along
The contest will be streamed live on FloCollege accompanied by stats on WingateBulldogs.com.
