SALISBURY, N.C. – The Catawba College men's basketball team goes head-to-head with fellow Salisbury program Livingstone in non-conference competition at Goodman Arena on Monday.
Knockdown Nick
- Junior forward Nick Walker has torn up the paint with the nation's seventh-best field goal percentage of 69.1 and a team-leading 13.1 points per game
- The Hattiesburg, Miss. native paced Catawba in scoring at Wingate on Wednesday for the fourth time in six matchups, netting 14 points on a 5-for-8 day from the field
- Walker has gotten to the free-throw line more than any other Catawba Indian with 3.6 attempts per game
- From the floor, Walker is on track to have the most efficient season in program history as Jolly Manning's 2005-06 campaign holds the record of 68.5 percent
Getting to the Glass
- Scrappiness on the offensive boards has been a consistent theme for Catawba all season long as the blue and white currently lead the South Atlantic Conference and stand ninth nationwide with 15.36 offensive boards per game
- Catawba is 10-4 in the second-chance points battle this season, largely attributed to put-backs in the lane and extra opportunities generated by an offense that forces turnovers at the country's eighth-highest rate (12.1)
- Ibra Athie and Walker are ranked second and third in the SAC for offensive rebounds at 3.00 and 2.79 grabs per matchup
- Livingstone is also strong in the rebounding sector, slotting in the Top 100 for offensive (11.73) and overall (38.00) boards
By the Numbers
- Walker's 13.1 points per game is followed closely by Kris Robinson who has tallied 12.9 in his senior campaign
- Robinson, a primary ballhandler on offense, has turned the ball over just 10 times
- Caleb Jones has been the Catawba defense's most prolific swiper, sitting third in the league with 27 steals followed by Montraivis White and Chase Daniel at 24 and 23, respectively
- White leads the Catawba Indians with 49 assists (3.5 per game), contributing to over a quarter of the squad's 179 total dimes
- Despite sitting out four tilts, Justin Banks remains a top-ten blocker by SAC standards with 12 total swats
All-Time Series
- Catawba and Livingstone have shared a home in Salisbury for a century as 2025 marks the 100th anniversary of Catawba moving its campus into town
- The programs are set to meet on the basketball court for the first time since 2012 and the 20th time overall in a series dating back to 1970
- Catawba is a strong 16-3 against the Blue Bears, but the last two contests were taken by Livingstone including an 85-78 decision at Goodman Arena on Nov. 14, 2010
- The blue and white are 10-2 on home court, winning the first seven meetings at home before falling in 2000 and 2010
Scouting the Blue Bears
- Livingstone enters the matchup with an 8-7 overall record; three victories came against non-NCAA foes (Carolina Christian twice, Virginia-Lynchburg once), each were won by 40 or more points
- After six straight wins to start the season, the Blue Bears have lost five of their last seven contests with triumphs over Bowie State and Converse in that span
- One of Livingstone's most impressive outings came in an exhibition tilt at Charlotte where the Blue Bears held the 49ers to a narrow 39-32 lead at halftime before a lopsided second half resulted in an 83-61 loss
- Jamal Cannady Jr. leads the scoring category with 16.0 points per game while handing out a team-best 30 assists
- King Ijeoma is one of Division II's finest players in the paint, blocking 29 shots to rank 12th in the country while the Sam Houston State transfer also averages 8.3 points and 7.4 rebounds
Follow Along
The game will be streamed on FloCollege with live stats on CatawbaAthletics.com.
