SALISBURY, N.C. – The Catawba College men's basketball team defends home court for the second time of the new year on Wednesday evening, hosting an up-and-down Wingate squad at Goodman Arena.
Last Time Out
- The blue and white are coming off an 83-53 loss to No. 11 Lincoln Memorial on Saturday in Harrogate, Tenn.
- The Catawba Indians were held to their lowest scoring total of the 2023-24 season and suffered their largest loss by margin of defeat since Feb. 8, 2020 when LMU turned in a 42-point triumph over Catawba
- Nick Walker broke into double digits on the scoresheet with 10 points, going 3-for-6 on field goals and 4-for-4 at the charity stripe
- Kris Robinson followed Walker with eight points as Zion McDuffie and Chase Daniel chipped in six apiece
- McDuffie set a new career high of three blocks in the contest while pocketing six rebounds with no turnovers
Home Court Advantage
- In the last three seasons, Catawba is an extremely potent 29-6 at Goodman Arena with back-to-back campaigns breaking the 10-win mark
- The program has lost just twice at home this year, falling to two teams currently ranked in the NABC Top 25 – No. 6 Lincoln Memorial and No. 18 Lenoir-Rhyne, going to overtime against the Bears
- On average, Catawba beats its opponent in the scoring (+5.1) rebounding (+5.8) and turnover (+4.5) margins by healthy amounts
- Walker is extremely efficient on home court with a 72.7 shooting percentage while Robinson swishes 45.1 percent of his long-range attempts
The Stat Sheet
- Walker paces the Catawba Indians in points with 13.2 per game – ranking eighth nationally in efficiency (67.7 percent) – as Robinson and Ibra Athie follow at 12.9 and 10.7, respectively
- Athie's 7.1 rebounds per matchup tops the lineup while his three offensive boards per game stacks up 34th in Division II, second in the South Atlantic Conference
- Caleb Jones slots seventh among league swipers with a per-game average of 1.80 steals
- With 59 assists on the year, Montraivis White ranks 10th in the SAC while his 28 total steals is good for seventh
- Justin Banks and Walker lead the blocking category, combining for 25 swats as Banks averages 1.2 per tilt
All-Time Series
- Catawba leads the 102-meeting series by a 56-46 advantage margin
- At Goodman Arena, the blue and white are 30-15 against Wingate but the 'Dogs have been better in the last two decades, holding a slight 10-9 edge since 2006
- Catawba reeled off 13 straight home wins over Wingate from Feb. 17, 1993 to Jan. 26, 2005
- The teams just met on Jan. 8 at Cuddy Arena as Wingate pulled out a 90-85 triumph, the program's 20th home victory against Catawba of the 21st century
Scouting the Bulldogs
- At 7-7 overall and 6-6 in the SAC, Wingate has rallied after dropping its first four contests of the season
- The Bulldogs are coming off their most impressive win of 2024-25 as they defeated regionally-ranked Carson-Newman, 87-73, on the road Saturday
- Kendall Taylor became Wingate's first SAC Player of the Week selection on Monday thanks to netting 25 points with eight assists and seven rebounds to help take down the Eagles
- Taylor leads the 'Dogs in per-game points (21.5), boards (7.9), and assists (5.1) while shooting 54.6 percent from the field and 84.5 percent at the free-throw line
- Corbin Pack (13.0), Jordan Miller (11.3), and Aaron Hall (10.8) also post scoring averages in double figures
Follow Along
The game will be broadcast on FloCollege with live stats available on CatawbaAthletics.com.
