The Mocs begin the biggest stretch of their season on Thursday night. They have a three game homestand against good teams, in Western Carolina, Appalachian State, and Wofford, before going to the road to take on UNC-Greensboro and Samford, the two teams most people expect to finish in the bottom two in the North Division of the SoCon. That means that there are five games that are winnable for the Mocs on the schedule. The problem for the Mocs is that they are 0-2 in the SoCon right now. A 2-3 stretch here would kill most of their chances for a bye. A 3-2 record would not help them much. A 4-1 would put the Mocs in solid contention for a bye while a 5-0 record would put the Mocs in strong position for winning the division or at least getting right into the race when they head to Elon for the first game after this stretch.
Five games- four of them against North teams. This is the time for the Mocs to get going. They have been playing much better as of late. But not showing up for any one of these games could prove very costly.
The Mocs rank 33rd int he country in rebounds per game, and are 29th in the country in assists per game. Keegan Bell ranks fourth in the country in assists per game with 7.0. Omar Wattad has been getting hotter and Ricky Taylor and he both are averaging 13.1 points per game. Drazen Zlovaric is averaging 7.0 rebounds per game.
Harouna Mutombo leads Western Carolina with 14.9 points per game and 6.4 rebounds per game. Mutombo could be on his way to being on the All SoCon team if he keeps this up. Trey Sumler is averaging 11.3 points per game, and is averaging 3.6 assists per game. He is averaging 4.9 rebounds per game, second on the team. Sumler is shooting 94% from the free throw line. His 3.6 assists per game are counter balanced by his 3.5 turnovers per game. Keaton Cole is shooting 41% from three point range. He is averaging 10.6 points per game. Brandon Boggs is averaging 11.2 points per game.
Western Carolina ranks eighth in the SoCon in rebounding margin, while the Mocs rank third in the conference. Western Carolina ranks first in turnover margin, while the Mocs rank second. Western Carolina ranks ninth in both field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense.
KEYS TO THE GAME
--Rebounding. The Mocs should have the rebounding edge in this one, but they need to make sure and not let that edge slip away like they have done against lesser rebounding teams each of the last two years.
--Mutombo. He is the active SoCon leader in points scored and steals, and ranks fourth in rebounding. He needs to have a big game for the Catamounts to win.
--Wattad's shooting. He has been getting warmer. His shot selection could play an important role in this game.
--Energy. The Mocs need to bring the energy that they have so often lacked in games this year. If they can bring the energy, then that will help them overcome whatever the Catamounts throw at them.
LEAD PIPE LOCK PREDICTIONS THAT ARE SURE TO GO WRONG
--Look for a lot of energy to come from Jared Bryant, Jahmal Burroughs and Z Mason and also from Drazen Zlovaric. The bigs for the Mocs will put a decent game together.
--Wattad will have an off shooting night. Just a gut feeling here.
--Mutombo and Sumler will have good games for the Catamounts.
--Mocs 74, Western Carolina 65. The Mocs are playing well, and bringing high energy to important games like this one. They are hungry to get a SoCon win. Keegan Bell will not let the Mocs lose this one. Bell is going to be the MVP of this game, and of many games in the future. He is going to purely will the Mocs to victory.
GO MOCS!
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