SoCon Monster Game of the Week Preview- Western Carolina at UNC-Asheville

Western Carolina is picked to finish third in the SoCon North. UNC-Asheville is picked to finish third in the Big South South Division.

Let's start with the implications to the two conferences. These two conferences are fairly closely ranked in the power conference rankings. They need to win all the head-to-head match-ups that they can against each other. This is an important showdown on the head-to-head front between the two conferences.

The SoCon hates to admit how close the Big South has come to them in recent years. I'll admit to that. The Big South is not supposed to be this close to the SoCon. So we all desperately need the Catamounts to come up with a win to help prove that the SoCon is better than the Big South. Whatever team wins the SoCon Tournament in March needs the SoCon RPI nice and high- this game could help with that. Davidson (the team most likely to earn an at-large bid from the SoCon if one is forthcoming) needs help in this regard as well.

So, all around the conference, we are Western Carolina fans now.

The last time we saw these Catamounts they were taking Davidson into multiple overtimes in the Southern Conference Championship Game. It was a thrilling finish. One player played 49 minutes in that game for the Catamounts, and looked exhausted after the game. That player was Trey Sumler. Forunately, he has had plenty of time to rest. He scored 18 points and made four of six from three point range. He averaged 13.5 points per game last year. Sumler has potential to be an All SoCon performer for the Catamounts.

Tawaski King is not the biggest player in the world at 6-8. But he has a big body. He averaged 7.7 points and 5.8 rebounds per game last year. In the last three games of the SoCon Tournament, King really stepped up his game. He scored 14 points per game and 8.3 rebounds per game. He made 62% of his shots in those three games.

The Catamounts are desperately looking to replace Harouna Mutombo and Keaton Cole. Mutombo was one of the more underrated players in the SoCon, and Cole was good too. How will they replace these guys? Brandon Boggs may need to step up more. What about some of these freshman? Rhett Harrelson and Josh Mendenhall are the two freshman most likely to make a serious contrubution this year.

Jeremy Atkinson is the lone returning starter for UNC-Asheville. However, DJ Cunningham was redshirted last year after a knee injury kept him out. He scored 8.6 points per game and 7.2 rebound per game two years ago. He is 6-10. The Bulldogs need Cunningham to be a major star for this club.

Atkinson scored 11.7 points per game last year and contributed 6.6 rebounds per game. He shot 54.6% from the field. He's a 6-4 forward, but is not a three point shooter. He took only 44 threes last year, so he can shoot them if he needs to, but it is not his specialty.

UNCA played Brevard in an exhibition. Keith Hornsby scored 18 points to lead all scorers. He made two of four from three point range. It looks like Hornsby is going to be a good shooter and a solid contributor for the Bulldogs this year. He scored just four points per game last year and shot just under 36% from three point range a year ago.

The key to this game will be if Western Carolina can keep up on the boards. UNC-Asheville won the battle of the boards against Brevard  57-27. The Catamounts were beaten on the boards a lot last year. They did a little bit better in the SoCon Tournament at the end of last year, which was how the Catamounts made it so far. Can Cunningham dominate the boards for UNCA? That may spell the story of this game.

Sumler will need to step up from three point range for the Catamounts and King will have to hold his own on the inside.

LEAD PIPE LOCK PREDICTIONS THAT ARE SURE TO GO WRONG

--UNCA will win the battle of the boards by a considerable amount.
--Cunningham will score 20 and get 10 boards.
--Boggs will have a very good game and be the X Factor.
--First game jitters will take over both teams....
--...but not for Sumler. Sumler will enter his name into the SoCon Player of the Week consideration with a brilliant performance.
--Western Carolina 82, UNC-Asheville 79. Call it a hunch. UNCA is going to be good this year, but the Catamounts will survive thanks to King, Sumler, and Boggs. Those guys are the ones that will make or break this club this year. This game, they will make this club. Hornsby won't be great for the Bulldogs, but Atkinson and Cunningham will be very good.