East Tennessee State takes home win streak into matchup with Western Carolina

By Canadian Press on January 28, 2026.

Western Carolina Catamounts (7-12, 3-5 SoCon) at East Tennessee State Buccaneers (15-6, 7-1 SoCon)

Johnson City, Tennessee; Thursday, 7 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: East Tennessee State will try to keep its four-game home win streak intact when the Buccaneers play Western Carolina.

The Buccaneers are 11-1 in home games. East Tennessee State scores 77.8 points while outscoring opponents by 11.5 points per game.

The Catamounts are 3-5 against SoCon opponents. Western Carolina leads the SoCon with 12.1 offensive rebounds per game led by Samuel Dada averaging 3.1.

East Tennessee State scores 77.8 points per game, 2.0 fewer points than the 79.8 Western Carolina allows. Western Carolina has shot at a 44.3% rate from the field this season, 3.7 percentage points higher than the 40.6% shooting opponents of East Tennessee State have averaged.

The Buccaneers and Catamounts square off Thursday for the first time in SoCon play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Allen Strothers is averaging 3.5 points and 3.4 assists for the Buccaneers. Blake Barkley is averaging 16.1 points and 5.9 rebounds while shooting 62.1% over the past 10 games.

Cord Stansberry is averaging 13.6 points for the Catamounts. Julien Soumaoro is averaging 1.9 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Buccaneers: 7-3, averaging 74.6 points, 29.1 rebounds, 12.8 assists, 8.3 steals and 3.5 blocks per game while shooting 49.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.3 points per game.

Catamounts: 3-7, averaging 78.2 points, 34.5 rebounds, 12.9 assists, 5.6 steals and 2.9 blocks per game while shooting 44.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 82.9 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Associated Press