Booth leads Samford against Western Carolina after 26-point outing

Western Carolina Catamounts (5-8, 1-1 SoCon) at Samford Bulldogs (8-7, 1-1 SoCon)

Birmingham, Alabama; Wednesday, 7 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Samford hosts Western Carolina after Jadin Booth scored 26 points in Samford’s 89-82 loss to the UNC Greensboro Spartans.

The Bulldogs are 4-1 on their home court. Samford is eighth in the SoCon with 8.7 offensive rebounds per game led by Dylan Faulkner averaging 2.2.

The Catamounts are 1-1 against SoCon opponents. Western Carolina is the SoCon leader with 36.5 rebounds per game led by Adbulai Fanta Kabba averaging 7.3.

Samford averages 77.6 points per game, 3.2 fewer points than the 80.8 Western Carolina gives up. Western Carolina averages 7.8 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.5 fewer makes per game than Samford gives up.

The matchup Wednesday is the first meeting this season between the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Booth averages 4.0 made 3-pointers per game for the Bulldogs, scoring 19.2 points while shooting 40.3% from beyond the arc. Faulkner is averaging 16.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks over the last 10 games.

Marcus Kell is shooting 45.7% and averaging 13.2 points for the Catamounts. Julien Soumaoro is averaging 2.1 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Bulldogs: 5-5, averaging 75.8 points, 34.5 rebounds, 14.6 assists, 4.6 steals and 3.6 blocks per game while shooting 43.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.0 points per game.

Catamounts: 4-6, averaging 79.2 points, 36.4 rebounds, 13.8 assists, 6.9 steals and 2.9 blocks per game while shooting 45.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 81.8 points.

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