PREVIEW: Men's Basketball faces No. 18 LMU

SALISBURY, N.C. – The Catawba College men's basketball team matches up with its second nationally-ranked opponent of the season on Saturday when No. 18 Lincoln Memorial visits Goodman Arena for a 4 p.m. tipoff.

Road Trip Recap

- The Catawba Indians recently wrapped up a three-game slate of South Atlantic Conference contests, going 2-1 in the stretch to bump their overall record to 4-2

- The blue and white knocked off UVA Wise and then-No. 24 Carson-Newman following a narrow loss to Anderson last week in the conference opener

- Montraivis White averaged team highs of 13.3 points and 4.0 assists in that span including a 25-point outburst in the win over Carson-Newman

- Zion McDuffie kicked off the road trip with 21 points in as many minutes to set a career high as Anderson came away with a five-point triumph

- Ibra Athie and Nick Walker dominated on the wing, netting 11.7 points per game with one double-double apiece; Athie tallied 20 points and 13 rebounds against the Eagles while Walker recorded 18 and 10 at UVA Wise

Steals and Boards

- Catawba is a top-10 Division II program in both steals and offensive rebounds per game

- The blue and white are averaging the sixth-most offensive grabs in the country, slotting first in the region, with 16.50 as Walker (3.00) and Athie (2.83) are one-two among SAC players

- The 23 offensive boards pulled down in the season opener against Lander was Catawba's most in a contest since 2019

- Securing 13.2 steals per contest, the Catawba Indians are 10th nationwide and lead the region paced by White's 14 total swipes for a 2.33 per-game average

- Limiting turnovers while getting takeaways has been vital for Catawba in the young season, topping all league members in turnover margin (7.3) and turnovers forced per game (19.83)

Off the Bench

- At 30.67 bench points per game, the blue and white are 51st in Division II and fourth in the league; reserves have accounted for 37.7 percent of Catawba's total output

- Since entering SAC play, Catawba has benefitted from multiple strong off-the-bench outings

- On Tuesday, Chase Daniel netted a career-high nine points while dishing out four assists and cuffing UVA Wise on defense with three steals

- Daniel stripped Carson-Newman six times last Saturday as Jalen Hilliard got his first action of the season, putting in one bucket with three rebounds in five minutes

- McDuffie's 21-point, five-board performance against Anderson featured 14 second-half tallies as Catawba fell just short against the Trojans

All-Time Series

- Lincoln Memorial has had the upper hand against Catawba historically, boasting a 29-14 ledger

- The 43-game series dates back to Nov. 26, 1971 (53 years, four days ago) 

- The programs' last meeting was in the SAC Championship back in March when Catawba clipped the Railsplitters in overtime, 61-60

- Catawba is 2-21 against ranked LMU teams with the last win coming on Jan. 22, 2022 (91-87) which doubles as the blue and white's last home victory over the Railsplitters

- At Goodman Arena, the series sits at an even 10-10 despite LMU winning eight of the last 10 in Salisbury

Scouting the Railsplitters

- Ranked ninth in the NABC Coaches' Poll last week, LMU checked in at No. 18 and currently bears a 3-1 record

- The Railsplitters are coming directly off a 95-72 victory over SAC opponent Mars Hill that followed an 83-75 loss at UNC Pembroke, LMU's only defeat thus far

- LMU split the pole position in the SAC Preseason Coaches' Poll with Carson-Newman after taking at least a share of the regular-season title for the fifth consecutive year

- Wes Enis has fired a team-high 43 shots to tally 14.8 points per game despite running into foul trouble lately, fouling out with just two points against UNCP

- In the paint, Jordan Walters has scored in double figures three times to average 13.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per affair while leading the Splitters with five blocks

Follow Along

Tune in to the live stream on FloSports ($) or follow the real-time stats on CatawbaAthletics.com.