The Wofford men’s basketball enjoyed a collective effort to flourish with its seventh league win of the year on Saturday night after clamping down defensively in the second half to drop Western Carolina, 69-57, at the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium. Junior B.J. Mack added a consecutive double-double effort to highlight three Terriers in double figures, while Wofford held the Catamounts to just 35.1 percent shooting for the night to come away with the season sweep. Wofford moves to 15-11 overall and 7-7 in the Southern Conference, as Western Carolina slips to 9-18 and 3-11 in league play.
“They hit 41 percent from three and I just didn’t think we were there on the catch in the first half. That was a huge source of their offense. Offensive rebound kick-out threes, just kind of relaxing off the ball,” said head coach Jay McAuley of Wofford defensively in the first half. “But boy oh boy, did that ramp up in the second half, gentlemen. They shot 26 percent from the three in the second half and held them to 33 percent overall [from three]. Big-time performance for our guys. Any time we have 35 percent from the field, 30-something percent from three defense, we’re going to be in business.”
The Terriers held the Catamounts to just 5-of-19 from 3-point range (26.3%) over the final 20 minutes en route to holding Western Carolina to 35.1 percent from the field on 20-of-57 shooting – the lowest percentage Wofford has held a league opponent this season.
Junior B.J. Mack finished with game-highs of 17 points, on 8-of-10 shooting, and 11 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season and his career. Mack has net double figures in 15-straight contests for the Terriers, while ranking second among the SoCon in field-goal percentage (.546) and sixth in scoring (15.9).
Sophomore guard Max Klesmit notched 13 points, including a trio of 3-pointers, to pair with a career-high six assists, four rebounds and three steals, as the Terriers are 9-2 on the season when Klesmit hits three or more 3-pointers (his 11th occurrence this season doing so).
Classmate Sam Godwin round out the Terriers in double figures, finishing with 12 points in 11 minutes off the bench on a perfect 4-for-4 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line.
Wofford connected on 27-of-60 for the contest (45%), while hitting 10-of-37 from beyond the arc (27%) to mark its third occurrence of netting 10 or more threes in the last five games.
The Terriers dominated inside the paint with a vast 34-14 advantage over the Catamounts, as Mack and Godwin combined for 12-of-14 from the field on the night (85.7%).
Additionally, the Terriers capitalized off 11 WCU turnovers in return for 14 points on the night, while Wofford took good care of the ball in tallying 15 assists to eight turnovers.
Freshman Austin Patterson added nine points on 3-of-7 shooting beyond the arc (42.9%), as sophomore Morgan Safford added eight points with six rebounds. Senior Ryan Larson chipped in six points and two assists. The Catamounts were led by Nick Robinson with 15 points and seven rebounds.
Wofford shot 48.1 percent from the field in the first half to lead 36-31 at the intermission, though, the Catamounts kept within arm’s reach throughout the frame on 7-of-17 shooting from beyond the arc (41.2%).
The Terriers opened the second half strong scoring the first six points, as Mack recorded a pair of layups inside before Klesmit dimed Morgan Safford for a two-hand jam underneath to take its first double-figure edge of the night at 42-31 just two minutes in.
WCU’s Marcus Banks answered with back-to-back treys to climb back within five at 42-37, though, the Terriers responded with an 11-0 run to bust a 16-point margin at 53-37 by the 13:45 mark. Klesmit dished to Mack for his game-high sixth assist to spark the run, as Mack then found Austin Patterson on the right wing for a three to go up 10, 47-37. The Terriers got a stop to see Klesmit come down and bury a three prior to Patterson diming Klesmit for a consecutive trey from the corner for its then-largest lead at 53-37.
Isaiah Bigelow found the rim after breaking a Catamounts defender down with a spin for a layup, as WCU used a five-point spurt to trim the lead to 55-44 (9:33). Mack would collect an offensive board for a finish to spark another Terriers run, seeing a Safford 3-pointer from the left wing prior to finishes in the paint from Klesmit and Mack capping a 9-0 spurt for Wofford’s largest lead with 4:45 remaining, 64-44.
WCU’s Robinson paced the Catamounts with six-straight in the midst of a Western Carolina 8-0 run to climb back 64-52 at a Wofford timeout with 2:40 left. Max Klesmit would however come down to nail a dagger from beyond the arc to reclaim a 15-point margin at 67-52, in which the Catamounts wouldn’t come any closer to ultimately see the final 69-57 spread at the end of regulation.
Additionally, the Terriers won the rebound margin for the 11th time through 14 conference games, 35-28, as Wofford is 12-5 on the season when finishing with more rebounds.
Wofford (15-11, 7-7 SoCon) returns to action on Wednesday, Feb. 16, as the Terriers travel to Charleston, S.C., for a midweek tilt at The Citadel. Tip is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start at McAlister Fieldhouse to be broadcast on ESPN+.
