Nine losses in the last 10 Southern Conference basketball games.
One win in seven league contests outside Jackson County.
Those are just two indicators of how Western Carolina?s men (10-17, 4-10) are struggling as they head into the home stretch of the regular season.
Only four games remain to gather some momentum before the Southern Conference tournament tips off next month, so coach Larry Hunter is looking for answers.
?We?re still struggling to get a win,? Hunter said. ?I?ve got great kids. They?re working really hard, and they?ve gotten a little frustrated at times. We?re just up and down.?
One major problem for Western has been 3-point shooting. They?re currently hitting just 32.6 percent (186-of-571), which ranks last in the league and is the Cats? lowest percentage since 2006-07 when they made 32.3 percent (226-of-699) and finished 11-20.
However, Hunter also has reasons for optimism ? including the emergence of forward Tawaski King as a legitimate inside presence. The 6-foot-8 sophomore is averaging 8.3 points and 5.9 rebounds a game in league action and was perfect on six field-goal and two free-throw attempts while scoring 14 points and grabbing six rebounds in Saturday?s 80-66 loss at Furman.
?We do have four players averaging in double figures (Harouna Mutombo 12.7 ppg, Trey Sumler 12.6, Keaton Cole 11.5, Brandon Boggs 10.7), and Tawaski is approaching that if you just take his conference stats,? Hunter said. ?That?s a really good sign for us.
?And we?re starting to rebound the ball better, especially at the defensive end,? Hunter added.
?But the real Achilles heel is that we just haven?t shot the ball well with any consistency all season, and that really makes it tough on (us).?
One win in seven league contests outside Jackson County.
Those are just two indicators of how Western Carolina?s men (10-17, 4-10) are struggling as they head into the home stretch of the regular season.
Only four games remain to gather some momentum before the Southern Conference tournament tips off next month, so coach Larry Hunter is looking for answers.
?We?re still struggling to get a win,? Hunter said. ?I?ve got great kids. They?re working really hard, and they?ve gotten a little frustrated at times. We?re just up and down.?
One major problem for Western has been 3-point shooting. They?re currently hitting just 32.6 percent (186-of-571), which ranks last in the league and is the Cats? lowest percentage since 2006-07 when they made 32.3 percent (226-of-699) and finished 11-20.
However, Hunter also has reasons for optimism ? including the emergence of forward Tawaski King as a legitimate inside presence. The 6-foot-8 sophomore is averaging 8.3 points and 5.9 rebounds a game in league action and was perfect on six field-goal and two free-throw attempts while scoring 14 points and grabbing six rebounds in Saturday?s 80-66 loss at Furman.
?We do have four players averaging in double figures (Harouna Mutombo 12.7 ppg, Trey Sumler 12.6, Keaton Cole 11.5, Brandon Boggs 10.7), and Tawaski is approaching that if you just take his conference stats,? Hunter said. ?That?s a really good sign for us.
?And we?re starting to rebound the ball better, especially at the defensive end,? Hunter added.
?But the real Achilles heel is that we just haven?t shot the ball well with any consistency all season, and that really makes it tough on (us).?
