GAME NOTES: A heavily-traveled Western Carolina squad drops in on the Minnesota Golden Gophers for a non-conference battle at Williams Arena on Friday.

The Catamounts, who have played only one of their first eight games at home, are only 1-4 in true road dates to this point. The team was just in action on Wednesday night against East Tennessee State, bowing to the home team in a 96-89 final. The defeat was the second in a row and the third in four games for WCU.

As for the Golden Gophers, they are back in Minneapolis playing for the first time since Nov. 22 when they topped UMBC by a score of 69-51. Since then the team has played a pair in New York City and, more recently, topped Wake Forest in North Carolina by a final of 84-69 earlier this week. The Gophers have won two straight and five of the last six since second-year head coach Richard Pitino lost to father Rick and the Louisville Cardinals, 81-68, in Puerto Rico.

As far as the NCAA is concerned, this is the first official meeting between the two programs, although there were two previous encounters that took place in 1993 and 1997 but those contests, both won by Minnesota, have since been vacated.

The Catamounts went from shooting 45.2 percent from the floor in the first half against ETSU to 52.8 percent after the break, hitting on 9-of-19 behind the 3-point line in the final 20 minutes before absorbing the loss. Rhett Harrelson, who connected on 8-of-15 shots out on the perimeter, delivered 30 points and cleared five rebounds, followed by James Sinclair with 23 points and five boards as well, but he hit only 3-of-10 tries from the outside before fouling out. Also guilty of committing five fouls, Torrion Brummitt registered 11 points, eight boards and three blocked shots in the setback.

Harrelson, who has led the team in scoring in back-to-back decisions and has at least held a share of the scoring lead in four of the last five contests, is responsible for 17.9 ppg as he shoots 40.5 percent beyond the arc. Just ahead of him on the scoring list is Sinclair with 18.9 ppg, but his accuracy on the outside is not nearly as competitive at only 29.4 percent. Brummitt, one of two others scoring in double figures (Mike Brown, 12.4 ppg) with his 10.8 ppg, is hitting the glass for 7.5 rpg for a squad that is losing the battle on the boards by 4.3 rpg.

Except for DeAndre Mathieu who tallied six points, but handed out eight assists, every starter scored in double figures for the Golden Gophers in their win against Wake Forest. Andre Hollins, who continues to climb up the school's all-time scoring list, deposited 27 points as he converted 7-of-10 shots beyond the arc, adding seven rebounds to tie for the team lead. Carlos Morris registered 15 points and a staggering eight steals, but was also charged with six of the unit's 20 turnovers, while Joey King and Maurice Walker accounted for 14 and 10 points, respectively.

On a team that shares the ball better than most, Hollins leads the Gophers with 13.9 ppg as he shoots better from 3-point range (.514) than he does the field (.438) overall. Morris checks in with another 11.0 ppg, although his mere 38.9 percent effort from the field is something that could use some serious attention. Walker is in for another 10.0 ppg and a team-best 5.1 rpg where there are as many as five players pulling down at least four boards per contest.

Capable of getting the job done at both ends of the floor, the Golden Gophers are comfortable sharing the spotlight and that is something that will help the team against Western Carolina and moving forward.