After a lengthy offseason rife with high expectations and endless buzz, the Longhorns tipped things off Sunday afternoon with an impressive 89-42 win over Cal-Irvine. Tonight, Texas hopes to turn in another dominating performance as they host the Western Carolina Catamounts from tiny Cullowhee, North Carolina.

Repeating Sunday’s task could be tougher than it looks for the Longhorns, as their opponents return all five starters and are picked by most pundits to win their division in the Southern Conference. It’s not just the starters that bring experience to the floor for Western Carolina coach Larry Hunter, though. His team boasts five seniors, four juniors, and even the nephew of NBA legend Dikembe Mutombo.

The Catamounts started the 2009-10 campaign on the right note, shellacking St. Catharine College in their season opener by a 65-41 count. Western Carolina forced 25 turnovers in the game and held their opponents to 25% shooting on the night. The only troubling stat for Coach Hunter was a vast free throw disparity between the two teams, as the Catamounts attempted only ten free throws, while sending St. Catharine to the line 27 times.

By the numbers

That stat isn’t too surprising for fans of Western Carolina, as it’s a trend that dates back to last season. The Catamounts were 340th in the country in free throw rate, a stat which measures how often teams foul their opponents in relation to shot attempts they allow. If a ranking of 340th isn’t appalling enough, Catamount fans would also hate to be reminded that there were only 344 Division I teams last season.

One thing that Western Carolina did do well last season was swipe the basketball. Their steal rate was 8th in the NCAA, led by Brigham Waginger‘s school-record 81 thefts. The senior guard enters his final season as the reigning back-to-back steal leader of the Southern Conference.

Beyond that one shining aspect, the Catamount defense struggled mightily last year. Their defensive field goal percentage was one of the 15 worst in all of Division I basketball, while they allowed opponents to grab offensive rebounds on a troubling 34% of their attempts. Combine these numbers, and you have a recipe for disaster against a Texas team that shot 57% in their season opener and outrebounded Cal-Irvine by a 49-30 margin.

Meet the Catamounts

Western Carolina is led by its pair of pre-season All-Conference selections, guards Brandon Giles and Harouna Mutombo. As previously mentioned, Mutombo is the nephew of former NBA star Dikembe Mutombo, and his pedigree quickly showed in a season that earned him conference Freshman of the Year honors.

Giles is a junior wingman who checks in at 6’6″ and is hoping to bounce back after a season in which he played through constant shoulder problems. Even with the injury issues, Giles logged a stat line of 13.2 points and 3.9 rebounds per game, so coaches and media are expecting great things from him this year. In the season opener, he scored 12 points in just 20 minutes of work and pulled down three rebounds.

Junior forward Richie Gordon is the tallest Western Carolina player at 6-feet, 9-inches, but his height is often wasted as he rides the bench with foul trouble. Last season, Gordon fouled out of 10 of the team’s 31 games and amassed a ridiculous 98 whistles. Against St. Catharine’s, he managed to only commit two fouls, but did so in just twelve minutes on the court.

With Gordon often on the bench, that leaves senior transfer Adrian Gailliard as the lone post presence for the Catamounts. At 6’7″, he’ll have his hands full with Dexter Pittman tonight. Unfortunately for WCU, Gordon’s foul issues seemed to rub off on Gailliard during the offseason, as Adrian logged four personals in the season opener, limiting him to just ten minutes of play. If both of these players are racking up the fouls against the bigger, more athletic Longhorns, it could be a very, very long night for the visitors.

The starting five is rounded out by the aforementioned Waginger, who will likely give the Texas backcourt fits. Freshman J’Covan Brown had four quick turnovers in his debut at the point, and playing against Waginger and his quick hands could prove troublesome tonight.

With so many experienced players on his bench, Coach Hunter actually runs nine or ten deep. In the season opener, there were ten Catamounts who played at least ten minutes, with the bench providing a whopping 110 minutes — more playing time than the starting five even saw.

Kendall Russell and Jake Robinson were the first two men off the pine for the Catamounts, and the pair combined for 21 points on the night. Russell is a swingman who could afford to add some muscle, but still manages to be effective on the glass. Against St. Catharine’s, he grabbed six rebounds in just 17 minutes on the floor.

Robinson is the team’s only viable post option behind Gordon and Gailliard, but isn’t much of an offensive threat. He shot just under 38% last year from the floor, and struggled to a 4-of-12 night from the floor in the season opener. He will likely see a lot of action against the deep Texas frontcourt tonight, but will likely have a tough time putting the ball in the basket.

Mike Williams — not to be confused the well-traveled former Longhorn of the same name — is a transfer from Jackson State CC and is a quality backup guard for WCU. Against St. Catharine’s, he led the team with four steals and provided six points and three dimes in the winning effort. Keaton Cole is the other main guard off the bench and is the team’s best threat from long range. Last year he hit 43% of his three-point attempts, but only made one trey in his season debut.

Keys to the game

If it isn’t already apparent, the Longhorns are going to make hay in this game by exploiting their height advantage against a second-straight undersized opponent. Pittman and Damion James are likely double-double candidates tonight, and should have an easy time in the paint. One can only hope that the game will be well-enough in hand that reserve forwards Alexis Wangmene, Clint Chapman, and Matt Hill can get some work and show what improvements they have made in the off-season.

One factor that could keep the game closer than it should be is the turnover battle. As mentioned earlier, the Catamounts are great at forcing turnovers, and the Texas backcourt was somewhat shaky at times against Cal-Irvine. Many of the Texas turnovers seemed to come from the Longhorns trying too hard to be flashy or toss an alley-oop, so better discipline could help to curb that issue tonight. While the Catamounts are likely to still force some miscues by Texas, it won’t be enough to make a difference in the game.

Another thing to keep an eye on tonight is the Longhorn free throw percentage. Much like the turnovers, this won’t make a difference in tonight’s game. But considering how much of a problem Texas had from the line last year, it will be interesting to see if the returning players have made any progress in the offseason.

There are still tickets available for this one, and now Texas Box Office is offering a buy one, get one free promotion with this printable web coupon. So grab a friend and come down to the Drum for tonight’s contest. It’s exciting Longhorn basketball at half-price, and it’s the last chance to watch the team at home before USC comes to town on December 3rd.