The Western Carolina Catamounts and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish meet Saturday in college basketball action from Joyce Center. Western Carolina opened up the season with a blowout victory over Dalton State on Tuesday. As for Notre Dame, they’re 1-0 so far as well after a seven-point win versus Niagara in their opener. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

Western Carolina Catamounts 

The Catamounts improved quite a bit last season over the 2021-22 campaign, ultimately finishing 18-16 overall with a 10-8 run in the Southern Conference. Western Carolina landed in fourth place among the standings and ended up falling to Furman in the conference tourney. After a berth in the CBI, the Catamounts fell to Charlotte 65-56 in their first game. 

Western Carolina kicked off the 2023-24 season with a victory over Dalton State. The Catamounts scored 51 points in the first half and 55 more in the second on the way to a blowout result 106-65. Vonterius Woolbright led the team on 19 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. DJ Campbell added 18 points with six rebounds. 

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Over on the Notre Dame side, they took a major hit last year in the record column. The Irish posted a rough 11-21 overall record and a 3-17 run in a difficult ACC for a finish above only Louisville. Notre Dame lost eight of their final nine games in the regular season before falling versus Virginia Tech in the ACC Tournament. 

The Irish were in trouble at halftime during their opener matchup versus Niagara on Monday. After entering the second half down 30-29, Notre Dame rallied with 41 points to secure a comeback win 70-63. Markus Burton did most of the offensive work with 29 points, four assists and three rebounds.

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I’m going to stay with Western Carolina. There’s not much to gripe about after the Catamounts’ dominant opener win versus Dalton State. Western Carolina shot a nice 57.8 percent from the floor in the victory, adding 45.8 percent from 3-point range and a 47-28 rebounding advantage. Every starter scored at least eight points, and there were plenty of minutes to go around in garbage time. The Catamounts should feel pretty good coming into this one. 

As for Notre Dame, they had a bit of a scare versus Niagara in their opener but still shot 50.9 percent from the field with 35 rebounds. The Irish allowed 42.4 percent shooting on the other side though, so with some timely scoring I don’t think Western Carolina will have too many issues keeping a cover pace here.