MONTEVALLO, Ala. – Montevallo men's basketball returns to the McChesney Student Activity Center for a home matchup, Friday, Dec. 15, against the West Georgia Wolves.
 
West Georgia comes to Montevallo at 9-0 on the year and is currently ranked No. 3 in the D2 CSC Media Poll and No. 4 in the NABC Coaches Poll.
 
GAME NOTES

So Far This Season…
 
Montevallo (1-8, 1-5 GSC) dropped a pair of road games against Mississippi College and Delta State last time out.  
UM first fell to Mississippi College, 100-96 before falling to Delta State 97-77.

Montevallo has faced a brutal slate to begin the season with four of its first five opponents receiving national recognition in either of the three NCAA Division II Top-25 polls at some point this season. According to Masseyratings.com, UM's strength of schedule ranks 79^th out of 297 in NCAA Division II. In the latest D2 CSC South Region Media Poll, five of UM's first seven opponents are ranked or receiving votes: No. 1 Nova Southeastern (7-0), No. 4 West Alabama (7-2), No. 6 Lee (5-1), No. 8 UAH (6-3) and RV Clark-Atlanta (6-2). In addition, UM's opponent this week, West Georgia, is ranked No. 2 in the region.  
 
Despite an inconsistent offensive outing on the road last week, UM remains third in the league with 85.6 points per game but are still giving up the most points.
 
Montevallo continues to be one of the better three-point shooting teams across the Gulf South with 10.6 made threes per game.
 
The Falcon's fast-paced play style has led to the second-most forced turnovers in the conference with 160 at a rate of 17.8 per game. The forced turnovers dropped a bit during the Mississippi road trip as the Falcons forced 13 turnovers against Mississippi College and 11 against Delta State.
 
The Falcons return home with a 1-2 record at the McChesney Student Activity Center. The lone win was against Shorter on Dec. 1.
 


Scouting West Georgia:
 
In week four of the conference season, West Georgia sits atop the league standings at 5-0 in the GSC and 9-0 overall.
 The Wolves are coming off conference wins over West Florida, 82-77, and Valdosta State 97-74.
West Georgia ranks top-five in the league in both scoring offense and scoring defense. The Wolves average 82.4 points per game and are only giving up 67.4 per contest.
 
In addition, rebounding has been an advantage for UWG this season as the team leads the league in total rebounds and is second with 40.0 per game.

Series History Against West Georgia:
 
This is the 36^th meeting all-time meeting between the Wolves and Falcons with West Georgia holding a narrow 18-17 advantage all-time, dating back to 1997. Since re-joining the league in 2017, Montevallo is 4-5 against Wolves. UM won the first four matchups since returning but is on a five-game losing skid since.

 
Player Highlights Montevallo:
 
Jaylen Curry leads Montevallo in scoring so far this season at 16.1 points per game. Curry scored a career-high 32 points the last time out on UM's home floor.
 

Last week, Jack Henderson led UM with 18.5 points and seven rebounds per game. He added a season-high 22 points in the narrow loss to MC and 15 at Delta State. In addition, the Albuquerque, New Mexico native leads Montevallo on the boards with 5.1 rebounds per game.
 
Player Highlights West Georgia:
 
West Georgia is led by Zawdie Jackson who is second in the league in scoring with 21.1 points per game. Behind Jackson, who is a two-time GSC Player of the Week, is Camron Donatlan scoring 18.1 points per game.
 
Jackson also ranks second in the league with 5.3 assists per game.