Basketball Game Preview: Nettleton Tigers vs. Walnut Wildcats

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Previous Games

11/25/25 - Home	93-73 W
11/08/25 - Home	68-55 W
12/27/24 - Home	42-63 L
12/01/22 - Home	80-61 W
12/11/21 - Away	74-54 W
+ 4 more games

Nettleton is 8-1 against Walnut since December of 2017 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Friday. The Tigers just played yesterday, but they'll still head out to face the Wildcats at 12:00 p.m. Nettleton will be strutting in after a victory while Walnut will be coming in after a defeat.

Nettleton lost a heartbreaker the last time they played Belmont, but it's fair to say they got their revenge given the result of Thursday's game. The Tigers simply couldn't be stopped on Thursday as they easily beat the Cardinals 75-41. The Tigers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five contests by 20 points or more this season.

Meanwhile, Walnut was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their 13th straight loss dating back to last season. They took a blow against Corinth, falling 75-43. The Wildcats were down 54-29 at the end of the third quarter, and things only got worse from there.

Nettleton will have to contain Logan Wilbanks as he made an impact in Walnut's last game. He posted 23 points. Wilbanks' big performance that evening made it ten games in a row in which he has scored at least 19 points. Sawyer Cardwell was another key player, going 5-for-11 to rack up 12 points and eight rebounds.

Nettleton's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 7-6. The home victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 76.0 points over those games. As for Walnut, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-10.

Everything went Nettleton's way against Walnut in their previous matchup back in November, as Nettleton made off with a 93-73 win. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Wilbanks, who shot 50% from the field en route to 30 points. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will the Tigers still be able to contain Wilbanks? There's only one way to find out.