Men's Basketball Preview: Cardinals and Yellow Jackets Meet Thursday

By: Michael McDonald, Assistant Sports Information Director

Men's Basketball | 1/25/2017 10:03:00 AM

WHEELING, W.Va. - The WJU men welcome West Virginia State into the McDonough Center, looking to complete another season sweep of the Yellow Jackets. Since the merging of the Mountain East in 2013, WJU has never lost to West Virginia State, possessing a 7-0 record. The first meeting of the 2016-17 season saw the Cardinals prevail, 95-85. Six Cardinals finished with double figures on January 5, including 19 points and 16 rebounds from senior Kyle Ritz. Jayson Hankins led West Virginia State with 21 points and six boards.

The WJU men finished last week with a 2-1 record, recording wins over Virginia Wise and Urbana. Jarin Hilson drained a deep three-pointer as time expired, sending the Cardinals to overtime with Wise. WJU would knock off the Cavaliers by seven in the extra period, securing the win. On Thursday against the Hilltoppers, WJU fell in the second overtime period, 96-90. The Cardinals returned to the McDonough Center Saturday afternoon to fly past the Urbana Blue Knights, 89-63.

Preston Boswell charted 53 points on the week, increasing his season average to 14.1 points per game. Boswell has scored in double figures in each of his last 16 games. Juniors Pat Moseh and Haywood Highsmith both surpassed the 1000-point career marks in the past week.

As a team, WJU ranks fourth in both scoring offense (87.8) and scoring defense (76.3) while ranking third in scoring margin at +11.4 points per game. WJU shoots an average of 48 percent from the field while holding their opponents to a league low 41 percent. The Cardinals also lead the conference in rebounding (43.1 per game) and rebounding margin (+7.8).

Three Cardinals rank within the top-21 scorers in the league. Moseh guides WJU with 15.3 points (17^th in MEC) and six boards per contest. Boswell has climbed his way into the top-20 scorers in the Mountain East, averaging 14.1 points. Highsmith leads the conference in rebounding, 11.2 per game, while scoring an average of 13.9 points per night.

Senior Kyle Ritz supplies WJU with over 13 points and eight boards per night to go along with an average of 29 minutes at the forward position. Dom Tham has scored in double-digits three straight games, increasing his yearly averages to 8.4 points and 4.9 rebounds. Jarin Hilson also chips in 8.4 points while Chase Lawson adds 8.1 points from the guard position.

The Yellow Jackets enter Thursday coming off a win Saturday over Concord. West Virginia State is 2-8 over the last 10 outings. Earnest Jenkins leads the Yellow Jackets with 17.1 points per game. DeQuan Doyle collects a team high seven boards per game to go along with 8.1 points.

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