Wheeling, W. Va. - Over the first week of the season, the Wheeling University Men's Basketball team (1-3, 0-0) has spent all of their time on the road, playing four games in the span of seven days. That all changes on Saturday, when the Cardinals return home for their home opener and Mountain East Conference (MEC) opener when they face off against Notre Dame College at 4 PM.
For the Cardinals, it will be there first time playing in front of their home fans for quite a long time, and it allows them to begin their run towards a second straight MEC Tournament appearance. Last season, the Cardinals went 5-11 in conference play, and earned the #5 seed in the North Division. So far this season, the Cardinals have been faced with a tough non-conference schedule, with opponents like Akron and East Stroudsburg, and enter conference play at 1-3 looking to build off of those experiences.
Through the first four games, senior Jarett Haines is emerging as one of the leaders for this season's team. He led the team in each of the last two games in scoring, putting up 22 points against Malone and nine against Akron, and has been spreading the ball around effectively. He leads the team with five assists in his first four games while averaging 14.5 points per game. He is also tied for the team lead with five steals and leads the Cardinals with 121 minutes played this season.
Right behind him are two other seniors chasing the 1,000-point mark in Jordan Reid and Jay Gentry. Reid is second on the team in total points (50) but leads the team, averaging 16.7 points per game. Reid did not play in the game against Akron on Thursday, but currently sits 111 points away from becoming the 46th player in program history to score 1,000 points. Jay Gentry is also averaging double figures in points per game this season (10.0) and is 278 points away from reaching the 1K mark.
As the Cardinals get ready to start their MEC schedule, it is a return to normalcy as the teams will battle as one conference rather than two divisions. This will give each team a chance to see each other twice, once at home and once away, before the season wraps up at the end of February. Over the first half of the 2021-2022 season, Wheeling will play three of their first five conference games on their home court. This will give them a chance to take advantage of their home field advantage and hopefully rack up some wins early in the season.
The Match-up
The matchup between the Cardinals and Falcons dates back to the 2013 season, and during that span Wheeling has a record of 10-7 over the 17 games. They have been dominant against Notre Dame at home, going 6-2, and average right around 73 points per game against Notre Dame. However, Wheeling is trying to break a short three-game skid against the Falcons that dates back to the 2019-2020 season.
In their last contest, Wheeling fell in a tight game 76-75 at the Alma Grace McDonough Center on February 20th, 2021. In that game, Wheeling had a pair of 20-point scorers in Reid (24) and Gentry (21), but it wasn't enough to hold off the Falcons offense. Notre Dame outscored Wheeling 35-33 in the first half, and that small margin was enough to lift them to victory in the game.
The Details
Tip-off for Saturday's home opener is scheduled for 4 PM inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.
