Wheeling, W. Va. - After sitting down to feast with friends and family this past week, the Wheeling University Men's Basketball team (1-4, 0-2) looks to feast on the court as they enter the heart of Mountain East Conference (MEC) play. They take on Davis & Elkins on Wednesday night as they look to bounce back at home with tip-off at 7:30 PM. The Cardinals have scored 70 points or more in all five of their games to start the season and they look to get over the top for their first MEC Conference win of the season.
Last time out, Wheeling took on Alderson Broaddus and, although they dropped the game 79-75, the Cardinals got off to one of their hottest starts of the season and battled throughout. After battling to an 11-10 score early on, the Cardinals were able to hit their stride and ended up leading 26-17 with eight minutes to go before the half. The Cardinals continued their offensive success and went into the locker room with their lead holding strong at 40-26. However, coming out of halftime, the Battlers began to hit their stride and outscored Wheeling 20-3 over the first six minutes of the half to make it a 46-44 Alderson Broaddus advantage. The game would stay tight throughout, with the Cardinals nearly pulling off the victory, but in the end, Alderson Broaddus held on to win by that four-point margin.
Sophomore Marcus Johnson continued his strong start to the 2022-23 season, leading the way for the Cardinals with 24 points and finishing second with seven rebounds on the night. Johnson has been one of the top scorers in the MEC this season, and currently sits fifth with an average of 17.8 points per game. He has scored 20+ points in two of the first five contests and has been in double figures for four of those five games. Johnson has been a welcome edition under the basket for the Cardinals where he uses his size and shooting ability to get to the rim.
Another Cardinal who is off to a career-best start is senior John Korte, who put up a career-high 22 points while leading the way with three steals in the loss. Korte has transitioned to the four spot for the Cardinals this season and has taken advantage with a career-best 16.0 points per game entering play Wednesday night. Senior Brent Price led the other two facets of the game, leading the Cardinals with nine rebounds while picking up nine assists. The Cardinals have done a nice job of passing the ball around this season and Price has been one of the big facilitators of that, leading the team with 15 assists in five games.
Although Wheeling has dropped their first two conference games of the year, they are still very much in the thick of things early on. They are one of four teams out to a similar 0-2 start while four more teams sit above them at 1-1 to start conference play. The only unbeaten teams through two conference games are Fairmont State, West Liberty, West Virginia State, and Charleston sitting atop the conference. With two of their next four coming against two of those unbeaten teams, Wheeling looks to climb the standings as they chase down one of the 10 spots in this season's MEC Men's Basketball Championship tournament.
The Match-up
The Cardinals and Senators are meeting for the 26th time in program history, with the Cardinals leading the all-time series at 20-5. Wheeling has been especially good on their home floor against Davis & Elkins, winning 15 of the 16 games played in the Alma Grace McDonough Center. Wheeling has also won each of their last three games against the Senators, including a 74-73 victory last time out inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center.
In that game, former Cardinal Jordan Reid had a big game, putting up 25 points, while former Cardinal Jordan Beale provided 10 points off the bench. Andrew Taylor and Brent Price led the way on defense with seven rebounds apiece while John Korte led the passing game with five assists.
The Details
Tip-off for Wednesday night's game is scheduled for 7:30 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.
