Wheeling, W. Va. - As the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Men's Basketball season rolls on, the Wheeling University Men's Basketball team (1-6, 0-4) continues to battle in close contests. They are back out on the road this week as they head to West Virginia State tomorrow night with tip-off at 5:30 PM. It will be the second time in the last three games that the team has hit the road as they look to get back on track before returning to the Alma Grace McDonough Center this weekend.
Last time out, the Cardinals went to their second overtime game of the season when they fell to West Virginia Wesleyan 89-87. It was a close game throughout, but the Cardinals had the slight advantage heading into halftime leading 37-33. Both offenses went off in the second half, scoring over 40 points each, but the Bobcats did just enough to even things at 80-80 as the teams headed to overtime. West Virginia Wesleyan would hit a three-pointer to start the extra time, but Wheeling answered with a three to tie the game at 87-87 with 1:28 to go. A pair of Bobcat free throws put the Cardinals down by two, and a missed three at the end of the game sealed the Cardinal's fate.
Despite the loss, it was a career game for senior John Korte, who ended with 28 points and 11 rebounds to register his second double-double of the season. The senior has been a leader for the Cardinals team this season, and it was the second time that he has exceeded the 20-point mark, last accomplishing the feat against Alderson Broaddus on November 22nd. Korte is averaging a career-best 16.6 points per game while leading the team with 6.3 rebounds per game. Korte currently sits eighth in the MEC in Field Goal Percentage (54.4%) and is tied for eighth in points per game (16.6).
While the Cardinals offense has had its share of runs, the defense has been pacing the Cardinals throughout the season, they enter play on Wednesday allowing the fifth fewest points in the conference at 79.0 points per game. The only teams in the conference who have allowed less points per game are Fairmont State, Concord, Charleston, and West Liberty, with one of those teams coming up in this 2022 conference stretch. Defense has kept the Cardinals in games this season and, as they continue to grow, they will look to help the offense catch up and get some big wins before the calendar flips to 2023.
Entering the final two games of the 2022 conference schedule, the Cardinals have a chance to play spoiler against some of the top teams in the conference. It starts on Wednesday night when they take on undefeated West Virginia State and they follow it up with a game Saturday against Charleston, who sits at 3-1 through their first four conference games. The Cardinals will once again rely on their defense to shut down the second highest scoring offense in the MEC in West Virginia State. Wheeling will look to ride their defensive success and bring up another close game on the road.
The Matchup
The Cardinals and Yellow Jackets are meeting for the 37th time in program history on Wednesday, with Wheeling leading the all-time series with a record of 19-17. Throughout the series, the home team has fared better than the away team, with West Virginia State leading the series in Institute, West Virginia with a record of 11-6. The Cardinals lost five of their last six games in the series and are looking for their first win since the 2019-20 season.
In their last meeting, West Virginia State would get the upper hand in a close 76-71 affair in Institute, West Virginia. Former Cardinal Jarett Haines led the way in that game with 24 points and is shooting 50% from the floor. Former Cardinal Jay Gentry and former Cardinal Jordan Reid rounded out the scoring with 17 and 12 points respectively in the game.
The Details
Tip-off for Wednesday night's match is scheduled for 7:30 pm inside the Walker Convocation Center on the campus of West Virginia State. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.
