Wheeling, W. Va. - After being on the road a lot through January, the Wheeling University Men's Basketball team (7-14, 6-9) will enjoy a lot of time playing on their home court, with five of their eight games coming at home. On Saturday, they head on the road for one of three road contests when they take on a hot West Virginia State team at 4 PM. The Yellow Jackets enter the game having won 10 of their last 11 games, and the Cardinals look to put another damper on their hot streak.
On Wednesday, the Cardinals hosted the University of Charleston and after a strong start would fall 86-70 to drop to 6-9 in Mountain East Conference (MEC) play. Wheeling got going early with a 10-4 run that put them ahead 20-14 with 13 minutes to go in the first half. However, that lead slowly faded away and the Cardinals went into the locker room down 38-31 and were looking for a way to fight back. The Golden Eagles would seal the game with a 14-0 run halfway through the second half and went on to win the game 86-70.
Despite the loss, Wheeling showed some of their depth over the last five minutes of the game when they emptied their bench. Wheeling's subs outscored the Golden Eagles 13-4 over the final five minutes of play to cut the final deficit to 14. Junior Dozie Enyosiobi scored four points, including a big dunk, and William Gabbert and DJ Jenkins each added big three pointers during the comeback. They took advantage of their time on the court and competed with one of the best teams in the MEC.
Leading the offensive charge for Wheeling in the game was Jordan Reid, who finished the night with 18 points and has now eclipsed the 1,200-career point mark. Senior Jarett Haines was the other double digit point scorer for the Cardinals, racking up 10 points on the night while leading the team with two steals. The defensive effort was led by junior John Korte, who finished the night with seven rebounds. The Cardinals just couldn't overcome a 39% shot from the field and will look to improve that this weekend.
Even though they took a loss, Wheeling still remains in the seventh-place spot in the conference but sits in a tie with MEC foe Alderson Broaddus. Both teams now sit 1.5 games behind Concord for the coveted sixth place spot in the conference. With seven games left on the slate, Wheeling will face both Concord and Alderson Broaddus down the stretch and will have a chance to surpass both teams and try and earn their way to a first-round bye to WesBanco arena.
The Matchup
Saturday marks the 36th all-time matchup between the Cardinals and Yellow Jackets and the second meeting between the two teams this season. Wheeling holds the all-time series against West Virginia State, going 19-16 in the first 35 games, but it was the Yellow Jackets who scored a 67-64 victory earlier this season. Wheeling has dropped each of their last three games against West Virginia State and their first win since February 8th, 2020.
In the first contest of the season, it was Wheeling who led after the first 20 minutes, scoring 34 first half points, but it was WV State that ended it with 36 second half points as they scored the victory. Jordan Reid and Jay Gentry each had big days scoring 19 and 16 points, respectively. Wheeling looks to split the season series and earn a big win late in the season.
The Details
Tip-off for Saturday's game is scheduled for 4 pm 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.
