Wheeling, W. Va. – Through the first four games of the season, the Wheeling University Men's Basketball team (1-3, 0-1) has had to be road warriors. On Tuesday, that all changes as the Cardinals come home for the first time in 2023-2024 when they host Salem with tip-off at 7:30 PM. Last season, five of the six Cardinal wins came on their home floor, and Wheeling is looking for similar success as they head into their 2023-2024 home slate. 

Last time out, the Cardinals opened Mountain East Conference (MEC) play with their fourth consecutive road game. They went to South Euclid, Ohio, where they ended up falling to Notre Dame College 79-66 as they began their conference stretch. The Cardinals trailed by just five points heading into the first media timeout, but a run for the Falcons had them heading into halftime with a 43-31 lead. However, in the second half the Cardinals defense got going and the offense responded with 35 second half points. Wheeling cut the lead back to single digits in the early going of the second half getting as close as 49-43 with 14 minutes to play, but it wasn't enough as they fell 79-66 to drop to 0-1 in MEC play. 

The Cardinals were led by junior Marcus Johnson, who continued his hot start to the season with 29 points and nine rebounds in the effort. Johnson has picked up right where he left off during the 2022-23 season, averaging 20.5 points per game while shooting 43.8% from the free throw line. The junior is the leading scorer in the MEC entering play on Tuesday, sitting ahead of Glenville State's Dominiq Penn, who is averaging 19.3 PPG. In his four games so far this season, Johnson has eclipsed the 25-point mark twice this season and has just missed a double-double on two separate occasions, finishing with nine rebounds each time. 

Behind Johnson, the other double-digit scorer for the Cardinals was Sean Ealy, who finished with 10 points on the night. Ealy has provided a spark off the bench for the Cardinals in each of his last two games, scoring a combined 27 points during that time. He is shooting a healthy 48.3% over his first four games of the season and looks to continue that stretch. The Cardinals have been most successful when they distribute the basketball, and senior Trey Stoffer has led in that department with 12 this season. He has had four or more assists in two of his three games so far and added three points and one assist in the effort against Notre Dame College. 

As the 2023-2024 home schedule kicks off on Tuesday, the Cardinals are looking to conjure some of that home court magic they had a season ago. In 14 home games last season, the Cardinals went 5-9, picking up five of their six wins inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center. In those games, the team averaged 82.92 points per game and never scored less than 73 points on their home floor. With two of their final five games before the Christmas break schedule being at home, Wheeling is looking to get their offense going and set themselves up for a successful run down the stretch. Four of those five games come against conference opponents as the team prepares for the competition they will face throughout the season. 

The Matchup 

The Cardinals and Tigers are meeting for the 28th time in program history, with Salem leading the all-time series at 15-12. However, this will be the first meeting between the two squads since December 30th, 2018, as the teams rekindle their rivalry from the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) days. When the two teams meet in Wheeling, the Cardinals hold the advantage with a 7-6 record in 13 previous matchups, and the Cardinals have been rolling as of late with wins in nine of the last 10 meetings. 

Their last meeting came on December 30th, 2018, when the Cardinals fell to Salem 92-79 for their only loss in the past 10 meetings. In that game, the Cardinals were led by a pair of 20-point scorers in former Cardinal DeAndre Robinson and former Cardinal Miguel Rodriguez. Former Cardinal Franck Kamgain added 16 points in the effort while Robinson paced the defense with 11 rebounds. 

The Details 

Tip-off for Tuesday 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.