Wheeling, W. Va. – The Wheeling University Men's Basketball team (3-4, 1-2) got a big monkey off their back on Saturday with a road victory over West Virginia Wesleyan for their first Mountain East Conference (MEC) win of the season. On Wednesday night, the road trip continues as they head to Institute, West Virginia to take on West Virginia State with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 PM. The Cardinals will have an opportunity to even their early-season conference record as they head towards the end of the 2023 portion of their conference schedule.

Wheeling Men's Basketball has had a decent start to the season as they have a record of 3-4, but on Saturday they had a big step in the right direction with a win 102-92 win over West Virginia Wesleyan. In the game, Wheeling didn't have a shortage of scorers as 4 players had 10 or more points with William Gabbert having a career-high in points with 19, while proving big from three-point range shooting 37.5% from beyond the key. Gabbert has been a strong role player for the Cardinals since joining the team back during the 2021-2022 season, and is getting his chance as a starter this season. The junior has taken advantage of his opportunities, averaging 10.9 points per game this and sitting third on the team with 33 rebounds.

Wheeling and West Virginia State had their first matchup in 2000 and they have been evenly matched ever since with a record of 19-19 head-to-head. However, when the two teams meet in Institute, West Virginia, the Yellow Jackets have the advantage, holding a record of 6-12 in the previous 18 meetings inside the Walker Convocation Center. West Virginia State is also a game up on Wheeling in the MEC standings which makes this matchup even bigger, and a win would move the Cardinals a half game above the Yellow Jackets as they continue their run of December Basketball.

The offense for Wheeling always starts with Marcus Johnson who is averaging 20 points per game and is shooting at a respectable 43 percent Sean Ealy has also been big for the offense this season averaging 11 points per game and shooting at 45 percent. Ealy set a new season-high last time out with 20 points against West Virginia Wesleyan and has taken to his new role as the team's starting point guard after the injury to Trey Stoffer. On the other side for West Virginia State Anothony Pittman is averaging 15 points per game and is shooting at 45 percent while Arthur Cox is averaging 10 points per game and is shooting at 51 percent.

Tip-off for Wednesday night's game is scheduled for 7:30 PM inside the Walker Convocation Center on the campus of West Virginia State University. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.