Wheeling, W. Va. – The 2023 Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tournament kicks off on Wednesday from WesBanco Arena as the top ten teams in the conference kick off play. The Wheeling University Men's Basketball team (6-22, 4-18) enters the tournament field as the #10 seed and kicks off first round action against #7 seeded Glenville State at 6 PM. The Cardinals are looking to make it to the MEC quarterfinal round for the third consecutive year as they begin their tournament run.

They ended the regular season with their second edition of the "Battle for Wheeling" and played right along with the number one seed in this year's tournament West Liberty. The Cardinals fell behind early, trailing 9-4 3 minutes into the game, but were able to slowly battle back into it. They never trailed by more than seven In the half, and grab their first lead with 4:38 to go before halftime. The Cardinals took the lead and ran with it, heading into halftime up 51-43 as they look to sweep the rivalry. Unfortunately, West liberty's offense woke up in the second half As they shot 47% from the floor and 45% from three-point range. In the end the Cardinals would end up falling to the hilltoppers 103-91, but clinched the number 10 seed because of Frostburg State falling to Fairmont State.

The Cardinals spread the ball around throughout the matchup, with four different players finishing a double figures. They were led by freshmen Ryan Reasbeck who finished with a career high 24 points off the bench. Reasbeck has been a spark for the Cardinals all season long and had a big day from three-point range going 4-6 (66.7%). The freshman is averaging 6.9 points per game this season and is shooting 36.6% from three-point range. This will be his first MEC tournament action, And he looks to continue his consistency off the bench and provide that spark that the Cardinals need early on in games.

Leading the way for the Cardinals was senior Brent Price, who finished with 19 points on the day. Price has been a part of each of the last two quarterfinal runs for the team and looks to help them there again in 2023. He flirted with a triple double in the game, leading the way in both assists (6) and rebounds (9). Sophomore Marcus Johnson continued his strong week adding 18 points to the effort and bringing his total to 47 for the week. Johnson has consistently been a big presence under the net for the Cardinals and is shooting 48.6% from the floor this season. The Cardinals will need a big presence in the rebounding game and Johnson looks to provide that for them throughout the tournament.

The Cardinals enter the 2023 tournament as the #10 seed and are looking to make some history. They are trying to become the first #10 seed in MEC history to both make and win the MEC Championship. Despite their final record, the Cardinals have been one of the toughest teams to play this season, with most games coming down to the final minutes. Of their 22 losses during the regular season, 16 came by nine points or less and 10 were by five points or less. They have picked up a win against #1 seeded West Liberty already and have played well against some of the top seeds in the tournament. The Cardinals look to put it all together this week as everyone goes back to 0-0.

The Matchup

The Cardinals and Pioneers will be meeting for the third time this season and the 38th time in program history. The Cardinals lead the all-time series with a record of 22-16, but the Pioneers have won both of those season's meetings. The two teams have only met one time in postseason play when they met in the first round of last year's tournament. It has been a high scoring series over the years, with the Cardinals averaging 83.9 points per game over the first 38 matches.

In their last meeting, the two teams faced off in Glenville, West Virginia, where the Pioneers won 98-95. Marcus Johnson led the way in that game, scoring 28 points and shooting 80% from the floor. John Korte added 23 points to the effort and Ryan Reasbeck added 16 points in the game.

The Details

Tip-off for Wednesday's game is scheduled for 6 PM at the WesBanco Arena in downtown Wheeling. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.