Wheeling, W. Va. - As the Mountain East Conference (MEC) regular season comes down to its final three weeks, the Wheeling University Men's Basketball team (5-17, 3-13) continues to make its push towards the MEC Tournament. They continue that playoff push on Wednesday evening when they head down to Athens, West Virginia to take on Concord. The Cardinals are looking to bounce back and regain the #10 seed in this year's tournament with six games remaining on the schedule.
Last time out, the Cardinals took on West Virginia State and were just outshot on the day as the Yellow Jackets picked up a 111-77 win. West Virginia State shot just over 61% from the floor in the first half and the teams broke for the locker room with Wheeling trailing 56-30. However, the freshman sparked a mini run at the end of the first half, which would propel Wheeling into a 47-point outburst over the game's final 20 minutes of play. However, the Yellow Jackets just kept scoring and by the time the final whistle blew, the Cardinals would fall 111-77. Despite the loss, the Cardinals continued to play hard throughout the night and showed improvement in the second half.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was Marcus Johnson, who finished the night with 18 points and nine rebounds to lead both sides of the ball. Johnson has been on a tear over his last three games, averaging just over 21 points per game during that time. The 18-point effort was his lowest point total during that stretch and the nine rebounds were his second highest point total. Johnson currently sits second on the Cardinals this season with an average of 16.6 points per game and has been a big player for the team under the net.
Following behind him was senior John Korte, who finished with 13 points and eight rebounds to finish second on the team in both categories. Korte continues his quest for 1,000 career points as the season goes on, entering Wednesday night needing just 61 points to complete the feat. Wheeling has also seen their freshman step up as of late and one of them has been Caleb Murray. After putting up a career-high 18 points two games ago against Davis & Elkins, he was back at it off the bench on Saturday with a 10-point effort. Murray, along with Ryan Reasbeck and Kevin Coleman Jr have all played valuable minutes for the Cardinals and are looking to continue to be key contributors as the year goes on.
With the loss on Saturday, the Cardinals fell back into a tie with Frostburg State for the coveted #10 seed in the MEC Tournament. Both teams sit at 3-13 and the Cardinals have the advantage in the season series so far, with an 83-78 win over the Bobcats earlier in the season. The two will play each other in Wheeling in just three games, in what is turning out to be one of the biggest games left on the team's schedule. Last season, the Cardinals came out of the first round to nearly upset West Liberty at WesBanco Arena and will be looking at a similar path this season as they try and clinch that coveted final spot in the tournament.
The Matchup
The Cardinals and Mountain Lions will be playing their 40th all-time game against each other on Wednesday as they wrap up the 2022-23 season series. Wheeling has held the all-time series advantage, with a record of 25-14, but that advantage drops to 9-7 when the Cardinals are on the road. Concord has come on strong lately, winning four of the last five games between the two teams as Wheeling looks to flip the script this time around.
In their first meeting of the year, Concord took down Wheeling 81-76 inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center. Marcus Johnson and Brent Price each had big days in that one, scoring 20 points each, while Johnson had a double-double with 14 rebounds. John Korte added 16 points in that effort as the Cardinals look to take their offense on the road.
The Details
Tip-off for Wednesday night's game is scheduled for 7:30 PM inside the Webb Carter Center on the campus of Concord University. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.
