Wheeling, W. Va. - After taking a short break on Saturday, the Wheeling University Men's Basketball team (4-2, 1-0) makes its return to Mountain East Conference (MEC) play on Wednesday night. The team will travel down to Institute, West Virginia as they take on West Virginia State with tip-off at 7:30 PM. After getting off to their first 1-0 start in MEC play since the 2019-2020 season, the Cardinals look to keep the momentum rolling as they hit the final two-week stretch of the first half of the season.
The Cardinals were able to reach the 90-point mark for the second straight game last time out when they took on Salem in non-conference action. After the Tigers got things started scoring the first four points of the game, a three-pointer by Tee Harris got the Cardinals going. The lead would change hands five times over the first 10 minutes of play, before a 10-2 run cemented the Cardinals with a 25-19 lead. The final 10 minutes would see the Cardinals put up 26 points while the defense stiffened, allowing just 14 points, and Wheeling went into the half with a 51-33 lead. As they came out in the second half, the Cardinals built their lead to a game-high 27 points with 11:48 to play, but Salem battled back and made it a four-point game with a minute to play. Wheeling would end the day from the free throw line, going 7-10 from the charity stripe, as they pulled off the 93-85 win.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was Caleb Murray, who put together a career-best effort that saw him put up 23 points in the effort. He was lethal from three-point range, going 5-7 (71.4%) from long distance to tie his career-high from that mark. Of those five three-pointers, three of those came in the second half as he helped the Cardinals build their game-high 27-point advantage. For his efforts, Murray was named the MEC Co-Men's Basketball Player of the Week, wrapping up a career day on the court. It was Murray's second straight double digit point effort of the season, and the third time that he has reached double figures in his first six games. He currently sits as the Cardinal's second leading three-point shooter, hitting 38.5% of his shots from long range while shooting 42.9% from the floor. He has hit multiple threes in five of his six games this season, and will look to continue to be a deep threat for the Cardinals throughout the year.
In total, the Cardinals had five different players hit double figures on the day, with Ayden Goll helping to spread the ball around. The redshirt freshman led the team with five assists, and scored 14 of his 16 points from the charity stripe. Goll would go 14-16 from the free throw line in the game, including going 6-8 over the final minute stretch of the game. He currently leads the team averaging 16.8 PPG while also leading the passing game with 29 through six games. When the Cardinals have needed a spark off the bench the last two games, it has come from Jerry Saunders Jr. Saunders would hit double figures for the second game in a row, finishing with 14 points, and was the Cardinals most efficient shooter from the floor. He would end up shooting 6-8 (75%) from the floor, including a perfect 2-2 mark from three-point range as he rounded out another strong game off the bench.
With the first week of conference play in the books, the Cardinals are one of four undefeated teams in the conference over the first 1-2 games. They currently sit tied with rival West Liberty for the second spot in the conference, with both teams sitting 1.5 games behind Fairmont State for the conference lead. The other undefeated team in the conference is Concord, who sits at 2-0 with wins over West Virginia State and Charleston. As they head into their first full week of MEC play, the Cardinals will be put to the test with games against the Yellow Jackets and Golden Eagles on the docket. They enter the week as the fourth highest scoring offense in the conference, averaging 85.7 PPG, while allowing the fifth fewest points per game in the conference at 80.2. They look to continue to play a balanced brand of basketball as they build momentum throughout the first half.
The Match-up
The Cardinals and Yellow Jackets are meeting for the 44th time in program history, with West Virginia State leading the all-time series at 22-21. The home team has reigned supreme in the all-time match-up, with the Cardinals going 11-8 inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center, compared to a 7-13 mark in Institute, West Virginia. Wheeling has averaged a healthy 84.02 points per game in the all-time series, and was able to break a nine-game losing streak at the hands of the Yellow Jackets last season.
That streak breaker would come on February 1st, 2025, in a game that the Cardinals would win 97-92 in Institute, West Virginia. Wheeling was led by a strong performance from former Cardinal Sean Ealy, who led the team with 32 points and seven assists in the winning effort. Tee Harris Jr would come off the bench with 17 points and seven rebounds, while former Cardinal William Gabbert added 16 points to round out the day.
The Details
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. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.
