Wheeling, W. Va. - With the snow having blown through the Ohio Valley over the weekend, the Wheeling University Men's Basketball team (11-6, 6-4) will have the roads cleared just in time to continue their back-to-back road trip down south. The Cardinals will travel down I-79 on Wednesday when they take on the University of Charleston, with tip-off at 7:30 PM. After the Cardinals picked up a last second win over the Golden Eagles earlier this season, the team will head down to the West Virginia capital looking for the season series sweep.
Last time out, the Cardinals played the first of two contests in "The Battle for Wheeling" when they traveled to West Liberty. Wheeling kept the #1 team in the conference close throughout the first half, never trailing by more than nine points over the first 20-minutes of play. They made a late push, with two three-pointers in the final minute and a half, and it was enough to send the Cardinals into the locker room with a 39-38 advantage. It was a strong defensive effort that led the court on both sides, with neither team shooting over 45% in the half, and the back and forth would continue into the second half. Wheeling held onto their halftime lead through the first seven minutes of the new half, leading by as much as five points during the run. However, it was a 10-2 Hilltopper swing that ultimately made the difference as the Cardinals fell 93-81.
After being held in single digits in back-to-back games, it was redshirt freshman Ayden Goll breaking out to lead the way. He would lead the team with 21 points, while continuing to pass the ball with two assists and three rebounds. As the first half was winding down, Goll would send his team into halftime with the lead, hitting a three-pointer with 38 seconds to go, rounding out a nine-point first half. He would finish with 12 points in the second half, rounding out a strong day on the offensive end. As the team gets down to the final two games of January, Goll sits as the third leading scorer in the conference, averaging 17.9 points per game, while also sitting second in the conference with 78 assists this season. As the team enters the final month of the season, Goll looks to continue to be a leader on the offensive end.
Impacting both ends of the floor on the day was Tee Harris Jr., who finished with a double-double, putting up 12 points and 12 rebounds. It was the junior's second double-double of the season, and the first for Harris since a 12 point, 11 rebound, effort against Franciscan on December 15th. Harris has been playing his best basketball since the calendar has turned to 2026, averaging 14.4 points per game over the first seven games. Another Cardinal who has continued his hot streak is Caleb Murray, who finished with 19 points against West Liberty, while going 3-8 (37.5%) from beyond three-point range. It was the third time in the last five games that Murray has gone over the 19-point mark in a game, with the senior averaging 18.2 points per game during that stretch. He is on a career-best pace heading into Wednesday's game, averaging 13.7 PPG and he looks to continue to be a deep weapon for Wheeling.
After taking the loss to West Liberty on Saturday, the Cardinals dropped out of the top four in the conference for the first time this season. The race for the top of the conference is tightening heading into the final month of the season, with five teams all sitting within one game of each other. Wheeling currently holds the #5 spot in the conference, but sits just a half game behind Charleston and Concord from getting as high as #3. A win and a loss by Concord would have Wheeling up to the #3 seed in the conference, in a race that will come down to the final weeks of the regular season. The Cardinals continue to battle to officially clinch their spot in this season's MEC Tournament, with their magic number sitting at five entering play Wednesday. Head Coach Chris Richardson and his team continue to focus on one game at a time, and getting the highest seed possible in this year's tournament.
The Match-up
The Cardinals and Golden Eagles are meeting for the 46th time in program history, and the second time during the 2025-2026 season. After the Cardinals picked up a home win earlier in the year, they look to keep that momentum going on the road, where they hold a 9-11 record all-time in 20 all-time match-ups. The Cardinals are looking to sweep the season series for the first time since the 2017-18 season, after having moved their scoring average to 76.8 PPG in the all-time series.
The first meeting of the year came back on December 13th, 2025, in a game that Wheeling pulled out in the last second with a 77-75 victory. Leading the way for the Cardinals was Ayden Goll, who put up 23 points in the effort, while shooting a perfect 9-9 from the charity stripe. Alex Smith would add 16 points and seven rebounds in the effort, while Jerry Saunders Jr. Wrapped things up with 13 points of the bench.
The Details
Tip-off for Wednesday night's game is scheduled for 7:30 PM inside the Wherle Innovation Center on the campus of The University of Charleston. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.
