Wheeling, W. Va. - Throughout their preseason/exhibition schedule, Wheeling University Head Men's Basketball Coach Chris Richardson set up a schedule that would challenge his team. On Monday, the Wheeling University Men's Basketball team (0-0, 0-0) will look to make all their hard work pay off when they open the season at home on Monday against Ashland, with tip-off at 7:30 PM. It will be the first time the Cardinals play in front of their home fans, and they look to make a good first impression to start the season.
The 2025-2026 season was a historic campaign for the Cardinals, seeing them go 19-9 overall and 14-6 in Mountain East Conference (MEC) play. It was their best season since the 20217-18 campaign, and it started with a strong non-conference schedule. The Cardinals would go 2-2 across that non-conference stretch, and rocketed out to a 4-1 start to their MEC schedule. After the back-and-forth month of January, the Cardinals sat at 7-5 and were looking for a turnaround to get back to the top of the conference. They would begin that turn around with a 106-92 win over West Virginia State, and went 8-1 down the stretch to secure the #3 seed in the MEC Men's Basketball Tournament. The run was capped off with a 93-91 upset over West Liberty at home, giving the Cardinals a first round bye into the tournament. However, their run would come to an abrupt end when they fell to Concord in the quarterfinals 96-71.
Leading the way for the Cardinals to open the season is the reigning MEC Freshman of the Year Ayden Goll, who looks to build off his success from last season. The redshirt sophomore would average 18.1 points per game across 28 games a season ago, while shooting 42.3% from the floor. He would eclipse the 20-point mark 10 times during the season, including putting up a career-best 35 points against Concord on January 14 of last year. He was the fourth-leading scorer in the MEC a season ago, and sat third in the conference in total points with 508. Along with his scoring prowess, Goll was also one of the leading passers in the conference, sitting second in the MEC with 129 assists, sitting just four assists behind Charleston's Hamilton Campbell for the conference lead. He is one of two returning guards for the Cardinals that look to lead the team on the court.
The other returner is redshirt senior Alex Smith, who comes back for his fifth year with the Cardinal program. While Goll was the offensive leader a season ago, Smith would handle the defensive side of the ball, leading the Cardinals with 52 steals and sitting second averaging 6.0 rebounds per game. He would sit fifth in the conference in steals and 12th in rebounding as he looks to once again lead the defensive effort. The Cardinals have also gotten bigger this off-season with the edition of 6-11 forward Mustapha Sanoh and 6-10 forward Kwynsie Pittsnogle. Each bring a size element that the Cardinals have not had over the past two seasons, and they will be tasked with replacing the 6.4 rebounds per game provided by former Cardinal Tee Harris Jr. A season ago.
As they head into the non-conference schedule, Wheeling will once again be challenging themselves with a five-game stretch before MEC play begins. The Cardinals will be road warriors during the stretch, with three of those five games coming away from the Alma Grace McDonough Center. As they get set to take the home court for the first time in 2026-2027, the Cardinals look to continue their recent string of success in home openers, which have seen the team go 3-1 in their last four openers in the McDonough Center. Last season, the Cardinals would go 11-3 across 14 home games, and look to once again defend the nest against Ashland.
The Match-up
The Cardinals and Eagles are meeting for the first time in program history when they match up on Monday night. Ashland is coming off a strong 2025-2026 season that saw them go 20-11 overall and 13-7 in Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) play. They would qualify for the 2026 G-MAC Men's Basketball tournament, but dropped their Quarterfinal match to #22 ranked Grand Valley state 59-45 to end their season. The Cardinals look to open the all-time series with a win on their home floor to start 2026-2027.
The Details
Tip-off for Monday night's game is scheduled for 7:30 PM inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.
