Concord Looks to Split Season Series vs. #5 West Liberty and Wheeling Jesuit

Complete Game Notes – Concord Stats – West Liberty Stats – Wheeling Jesuit Stats

Video – Live Stats – Audio (West Liberty game only)


LIVE COVERAGE
The Concord University Sports Information Department provides live video and in-game statistics for every home Mountain Lion basketball game. Additionally, Thursday's contest will be broadcasted on Kiss 92.7/102.9 and online at Kissfmnow.com. Jason "Moose" Reed and former Concord coaching great Steve Cox will have the call. 

Click here to view the live coverage options

MOUNTAIN LION NOTES
• Thanks to recent victories over West Virginia Wesleyan (77-75) and Urbana (67-57), Concord has improved its record to 7-14 overall and 4-11 in Mountain East Conference play.

• If the season ended today, the Mountain Lions would play at West Virginia Wesleyan in the first round of the upcoming MEC Tournament.

• West Liberty enters the Carter Center ranked fifth in the nation at 18-1 overall and 14-1 in league play.

• Wheeling Jesuit, which plays UVa.-Wise Thursday, sits at 10-8 overall and 8-7 in conference games.

• Concord led West Liberty for the majority of the first half and trailed by just one possession with less than 30 seconds to play in its 97-92 loss at West Liberty on Jan. 4.

• Sophomore forward Terry Hopewell had his best game as a Mountain Lion against the Hilltoppers, going for 19 points and 12 rebounds and two blocks.

• The guard duo of freshman B.J. Hamlet and junior Mike Boyd each scored 18 points against WLU. Hamlet reached his point total by making six three-pointers.

• The Concord defense is coming off of its best defensive effort of the season after holding Urbana to just 57 points and a 31.1 field goal percentage (19-for-61), both totals were a team season-low for CU.

• After missing the last seven games, freshman guard Ali Barnes returned to action in CU's 86-72 loss at Notre Dame on Feb. 1 before making a huge impact at Urbana. Barnes went 3-for-4 from the field and made four key free throws down the stretch to finish with 11 points against the Blue Knights.

• The Mountain Lions begin play this week ranked fourth in the league in three-point percentage at 35.9 percent (142-for-396).

• CU is on pace to finish the year with 191 made three-pointers, which would be the 11th most in Concord history.

• West Liberty is the league's top three-point shooting team at 42.3 percent (271-for-640) while Wheeling Jesuit ranks third (35.9 percent / 166-for-444).

• Boyd continues to lead Concord in several categories including points (14.6 per game), field goal percentage (56.1), steals (one per game), assists (4.1 per game) and minutes played (31.9 per game).

• Boyd is 17 assists away from tying Todd Keffer for 10th in Concord history in career assists with 342.

• Junior guard Paul Byrd has started Concord's last five games and is shooting 62.9 percent (22-for-35) over the stretch. Byrd scored a season-high 18 points at Notre Dame.

• Freshman guard Aaron Miller has also held a hot shooting hand recently, going 8-for-14 (57.1 percent) in his last three games.

• Concord is 6-2 this season when leading at halftime and 4-3 when playing at the Carter Center.

• With seven games left in the season, CU has already played in 10 games decided by 10 points or less. Concord played in just 13 such games in 2012-13, 14 in 2011-12 and 14 in 2010-11 and 11 in 2009-10.

• The victory over Urbana was head coach Kent McBride's 40th career-win which already places him in a tie with James Callaghan for seventh place all-time for coach wins at CU in just over two years at Concord. McBride needs eight more victories to tie Buck Jamison for sixth place.

• CU's current starting lineup of Boyd, Byrd, Hopewell and freshman forward Jalen Camper have combined for two wins in three starts as a unit.

A Concord Win Would…
• A win over West Liberty would snap Concord's eight-game losing streak against West Liberty.

• A win over West Liberty would improve Concord's record vs. the Hilltoppers to 8-4 in the Carter Center dating back to the 1993-94 season.

• A win over Wheeling Jesuit would be Concord's second over the Cardinals in the last four games.

UP NEXT
• After completing its mini two-game homestand, Concord will hit the road for games at Charleston (Feb. 13) and at West Virginia State (Feb. 15).