Concord Welcomes W.Va. State, Heads to Charleston

Concord Stats - West Virginia State Stats - Charleston Stats - Live Stats (W.Va. State) - Live Video (W.Va. State) - Live Audio (W.Va. State) - Live Stats (Charleston) - Live Video (Charleston) - Complete Game Notes

ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University men's basketball team starts Mountain East Conference play 4:00 p.m. Saturday when it welcomes West Virginia State to the Carter Center before traveling to Charleston for a 7:30 p.m. tip off in the Capital City.

LIVE COVERAGE
The Concord University Sports Information Department will provide live in-game video and statistics while Jason Reed and Steve Cox will have a live radio play-by-play of Saturday's contest against West Virginia State on 97.3 FM and online at www.mywillie.com. Additionally, Charleston will provide live stats and live in-game video of Monday's game. To access the live links, follow at the top of the page or click here.

MOUNTAIN LION NOTES
The Mountain Lions are 2-1 this season.

The Yellow Jackets went 1-1 to start the season, and UC began the season with a 2-0 mark.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
CU went 1-1 at the MEC-CIAA Challenge at home as it defeated Fayetteville State by 19 points, 84-65.

The Mountain Lions lost in overtime to Winston-Salem State, 93-90, as Robert Colon hit a buzzer beater three-pointer to win the game.

During the weekend, five different Mountain Lions registered career-highs in scoring.

Senior forward Stephen Thompson poured in 29 points as he was the game's leading scorer versus WSSU.

Thompson scored 29 on 10-for-17 shooting.

Additionally, the Beckley, West Virginia native has canned three three-pointers in each of Concord's first three games.

Sophomore guard Tommy Bolte powered the bench production with 13 points against Winston-Salem State as he shot 5-for-7 from the floor.

It was the first time Bolte had recorded double figures in the scoring column.

Junior forward Babe Murphy scored 11 points versus Fayetteville State to set a new career-high.

Murphy buried all three three-point attempts in the game.

Furthermore, freshman forward Patrick Eugene and redshirt freshman forward Mike Hall each scored their first career points in the Maroon and Gray in the MEC-CIAA Challenge.

EFFICIENT SHOOTING
Heading into the weekend, the Mountain Lions have made an MEC-leading 42 three-pointers this season with senior guard Aaron Miller claiming the top spot in the league with 13 makes from beyond the arc.

In those 42 makes from three-point range was 18 three-pointers against Fayetteville State which was a single-game record for CU.

On two different occasions last season Concord had 16 three-pointers in a single game.

Six different players made three-pointers against Fayetteville State. 

Miller is fourth in the conference in three-pointer percentage (.542 / 13-for-24) while Thompson is fifth (.529 / 9-for-17) and junior guard BJ Hamlet is 10th (.368 / 7-for-19).

Thompson is fifth in made threes.

As a team, CU is second in the league in three-point percentage (.429) behind only West Virginia State's .455.

Concord pulled away from Alderson-Broaddus in the second half Tuesday night to earn a 81-59 win on the road.

The 22-point margin of victory was due in part to CU shooting 58.1 percent (18-for-31) from the field in the second half.

The 18 field goals was spread among eight different. Miller hit five shots in the second half including three triples.

Junior forward Troy Gibson and Michael Sanchez were each 3-for-3 from the field.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
Concord is sixth in the MEC in scoring defense, limiting opponent to 72.3 points per game.

CU is forcing opponents into more than 18 turnovers per contest.

Last season, the Mountain Lions only forced the opponent into 11 turnovers per game. Murphy ranks seventh in the conference in steals per game at 2.0.

As a team, Concord is making 8.6 thefts per game.

Along with Murphy, Bolte, Hamlet and Sanchez are all averaging 1.3 steals per game.

SUCCESS AGAINST WEST VIRGINIA STATE
The Mountain Lions have won five straight games against West Virginia State going back to the 2013-2014 season.

CU's average margin of victory in those game is 15.8 points per game.

In the last meeting, Jan. 25, 2016, Concord scored 111 points in a 23-point win.

The 111 points were the most for the Maroon and Gray since the 2003-04 season.

In the second meeting last season, Murphy posted a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds off the bench while Miller scored 20 points on 7-for-13 shooting.

Miller has saved some of his best performances for the Yellow Jackets.

In the five-game winning streak for CU over West Virginia State, the Stephens City, Virginia native is averaging 18.4 points per game and has topped 20 points three straight times.

Miller has also scored efficiently against WVSU, going 33-for-63 from the floor (52.3 percent).

Concord combined to shoot 54.2 percent from the field (77-for-42) and 51.0 percent from three-point distance (24-for-47) against West Virginia State last season.

SCOUTING WEST VIRGINIA STATE
West Virginia State split its game at home to start the season as it fell victim to a buzzer-beater three-pointer against Virginia Union, but bounced back to defeat Elizabeth City State, 77-68.


Brent Bauer is one of the early league leaders in several statistical categories.

Bauer is averaging 19.0 points per game (eight), leading the league in three-point shooting (75.0 percent / 6-for-8) and is third in assists per game (6.5).

WVSU is fourth in the MEC in team field goal percentage (.515).

The Yellow Jackets have three players shooting with at least 10 attempts from the field shooting 55 percent of better:

Bauer (11-for-16 / 68.8 percent), Earnest Jenkins (9-for-16 / 56.3 percent) and  Cody Morris (7-for-10 / 70 percent).

Furthermore, the Yellow Jackets have four players averaging double figures in scoring, Bauer (19.0), Jayson Hankins (12.0), Jenkins (11.0), Mohammad Camara (11.0).

SCOUTING CHARLESTON
Both of UC's wins came at the Carter Center as it downed Winston-Salem State, 70-57, before defeating Fayetteville State, 80-72.

The Golden Eagles own the fourth-best rebounding margin mark in the league at +5.5.

Justin Coleman is fourth in the MEC in rebounding (11.0) through one week of play.

Elliott Cole is the top scorer for Charleston (18.0) while Keir Anderson has been efficient averaging 14.5 points per game while shooting 64.7 percent from the field.

Anderson is ranked fifth in the conference in field goal percentage.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
6- Number of CU players averaging at least eight points per game.

22.5-  Average number of bench points for Concord in the last two games.

110- Average number of points for Concord in two wins over West Virginia State last season.