Concord Stats -
West Liberty Stats -
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Live Stats (West Liberty) -
Live Stats (Wheeling Jesuit) -
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Complete Game Notes
ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University men's basketball team hosts a pair of nationally-ranked foes this week at the Carter Center as it welcomes West Liberty 7:30 p.m. Thursday, and will play Wheeling Jesuit 3:00 p.m. Saturday.
LIVE COVERAGE
The Concord University Sports Information Department will provide live in-game statistics and live streaming video for both game this weekend. Meanwhile, Jason Reed and
Steve Cox will have live play-by-play radio coverage of both games as well on 97.3 "Willie" FM and online at
www.mywillie.com. To access any of the live coverage, follow the links at the top of the page or click
here.
MOUNTAIN LION NOTES
CU is 7-15 overall and 3-13 in the Mountain East Conference.
Meanwhile, WLU comes in ranked second in the nation in the Division II poll at 21-1 overall and 15-1 in the conference.
The Cardinals are 18-4 this season and 12-4 in the MEC and are slotted 18th in the national poll.
TWO IN A ROW
The Mountain Lions enter the games this week with a two-game winning streak, it's only the second time this season CU has won two games in a row.
Concord defeated Glenville State on the road 74-71 Wednesday before posting an 81-70 home win against West Virginia Wesleyan Saturday.
In the two wins, Concord shot a combined a 49.6 percent (64-for-129) from the field, its highest shooting percentage in a two-game stretch this season.
Earlier this year, CU shot 49.5 percent in a two-game swing against GSC and Wesleyan.
In its two-game win streak, the Mountain Lions also outrebounded Glenville State and WVWC by a combined 20.
At Glenville State, senior forward
Stephen Thompson led the rebounding effort with nine while freshman forward
Patrick Eugene and senior guard
Aaron Miller each chipped in seven. Junior forward
Babe Murphy and sophomore guard
Tommy Bolte each had five.
It was the first time since the MEC semifinals last season that CU had five players with at least five rebounds.
Eugene pulled down nine rebounds as Concord downed a 34-25 edge on the boards against WVWC.
HANDLING THE ROCK
In addition to Concord's elevated shooting percentage the last two games, CU has done a stellar job of taking care of the ball.
After committing 25 turnovers at Fairmont State, the Mountain Lions have only had nine turnovers in each of the last three games for a total of 27.
The last time a Concord team went three straight with single digit turnovers was from January 17-January 31, 2015 when it went five straight games with 10 or less turnovers.
Additionally, Concord assisted on 17 of made 34 field goals versus West Virginia Wesleyan.
In the second half, CU assisted on 12 of 17 made field goals. For the game, senior guard
Michael Sanchez handed out eight assists which tied his season high from the first game of the season against Fayetteville State.
SEIZING THE OPPORTUNITY
In nine of its last 10 games, Concord has recorded at least 10 points off of turnovers.
In the latest games against West Virginia Wesleyan, the Mountain Lions racked up its second-highest point total off of turnovers as it scored 25 points off of 13 WVWC turnovers.
The highest total of the season for CU on points off turnovers is 32 points at West Virginia State.
The Mountain Lions are sixth in the league in turnovers forced per game (13.4), but Concord averages 14.2 points off turnovers per game.
Against the Bobcats, Miller scored 10 of his 30 points on points off turnovers. Murphy contributed seven while Bolte had six.
TOE-TO-TOE WITH THE BEST
West Liberty is ranked second in the nation, but the Mountain Lions have a knack for playing well against WLU at home.
Last year, Concord defeated the Hilltoppers twice, once by two points in the MEC Semifinals and during the regular season by 15 points at the Carter Center.
In the last two home games versus West Liberty, Miller is averaging 18.5 points per game while shooting 50 percent from the floor (13-for-26).
As a team, Concord has shot 58.9 percent (76-for-129) the last two times the teams have matched up in Athens.
Earlier this season, West Liberty defeated CU 125-73 on the road.
LIMITED SECONDS
Over their last 10 games, the Mountain Lions have averaged 11.7 second chance points per game.
Meanwhile, Wheeling Jesuit has 14.8 second chance points in the same time frame.
WJU's Kyle Ritz (3.2) and Haywood Highsmith (2.7) rank third and sixth in the MEC in offensive rebounds per game.
Eugene is slotted 13th in offensive rebounds per game (2.1).
However, second-chance opportunities could be at a premium Saturday as both team also rank in the top three in the league in defensive rebounding percentage.
The Cardinals clear 75 percent of their opponents' misses, good for second.
Concord rebounds 73.4 percent of opponents' misses which is third in the conference.
Earlier this season, WJU outscored Concord 16-10 in second-chance points as Wheeling Jesuit won 83-80.
SCOUTING WEST LIBERTY
West Liberty is fresh off a win over Fairmont State Saturday at the ASRC in a battle of top three teams in the nation.
WLU's Dan Monteroso is the reigning MEC Player of the Week after averaging 24.5 points per game and shooting 65 percent in wins over Shepherd and Fairmont State.
The Hilltoppers have beaten teams by an average of 22.0 points per game this season.
Monteroso is West Liberty's leader scorer at 18.8 points per game, but Devin Hoehn (15.5), David Dennis (13.5) and Zac Grossenbacher (10.9) all average double figures.
SCOUTING WHEELING JESUIT
After losing two straight, WJU defeated Shepherd 86-66 Saturday.
Highsmith is averaging a double-double of 14.3 points and 11.0 rebounds per game for the Cardinals.
Pat Moseh is the leading scorer (15.6). Preston Boswell (14.1) is the third-highest scoring freshmen in the league behind West Virginia State's Ernest Jenkins and Urbana's DeQuan Abrom.
The Cardinals have the best field goal defense in the conference, allowing opponents to shoot just 42.6 percent this season.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
5- Number of points that have decided the last two meetings between Concord and WJU in Athens.
45- Average number of points in the paint for Concord in its last two games.
47- Average number of second-half points for the Mountain Lions in the last two games.
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