Concord Stats -
West Liberty Stats -
Wheeling Stats -
Live Audio -
Live Stats -
Live Video -
Complete Game Notes
ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University men's basketball team starts the third week of Mountain East Conference play by hosting nationally-ranked West Liberty 7:30 p.m. Wednesday before heading to Wheeling 4:30 p.m. Saturday in a pair of league games.
LIVE COVERAGE
Audio: Jason Reed and
Steve Cox will have the live radio broadcast on 94.5 Willie FM or online at mywillie.com
Stats: The Concord and Wheeling University Sports Information Department will provide live statistics for both games this week.
Video: Live streaming video is available from both schools with Reed and Cox's broadcast being wired into the Concord live stream.
RECORDS
Concord is 2-2 after a 67-56 setback at Davis & Elkins.
West Liberty checks in at fourth in the latest National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II poll with a mark of 4-0.
Wheeling is 0-3 this season, but two of the three losses have come by six points.
NEXT MAN UP
The Mountain Lions were down two starters against Davis & Elkins and won without one normal starter against West Virginia Wesleyan on Wednesday. Junior guard
Seth Brown filled in at point guard the last two games in his first two career starts. Versus WVWC, Brown tied his career high with nine points while playing a career-best 29 minutes in the 73-69 win over the Bobcats. At Davis & Elkins, junior forward
Mohamed Bundu was called into the starting lineup as he nearly recorded a double-double with seven points and 13 rebounds. Bundu's 13 boards were the most for a Concord player since Simun Kovac had 13 rebounds at West Virginia State November 2019. Bundu also tallied three steals on Saturday against the Senators.
DOWN UNDER
Senior forward
Liam Evans just missed out on two double-doubles last week as he scored a career-best 22 points to go with nine rebounds against West Virginia Wesleyan. He returned over the weekend to notch eight points and eight rebounds. Evans' 20-point game against WVWC is the only time a CU player has scored at least 20 points in a game this season through four contests. In his last two games, Evans is shooting 59.0 percent. And with his recent uptick in rebounding, the Melbourne, Australia native is now 14
th in the MEC in rebounding at 7.3 boards per game.
UTILITY MAN
In four games this season, Johnson has become a do-it-all player for the Mountain Lions. The Wytheville, Virginia native handed out a career-best seven assists in CU's win over West Virginia Wesleyan. And his 11 assists over the last two contests has vaulted him into the top five in the MEC at 4.5 assists per game. Johnson is the only Concord player to score in double figures in each game this season. Furthermore, Johnson has drawn 29 fouls in 2021, and his 38 free throws attempts are the most in the league with the next closest being West Virginia State's Glen Abram with 29 attempts.
WELCOME TO THE GRIND CENTER
Through four games this season, the Mountain Lions are playing some of their best defense in head coach
Todd May's five-year tenure in Athens. CU is second in the MEC in scoring defense (71.8) and fifth in both field-goal defense (42.3) and three-point shooting defense (31.2). Also aiding the defensive effort is Concord's ability to limit teams to one shot on possessions as the Maroon and Gray is rebounding 74.5 percent of opponents' misses—second in the conference. If CU's defensive numbers hold, it would be the third-fewest points allowed per game in program history.
PUTTING IT TO THE TEST
Concord's methodical pace will be put to the test against the Hilltoppers. West Liberty is leading Division II in scoring at 112.8 points per game as WLU is coming off a 134-72 win over Frostburg State over the weekend. West Liberty is shooting just under 50 percent—49.7—for the season, second in the MEC, and is raining in 10 three-pointers per game. Additionally, the Hilltoppers are the best offensive rebounding team in the conference as they grab 45 percent of their misses—six percentage points ahead of second. However, the last time a top-five WLU team to the Carter Center, Concord nearly pulled the upset, falling by just four points, 110-106, in February 2019. Johnson had 15 points in that particular contest. In the last four instances West Liberty has been ranked in the top five nationally entering the Carter Center, CU has defeated WLU twice (January 2016 and February 2017).
DAY AND NIGHT
Concord and Wheeling split their two meetings last season with each team winning at home. The Mountain Lions nearly nipped WU at home, falling 74-71. Evans and Johnson both threw in 19 points with Evans adding his only career double-double with 10 rebounds. Sophomore guard
Ethan Heller chipped in 10 points. Both teams shot an identical 42.4 percent (25-for-59) in the contest, but the difference was Wheeling outscoring CU 20-17 at the foul line, and outrebounding the Mountain Lions, 40-32. At the Carter Center last February, Concord tied its program record by shooting 67.3 percent from the floor in a 101-75 win over Wheeling. Heller and senior forward
David Bea Mulumba both poured in 20 points with Mulumba finishing a perfect 8-of-8 from the floor. Junior guard
Brandon Kennedy stroked in 16 points on 6-for-8 shooting while Johnson provided 10 points off the bench.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
25- Combined made three-pointers for Concord in three games with West Liberty last season, including 10 at the Carter Center
36- Average minutes played by Kennedy this season, tied for first in the MEC with Davis & Elkins' Sam Rolle.
61.5- MEC-leading three-point percentage for Mulumba (8-for-13).
WEST LIBERTY AT A GLANCE
The Hilltoppers own the top two scoring games in Division II this season. In addition to the 134 points against Frostburg State, West Liberty rolled up 123 points versus Alderson Broaddus. Pat Robinson and Will Yoakum are both averaging 20 points per game. Preseason All-American Dalton Bolon is just under a double-double of 19.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per contest. Veteran guard Luke Dyer is only averaging 3.0 points per game, but has 17 assists to only one turnover and has recorded seven steals. All four wins for the Hilltoppers have come by at least 10 points, including three by 20 or more.
WHEELING AT A GLANCE
The Cardinals are in the middle of a busy stretch of games. After getting the program paused due to COVID-19 protocols, Wheeling played Fairmont Saturday, Notre Dame Monday, will face Glenville State Wednesday before taking on Concord Saturday. Jordan Reid, who scored 27 points against Concord at Wheeling last season, is the Cardinals' leading scorer at 22.7 points per game. Jarett Haines (14.0 points per game) and Jay Gentry (11.0) are also averaging double figures. Wheeling has made just 18 three-pointers in three games with six coming from Gentry.
