Concord Stats -
Live Audio -
Live Stats -
Live Video
ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University men's basketball team looks for its first win of the season when it welcomes Bluefield State to the Carter Center for a 7:30 p.m. start Tuesday.
LIVE COVERAGE
Audio: Jason Reed and
Steve Cox will have live audio coverage of Tuesday's game on 94.5 "Willie" FM and online at www.mywille.com
Stats: The Concord University Sports Information Department will have live in-game statistics of the contest.
Video: Live streaming video will also be provided.
RECORDS
The Mountain Lions are 0-2 after two tough losses against Pitt-Johnstown and Indiana (Pa.).
Bluefield State is searching for its first win this season at 0-2.
MAKING A NAME
The top performances over the weekend for the Mountain Lions came from two players making their debut as fifth-year senior forward and Virginia State graduate transfer
Lual Daniel Rahama pumped in 18 points in each game while fifth-year senior guard
Matt Weir posted 16.5 points and 5.5 assists per game in two games. Rahama did his scoring with efficiency as he shot 50 percent from the field (14-for-28). For Weir, he handed out seven assists in the 96-91 overtime loss to Pitt-Johnstown and came back with four more assists in the second game. The Nashport, Ohio native committed just two turnovers on the weekend, joining junior guard
Ethan Heller as Concord guards with at least 10 assists and three or fewer turnovers in a two-game stretch the last two seasons. Against West Virginia State and Charleston last season, Heller handed out 13 assists and committed just three turnovers.
BENCH SPARK
Sophomore guard
Dorian Groggs came off the bench to tally a career-best 19 points against Pitt-Johnstown. The performance was fueled by Groggs making five three-pointers on nine attempts versus the Mountain Cats. In nine games last season, Groggs recorded seven points as he missed all three three-point attempts. It marked the second time in the last three games, dating back to last season that CU had a player hit on five or more three-pointers as Heller canned six triples in Concord's 107-100 double overtime victory over Davis & Elkins in the MEC Tournament last spring. Groggs scored his 19 points in just 15 minutes of action versus UPJ.
FINDING THE STROKE
In all, the Mountain Lions hit 28 three-pointers in the first two games of the season including 16 versus Pitt-Johnstown, two shy of tying a program record. Concord ranks in a tie for third in Division II for most made three-pointers in the early season. The Maroon and Gray has also been efficient from three-point range, shooting just under 40 percent from behind the arc this season (39.4 percent/28-for-71). Heller is hitting on 43 percent of his three-point attempts this season. Weir has made 8-of-18 three-point attempts (44.4 percent). In two career games versus Bluefield State, Heller has made 4-of-10 three-point field goals. Heller and senior guard
Brandon Kennedy are the only two players to have appeared in a game versus Bluefield State.
A CENTENNIAL MEETING
Tuesday night will be the 100
th time Concord and Bluefield State meet in men's basketball. The Mountain Lions own a 62-37 advantage in the all-time series as they swept both games from the Big Blues in 2019-20. CU won on the road 81-70 to begin the season before holding on for a 74-71 win against BSC February 3, 2020. The Maroon and Gray have back-to-back season sweeps of their Mercer County rivals and are winners of five consecutive in the all-time series. Head coach
Todd May is 7-1 in his career versus Bluefield State with the lone loss coming at home at the beginning of the 2017-18 season. It's fitting the 100
th all-time meeting comes less than a year from the Carter Center turning 50 years old—that happens next October.
GOOD RECIPE
CU was held to 36.5 percent shooting from the field in the first two games of the season as it shot better from three-point range than it did inside the arc (39.4 percent to 36.4 percent). However, the Mountain Lions face a Bluefield State squad that allowed Salem and Edinboro to shoot 55.6 percent over the weekend. Additionally, BSC gave up 100 or more points in both contests. In the narrow 74-71 victory over Bluefield State two seasons ago, the Mountain Lions nearly shot 50 percent as it finished one miss away from 50 percent (27-for-56 / 48.2 percent). Heller netted 14 points in the win.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
9.0- Average number of steals for Concord in its two games at IUP after only averaging 4.7 steals per game last season.
13.2- Average margin of victory for CU in its seven wins over Bluefield State under May.
652- Days between Concord and Bluefield State playing in basketball.
BLUEFIELD STATE AT A GLANCE
The Big Blues are under the direction of first-year head coach Devin Hoehn who was a former standout at West Liberty and was most recently an assistant under former West Liberty head coach Jim Crutchfield at Nova Southeastern. Hoehn played for the Hilltoppers from 2013-17. When Concord upset WLU at the Carter Center in 2016 and 2017, the first-year coach, then a player, had 30 and 25 points, respectively. The first game of the season for Hoehn and BSC got away in the first half as it lost by 19 points to Salem. Against Edinboro, the Big Blues fell in overtime, 113-104. Marquez Cooper is averaging 21 points per game and is shooting 45 percent from the field. Landry Palata is posting 19.5 points per game.
