Concord Looks for Third Straight Road Win at Wheeling, Plays Host to Top-Five Ranked West Liberty

Concord Stats - Wheeling Stats - West Liberty Stats - Live Audio - Live Stats - Live Video - Complete Game Notes

ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University men's basketball team makes a trip to West Virginia's northern panhandle to face Wheeling 7:30 p.m. Wednesday before returning home to host nationally-ranked West Liberty at the Carter Center in two Mountain East Conference games.

LIVE COVERAGE
Audio: Jason Reed and Steve Cox will provide live radio play-by-play of Saturday's game with West Liberty on 94.5 "Willie" FM and streaming online at www.mywillie.com
Stats: The Concord and Wheeling University Sports Information Departments will provide statistics of both games this week. 
Video: Live streaming of the games involving Concord will be provided throughout the week

RECORDS
Concord is 10-11 this season and 8-8 in the MEC after a narrow 82-80 defeat by nationally-rated Fairmont State.

Wheeling is 7-15 overall and sports an MEC mark of 6-10.

West Liberty is 20-2 overall and is 14-2 in the MEC as WLU has a national rank of fourth.

FAST START
CU had a blistering start from three-point range against Fairmont State as it led by seven points at halftime against the nationally-ranked Fighting Falcons. Concord made eight three-pointers in the opening 20 minutes as the Mountain Lions were one triple shy of its season high for three-pointers in a half, previously set in the first halves at home against Wheeling and Notre Dame. This season, CU is shooting 39.4 percent from three-point range in the opening half of games as opposed to 33.3 percent in the second half. On Saturday, the Mountain Lions were 8-of-16 from three-point range in the first half, but shot just 5-for-18 from beyond the arc in the second half. Concord is averaging 10.4 three three-pointers per game, 15^th in Division II. The 61 three-pointers made by CU over the last five games are the most in a five-game stretch since December 2018 when it knocked in 66.

MULTIPLE OPTIONS
For a second straight game, the Mountain Lions had four double-digit scorers as senior guard Matt Weir led the way versus Fairmont State with 16 points and five assists with no turnovers. Freshman forward Amare Smith netted 13 points, aided by a career-high three three-pointers, to go along with a career-best seven rebounds. Fifth-year senior forward Lual Daniel Rahama tossed in 12 points and junior guard Ethan Heller added 10 points. Furthermore, seven of the eight players that saw time for CU on Saturday scored at least eight points in the contest. It marked the second time this season that Concord had at least seven players with eight or more points. Previously, Concord had seven players with at least eight points in a 90-69 victory over D'Youville. The top scorer in that contest was a three-way tie between Heller, freshman guard Darius Parham and Rahama all with 12.

SEEKING A SWEEP
CU will go after a season sweep of Wheeling Wednesday night while looking to pick up a third-straight road win. The Mountain Lions won 92-84 over the Cardinals January 8 at the Carter Center as it set a season high for points scored. Weir had 22 points and six assists while junior forward Jevon Laidler posted his first career game in double figures with 18 points. The 52.2 percent that the Mountain Lions shot from the field marked one of four times this season that Concord has shot over 50 percent. CU clipped Wheeling 74-73 on the road last season as Heller led the way with 23 points on 8-for-13 shooting. Senior guard Brandon Kennedy added eight points.. CU has never won back-to-back games at Wheeling. In fact, last year's win at WU was just the third time Concord has won inside the McDonough Center (February 2021, January 2019, February 2007).

UPSET SPECIAL
Saturday will mark the 10^th time in 11 years that West Liberty visits the Carter Center when it is ranked in the top 10 of the national polls. Last season, the Mountain Lions picked off WLU when it was rated fourth nationally, 91-83. Two hallmarks of the upset were Concord outrebounding West Liberty 33-26 and CU's defense holding the Hilltoppers to five made three-pointers. It was the first time in 132 games that West Liberty had been held to five or fewer triples in a game. In West Liberty's 85-67 win over Concord earlier this season, WLU was held to seven three-pointers, but outrebounded Concord 49-28. Kennedy was also vital to the upset last season as he was asked to guard West Liberty All-American Dalton Bolon, turning him over seven times. Concord only made seven three-pointers in the upset, but scored 38 points in the paint and connected on 26-of-34 foul shots. The Maroon and Gray is 5-37 all-time versus ranked teams, but all five victories have come against West Liberty with three in the last seven seasons.

KNOCK EM DOWN
Speaking of free throws, they could loom large in both games this week. For starters, Wheeling leads the MEC in foul shooting at 78.6 percent which is also 12^th in Division II. Earlier this season, WU shot 13-of-15 at the foul line at the Carter Center. CU connected on all eight of its free throw tries versus the Cardinals. Though Concord is just 69.2 percent from the charity stripe as a team, the Mountain Lions have made 70 percent or better from the free-throw line in six consecutive games. And with the aggressive pressing style of West Liberty, the Hilltoppers commit 20.5 fouls per game and send the opponent to the foul line 24 times per contest on average. In two of the last five games for WLU, the opponents—Alderson-Broaddus and Charleston—have got to the free-throw line at least 40 times. West Liberty's opponents are shooting 71 percent at the foul line this season.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
4- Three-pointers needed by Kennedy to move past Brian Foster for 18^th on the career made three-pointers list at CU. He starts the week with 129.

12- Points that Kennedy and the Concord defense held Wheeling's leading scorer, Jordan Reid, to in January on 3-of-10 shooting.

26- Number of made free throws for CU last season versus West Liberty were the most in a game since making 27 at WLU in January 2019.

WHEELING AT A GLANCE
Wheeling is an even 4-4 at home this season, but is coming off a loss to Charleston 86-70 last Wednesday at the McDonough Center. Though Reid was held in check by the Mountain Lions in Athens, Jarret Haines scored a game-best 33 points in the eight-point defeat. Both are in the top 10 in scoring this season in the MEC with Reid averaging 19.3 points per game and Haines adding 17.3 points per contest. The Cardinals rank second in the MEC in three-point defense at 32.6 percent, behind CU at 30.8 percent this season.

WEST LIBERTY AT A GLANCE
The Hilltoppers are just one of two teams in the MEC that shoot over 50 percent from the floor this season. West Liberty is first in Division II in scoring offense with 98.9 points per game and the Hilltoppers are just one of three teams in the country averaging at least 20 assists per game. Bryce Butler, who is West Liberty's second-leading scorer with 17.5 points per game, tallied 19 points on 8-for-13 shooting against Concord earlier this season. Pat Robinson's 20.1 points per game are fifth in the MEC. Of the 49 rebounds for WLU in the first meeting this season, 18 came on the offensive glass.