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Complete Game Notes
ATHENS, W.Va. - After seeing its 10-game win streak end at West Liberty Saturday afternoon, the Concord University basketball team looks to rebound as it plays its final home game of the regular season against West Virginia State at the Carter Center 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in a Mountain East Conference tilt.
LIVE COVERAGE
The Concord University Sports Information Department will have live in-game statistics and live video of Wednesday's game.Â
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SERIES HISTORY: Concord leads 48-40
LAST FIVE MEETINGS VERSUS WEST VIRGINIA STATE
November 21, 2023: Concord 73 - West Virginia State 71 (Institute, W.Va.)
February 22, 2023: West Virginia State 90 - Concord 85 (Athens, W.Va.)
November 22, 2022: West Virginia State 85 - Concord 80 (Institute, W.Va.)
February 23, 2022: West Virginia State 101 - Concord 94 (OT) (Institute, W.Va.)
November 29, 2021: Concord 81 - West Virginia State 79 (OT) (Athens, W.Va.)
CONCORD AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 20-5
MEC Record: 13-5
Home Record: 10-2
Away Record: 9-3
Neutral Record: 1-0
ROLLING DOUBLES
In the 89-76 setback on the road, Concord received a double-double from sophomore guard
Kollin Tolbert as he totaled 16 points and 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. Tolbert extended CU's streak to four games with at least one player with a double-double. Senior guard
JJ Harper (21 points, 10 rebounds) versus Wheeling, sophomore forward
Rene Diop (14 points, 10 rebounds) at Davis & Elkins and Diop (17 points, 11 rebounds) and fifth-year senior forward
Jevon Laidler (10 points, 10 rebounds) versus West Virginia Wesleyan have also had double-doubles in the last handful of games. The last time CU had two or more players record a double-double in four straight games was during the 2015-16 season when Terry Hopewell, Babe Murphy and Jametrius Wade had double-doubles in a four-game stretch from January 25-February 4, 2016.
DIOP DROP
Diop had a career day in Saturday's contest as he went for a career-best 26 points, making a career-high nine shots in just 10 attempts. He also connected on a single-game high eight free throws. Diop's 26 points were the most for a CU center since Hopewell had 26 points versus West Liberty January 3, 2015. Diop has finished in double figures in six consecutive games as he is averaging 17.0 points per game in that stretch. Diop has shot at least 60 percent in nine consecutive games, including 75 percent or better in seven of those contests. The Dakar, Senegal native is shooting 64.2 percent for the season, but is making 77.0 percent of his attempts (57-for-74) over the last nine games.
HIGH QUALITY SHOTS
With Diop's ability to find shots around the rim, the Mountain Lions have shot 47 percent or better from the floor in four straight games and seven of their last eight contests. The last time CU shot 47 percent or better in four consecutive games was from January 18-30, 2016. Other than Diop, Tolbert is shooting the ball at a 55.6 percent clip (17-for-30) in the last four games. Laidler has hit on 51.4 percent from the field (18-of-35) in the last four, and Harper has made 51.1 percent of his looks (23-for-45). The Maroon and Gray is 11-2 this season when it shoots at least 45 percent from the floor. West Virginia State allows teams to shoot 43.4 percent from the field, fourth best in the MEC this season.
FIND A WAY
Trailing by 11 points at halftime and still down 12 points with 12:30 left in the game, Concord stormed back to defeat West Virginia State 73-71 on November 21. Laidler scored 17 points. Junior forward
Amare Smith added 16 points, including two go-ahead free throws with 1:15 remaining. Smith also blocked a potential game-winning layup by WVSU with two seconds left to help secure the win. Tolbert recorded a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds. Senior guard
Jordan Wooden netted 11 points. And CU received seven points and five rebounds from freshman forward
Boubacar Djigo in eight minutes off the bench. Both teams made four three-pointers and scored nine points at the foul line, but Concord owned a decisive 20-6 advantage in second-change points. The 22 points that CU held West Virginia State to in the second half in November is the lowest-scoring half of the year for WVSU.
DOWN TO THE WIRE
The closely-contested November game between Concord and the Yellow Jackets has become the norm when the two MEC rivals get together. The last five meetings have been decided by a total of 21 points with two of those games going to overtime. WVSU won both games last season by five points each, 85-80 and 90-85. West Virginia State won in overtime at home in February 2022 while CU collected an 81-79 victory over the Yellow Jackets in November 2021. Smith is averaging just under 10 points per game in his career versus West Virginia State, 9.6, but has scored in double figures in three of the last four games. Laidler has recorded three consecutive double-digit scoring games versus WVSU, including 18 points to go with nine rebounds at home last season.
GOOD ON GOOD
One of the best offenses in the MEC meets one of the best defenses in the league on Wednesday night. West Virginia State is second in the conference in both points per game (87.6) and field-goal percentage (47.3). Concord possesses the conference's third-best scoring defense (75.5) and the MEC's best defensive field-goal percentage (41.1). Since January 13, a span of 13 games, West Virginia State has made 45 percent of its field goals in 11 games. Defensively, Concord has held 10 of its last 15 opponents at or below 42 percent shooting. The Mountain Lions are 15-1 this winter when holding the opposition under 80 points. West Virginia State is 16-4 when scoring 80 or more in 2023-24.
INSIDEÂ THE NUMBERS
13- Concord held a plus-13 advantage on the glass (47-34) at West Virginia State earlier this season, including 19 offensive rebounds.
14- Largest deficit that CU faced at West Virginia State, the third straight season winning a game that it trailed by 10 or more points.
20- Lead changes at West Liberty, marking the second time this year that Concord has been caught up in a game with 20 or more lead changes—previously 23 lead changes in the win over Fairmont State.
WEST VIRGINIA STATE AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 18-7
MEC Record: 13-5
Home Record: 9-4
Away Record: 8-2
Neutral Record: 1-1
SCOUTING THE YELLOW JACKETS
One of the favorites for MEC Player of the Year, Anthony Pittman, is second in the league in scoring (18.3), first in steals (2.3), third in rebounding (7.5), third in field-goal percentage (49.4) and eighth in free-throw shooting (80.0). Arthur Cox (13.0), Nate Mims (11.6), Miguel Martinez (11.3) and Mahzi Thames (10.6) all average double figures along with Pittman. WVSU made a single-game program record 22 three-pointers versus West Virginia Wesleyan Saturday. Martinez has made 47 percent (47-for-100) of his triple tries this year.
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