Concord Opposes West Virginia State in MEC Quarterfinals

Concord Stats - West Virginia State Stats - Tournament Central - Tickets - Live Stats - Live Video - Complete Game Notes

ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University men's basketball team faces West Virginia State in the Mountain East Conference Tournament Quarterfinals 8:30 p.m. Friday at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, West Virginia.

LIVE COVERAGE
The Mountain East Conference in conjunction with WVMetroNews will have live streaming video of the games on mountaineast.tv or on MetroNews Television. Both the MEC and MetroNews have apps to access the broadcast on Smart TVs. Live statistics are being handled by the MEC. 

Live Stats
Live Video

LAST FIVE MEETINGS VERSUS WEST VIRGINIA STATE
February 26, 2025: West Virginia State 112 - Concord 111 (3OT) (Institute, W.Va.)
November 26, 2024: Concord 90 - West Virginia State 78 (Athens, W.Va.)
February 28, 2024: Concord 90 - West Virginia State 83 (Athens, W.Va.)
November 21, 2023: Concord 73 - West Virginia State 71 (Institute, W.Va.)
February 22, 2023: West Virginia State 90 - Concord 85 (Athens, W.Va.)

TOP HONORS
Earlier in the week, three Mountain Lions received recognition from the MEC. Junior guard Kollin Tolbert was voted as the MEC Player of the Year which was Concord's first conference player of the year since the 2004-05 season. Tolbert led the MEC in scoring during the regular season (21.3) and ranked top 20 in Division II. Tolbert also became the 42^nd member of the 1,000^th-point club at CU by surpassing 1,000 points against West Liberty February 22. Tolbert enters the conference tournament averaging 23.8 points in his last eight games while shooting 59.4 percent from the field. Junior forward Rene Diop was named the first-ever MEC Defensive Player of the Year as he enters the conference postseason leading the MEC in blocks with 62. His 2.4 blocks per game are top 10 nationally. And senior guard Corey Boston was selected to the All-MEC Second Team after finishing the regular season seventh in the MEC in scoring (16.9). This is the second straight season that CU has had three all-conference performers.

BRING ON THE RESERVES
In Concord's final regular season game of the year, a 96-78 loss to Glenville State, the CU bench tallied 34 points. It was the 10^th time this year that the Mountain Lions received 30 or more points from the second unit. Redshirt freshman guard Brendan Hoffman netted 13 points in 24 minutes off the bench. Over his last three games, Hoffman is netting 14 points per game—10 points above his season average—while shooting 57.6 percent from the field. Sophomore forward Boubacar Djigo added nine points and nine rebounds against Glenville State. Djigo has pulled down at least five rebounds in eight of his last 11 games, despite only playing more than 20 minutes five times in that span. Sophomore guard Georges Archer added eight points against Glenville State. CU is 7-3 this season when the bench scores at least 30 points.

THREE OVERTIME THRILLER
One of the three losses for the Mountain Lions when the reserves score at least 30 points came last Wednesday when CU lost 112-111 in triple overtime at West Virginia State. Concord's bench scored 37 points which was led by Djigo and Hoffman. Djigo had his second career double-double as he set career highs with 16 points and 22 rebounds. The 22 rebounds for Djigo at WVSU is tied for second most in an MEC game this season. Hoffman recorded his first career 20-point game as he netted 20 points on 9-for-15 shooting in a career-high 42 minutes. Also at West Virginia State, Boston threw in a career-best 35 points as he played 53 minutes. And junior forward Ken Sallee went for 21 points in his first career start. The Concord-West Virginia State game is just one of nine games in Division II to go at least three overtimes this season, and was CU's first such game since December 2015 versus West Virginia Wesleyan.

TAKING THE STING OUT
Before Concord dropped the triple overtime game to WVSU just over a week ago, the Maroon and Gray had won three straight games against the Yellow Jackets, including knocking off West Virginia State 90-78 at the Carter Center in late November. West Virginia State shoots 46 percent from the field for the season, but in each matchup this season the Mountain Lions have held WVSU to 40 percent shooting.  In three career games against West Virginia State, Tolbert is averaging 18.3 points per game while shooting 48.8 percent from the floor. Over the last three games, Diop has averages of 8.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.6 blocks against West Virginia State. Part of Concord's field-goal defense versus WVSU can be attributed to Concord coming up with 25 blocks in two games versus the Yellow Jackets.

WE'VE GOT POINTS
Concord enters the MEC Tournament averaging 88.2 points per game which is second in the MEC and 14^th in Division II. West Virginia State is third in the conference at 86.6 points per game which ranks 21^st in Division II. Both teams score a little differently though. The Mountain Lions get nearly 45 percent of their scoring from paint points. CU gets another 21 percent of its points from the foul line as the Mountain Lions rank second in the MEC in free throw attempts per game (24.8) and second in free-throw percentage (76.4). West Virginia State makes a living at the foul line as it shoots 30 free throws per game. The Yellow Jackets get 25 percent of their scoring from the charity stripe. Concord was 55-for-69 (79.7 percent) at the charity stripe in two games versus West Virginia State this season. WVSU was just 56-for-87 (64.3 percent) at the foul line against CU.

IN A DIFFERENT SETTING
Friday will be the 92^nd all-time meeting between Concord and West Virginia State with the Mountain Lions holding a 50-41 series advantage. Two mainstays at the top of the MEC over the last decade, Concord and West Virginia State will meet for the first time in MEC Tournament history. Friday's nightcap of the quarterfinal round at WesBanco Arena will be the first time the two teams meet in a tournament setting since the first round of the 2003 West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) Tournament. Concord is 3-0 all-time at the MEC Tournament as the four seed (CU's championship season in 2016), the same seed it has this season. West Virginia State is the fifth seed for a second straight MEC Tournament, having defeated Fairmont State last season in the quarterfinals.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
3- Times in program history that CU has had three players in the same season on the all-conference teams.

45- Combined ties (25) and lead changes (20) in two games between Concord and West Virginia State this year.

69- Single-game rebounding program record that Concord set at West Virginia State last week. Djigo had 22 rebound with freshman forward Kraig Gilbert adding a career-best 13 boards.

WEST VIRGINIA STATE AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 15-12
MEC Record: 11-9
Home Record: 9-4
Away Record: 6-8

SCOUTING THE YELLOW JACKETS
Miguel Martinez hit the buzzer-beater three-pointer versus Concord last Wednesday, one of his team-best 43 three-pointers on the season. Jae Slack, an All-MEC First Team player, was one of two All-MEC players for WVSU. Slack is top five in the MEC in scoring at 18.1 points per game, but CU has held Slack to 9-for-33 from the floor in two games. Arthur Cox made All-MEC Honorable Mention as he averaged 12 points and six rebounds per game for the Yellow Jackets. West Virginia State had a five-game winning streak snapped at Charleston to finish the regular season.