WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The #10 ranked West Liberty University men's basketball team is back in the eastern time zone and set to take on Bowie State on the road on New Year's Eve in its first action in 13 days.

THE BASICS
December 31, 2022 | 4:00 pm | A.C. Jordan Arena
#10 West Liberty (10-1, 6-0) at Bowie State (4-10, 2-1 CIAA)
Live coverage will be available here.

THE HILLTOPPERS
West Liberty suffered its first loss of the season in Las Vegas, 91-83 to Lubbock Christian, but bounced back with a 96-88 win over Missouri S&T on December 18. In the Las Vegas opener, West Liberty started strong and held a lead until it went cold late, ending the game 2-for-18 over the final seven minutes resulting in its first defeat. The following day, WLU jumped ahead 12-2 and never trailed, keeping the advantage at six points or more the entire second half and led by double figures for 14 of the final 15 minutes.
 
Junior guard Bryce Butler earned his third MEC Player of the Week honor of the season after leading the team in scoring for the fifth straight game. Butler was coming off a national and conference POW the previous week. The Latrobe, Pa native leads the country with 112 field goals made on the season and is third in DII at an average of 24 points per game, atop the MEC. He also leads the team on the glass, pulling in 6.9 rebounds per game and is third in the conference on the offensive end, at 2.45 per game. Butler has totaled three double-doubles on the season, has scored double figures in each game and has three games with 30-plus featuring a season-high 35 in the win over Cal (Pa) on opening weekend.
 
Four players join Butler averaging double-digits. Steve Canady (12.2), Malik McKinney (12.0), Christian Montague (10.5), and Ben Sarson (10.3) complete the starting five all above 10 points per game. Off the bench, Zach Rasile drains 41.8% of his threes and nets 9.4 points per game. Montague (48.9%) and Cannady (42.9%) also convert at an elite rate beyond the arc.
 
The Hilltoppers rank #1 in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio, at 1.91 and averages 23.1 assists per game. Cannady leads DII in assist-to-turnover ratio, at 4.62. Montague (2.94) and Alek West (2.12) also are in the top-four in the MEC.
 
West Liberty also leads the country in three-point attempts per game (33.5) and makes the second most (11.9). The 'Toppers are second in DII scoring 98.6 points per game and average a 20.2 point win. They are shooting 48.1% as a team from the floor, 35.5% from deep, and 72.2% from the line.
 
The hectic pressure creates 20.27 opponent turnovers per game, the fifth most in DII, and 11.5 steals, the second most. West leads the team with 21 swipes. West Liberty owns a +8.1 turnover margin.
 
Eight players average over 14 minutes per game for the Black and Gold.

THE BULLDOGS
Bowie State had its first winning streak of the season snapped in its last outing on December 19 at Winston-Salem State, 75-62, after the Bulldogs picked up a pair of CIAA wins to start conference play. In the non-conference, Bowie State played one like opponent on the Hilltoppers schedule, Shepherd, who BSU lost 66-55 to. In the season opener, Bowie State downed MEC opponent Frostburg State, 94-79.
 
The Bulldogs score an average of 71.1 points per game and allow 76.1. They are shooting 44.3% from the field and 33.3% from deep. Bowie State defends the three well, with an opponent three-point percentage of 30.7%. BSU calls it nearly a wash in the turnover department with a -0.5 margin and is at a slight disadvantage on the boards with a -4.9-rebounding margin. From the free throw line, Bowie State converts 70.9% of their 18.4 attempts per game.
 
Junior point guard Mark Bradshaw leads the team scoring 13.6 points per game, while Quinton Drayton, a 6'5" senior guard, also nets double figures at 10.9 a game. Bradshaw (43.4%) and Warren Mouganda (42.9%) lead the outside shooting, while 6'10" center Elijah Rantin converts down low at a 58.1% rate.

THE SERIES
The Hilltoppers have won both previous matchups against Bowie State. This will be the first road trip to Bowie in program history. Last season, WLU downed the Bulldogs 108-85, and 114-82 in the first round of the 2013 DII Atlantic Regional.

NEXT UP
West Liberty will return to conference play on Wednesday with a road trip to Concord. Tip off is slated for 7:30 pm.

Follow Hilltopper basketball all season online at HilltopperSports.com and on Twitter (@WLU_Hoops | @WLathletics), Instagram (@wlu_mbb | @wlu_athletics), and Facebook.