WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The No. 22 ranked West Liberty University men's basketball team begins a two-game road stretch Saturday at West Virginia Wesleyan.

THE BASICS
January 27, 2023 | 4 pm | Rockefeller Center (Buckhannon, W.Va.)
#22 West Liberty (16-3, 11-2 MEC) at West Virginia Wesleyan (2-15, 2-11 MEC)
Live stats and video links will be available here.

THE HILLTOPPERS
West Liberty broke open a five-point game at the half with a 30-point second half margin rolling to a 104-69 victory over Davis & Elkins Wednesday night. Bryce Butler led five 'Toppers in double digits with a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double while going 7-for-11 from the field. Redshirt freshman Dante Spadafora had his first double digit game (12 points) in the Black and Gold with four three pointers, all in the second half, while Alek West and Zach Rasile had 11 apiece to lead the Hilltopper reserves, who accounted for over half of the teams points (54). Ben Sarson added 10 points and freshman Finley Woodward also scored a career-best nine points. West Liberty drained 20 three pointers, 15 of which came in the second half, finishing the night shooting 51.3% from deep, while holding D&E to just five makes from deep. WLU tied a season-high with 33 assists on 38 made field goals. The Hilltoppers forced 27 turnovers, the most since November and third most in a game this season. They converted the 27 Senator cough ups into 33 points, scoring 21 of those 33 in the second half. Out of the locker room, West Liberty flipped the switch scoring 15 of the first 17 points and never let it get back within double digits cruising to the conference win in front of the home crowd.
 
The Hilltoppers are in the top five in Division II in eight statistical categories. They lead the country in three pointers per game (12.8), three-point attempts per game (33.7), and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.86). They are second in scoring offense (99.5 points per game) and assists per game (22.9) Then, WLU ranks third in turnovers forced per game (19.53) and turnover margin (+7.2), while ranking fifth in steals per game (10.6). The Hilltoppers have forced 20 or more turnovers seven times this season.
 
West Liberty is shooting 49.1% from the field and 37.9% from beyond the arc, meanwhile opponents are converting at a 49.0% rate from the field and 35.2% from deep. The Hilltoppers have drained double-digit threes in 14 outings and had their third 20-three game on Wednesday night. They have held opponents to single digit three pointers in 15 of the 19 games.
 
Bryce Butler leads all of DII with 180 made field goals and is shooting 60.2% from the floor. He is atop the MEC and fourth in DII averaging 23.1 points per game. Butler had netted 20-plus in three straight games and 12 of the last 13 games. He is coming off his sixth double-double of the season, scoring 20 points with 10 rebounds in the win over D&E. Butler has scored double-digits in every game this season with 16 games above 20 and three 30-point outings. The junior guard has also had an assist in every game dishing out 3.6 per game (second on the team) including four in each of the last three games.
 
Six Hilltoppers average double-digit points per game. Malik McKinney (12.4), Christian Montague (12.1), Steve Cannady (11.3), Ben Sarson (10.2), and Zach Rasile (10.1) all join Butler. McKinney (53.7%), Cannady (50%), and Butler (60.2%) are all making over half their shots.
 
Montague has scored double digits in seven of the last eight games and went over 1,000 career points between Walsh and West Liberty with a career-high 26 points versus Frostburg State on January 11. He has made multiple threes in seven of the last nine games and is second on the team, averaging 2.21 triples per game. Montague leads the team averaging 4.1 assists per game and has had four-plus in six straight. He ranks second in the MEC with a 2.69 assist-to-turnover ratio.
 
Cannady scored a season-high 22 points with four three pointers at Wheeling last Saturday. He has dished out four assists in each of the last three games, now on a five-game streak with multiple assists. Cannady leads the conference and ranks 18th in DII with a 2.90 assist-to-turnover ratio.
 
Rasile is fifth in the MEC averaging 2.42 three pointers per game shooting 45.1% from deep. The sophomore guard recorded his third straight double digit game on Wednesday with 11 points draining three long balls. He has tied his career-high with five triples three times this season. Rasile also tied his career-high with three steals on Wednesday.
 
6'6" forward Ben Sarson has been in double digits in three of four games since returning to the 'Topper lineup after being out for two games.
 
McKinney leads the team from the free throw line making 3.3 per game and shooting 78.8% from the stripe.
 
West is seventh in the MEC and leads the squad averaging 1.63 assists per game. He also is third in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.44) dishing out an average of 3.2 assists per game. West scored his third double-digit game of the season with 11 points off of three long balls on Wednesday, along with a game-high five assists. He has dished out four-plus assists in three straight games.
 
Nine Hilltoppers average over 10 minutes per game with Butler leading all players, at 29.6 minutes on the court.
 
West Liberty is 5-2 on the road, with all but one win being a conference game. On Saturdays WLU is 6-3, featuring a 4-2 MEC Saturday record.

THE BOBCATS
West Virginia Wesleyan has lost back-to-back games and is coming off an 82-55 loss at Wheeling on Wednesday. The Bobcats two wins this season came in the first matchup against Wheeling (89-87) and most recently on January 18 versus Frostburg State (81-71). Both wins have come on their home court.
 
The Bobcats are scoring 61.5 points per game and allowing 87.5, while shooting 38.5% from the floor and opponents are netting 51.8% of their shots. Beyond the arc, WVWC is making 5.2 threes per game and shooting 28.3%. Opponents are draining 41.8% of their three-point attempts against the Bobcats. West Virginia Wesleyan is third in the conference and 22^nd in DII in steals per game (9.1), while ranking second and 27^th in turnovers forced per game (16.67). However, Bobcats still have a -1.3-turnover margin.
 
Darius Green ranks seventh in the MEC scoring 17.8 points per game. Green also leads the team on the boards, at 6.4 rebounds per game, with just over a quarter of his rebounds coming on the offensive end. Tyler Stone leads the three-point shooting with an average of two triples per game and is scoring 11.9 points per outing. Anthony Craven Jr. rounds out three Bobcats averaging double digits, at 10.7 points per game.
 
West Virginia Wesleyan is 2-5 inside the Rockefeller Center this season.

THE SERIES
The Hilltoppers own a 75-67 all-time advantage in a series that began in 1934-35. WLU has won each of the last five meetings and 24 of the last 25. Earlier this season, the Black and Gold dominated Wesleyan, 121-54. Zach Rasile and Christian Montague led the team with 19 points each, and four other players scored in double figures. The team had 10 players in the scoring column at halftime and shot 52.4% from beyond the arc in the first half. They also assisted on 33 of their 47 made field goals, both season highs, and made 20 three pointers. WLU held Wesleyan to 34.3% field goal percentage. The Hilltoppers defense forced 29 turnovers, featuring a season-high 21 steals, which were converted into 41 points.
 
MEC STANDINGS
West Liberty: T1
West Virginia Wesleyan: 11
Full Standings click here.

NEXT UP
West Liberty is on the road at West Virginia State on Wednesday, a team which the Hilltoppers beat in the final seconds in December at home.

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