WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The No. 9 ranked West Liberty University men's basketball team will be home for the first time since December 10 tomorrow, hosting Glenville State in Mountain East Conference action.

THE BASICS
January 7, 2023 | 4:00 pm | ASRC (West Liberty, W.Va.)
Glenville State (7-5, 4-3 MEC) vs. #9 West Liberty (12-1, 7-0 MEC)
Live stats and video links will be available here.

THE HILLTOPPERS
After a thrilling win over No. 21 West Virginia State, 91-89, off a Bryce Butler game-winning shot in the last home game nearly a month ago, West Liberty went on the road for four straight games. The first loss of the season came in the opener of the DII Holiday Hoops Classic to Lubbock Christian (91-83), then three straight wins sends the Hilltoppers into the matchup with Glenville State.
 
Last time out the Black and Gold took down Concord (113-97) Wednesday night on the road in its first MEC matchup since the WVSU win. Six players scored in double figures for West Liberty, including Bryce Butler who had a game-high 21 points. The team shot 58% in the game, the best mark of the season, making 16 three-point shots and had 24 assists on their 40 made field goals. Runs of 18-2 and 15-2 in the first half built up the lead and West Liberty controlled it the rest of the way, as West Liberty extended their lead to as many as 22 points. Concord was held to just four three-point shots in the game.
 
West Liberty is second in the country scoring 100.1 points per game, behind Nova Southeastern's 106.6 per game. The 'Toppers are outscoring opponents by an average of 20 points per game and has won all but two of their games by double digits. WLU is shooting 49.2% from the floor and 37.2% from deep. The Black and Gold takes and makes the most three pointers per game in DII, hoisting 33.5 and making 12.5.
 
The Hilltoppers rank second in the nation in assists per game, at 22.7, and are fourth in turnovers forced (19.77) as well as turnover margin (+7.8). The Hilltoppers hold four of the top six spots in the MEC in assist-to-turnover ratio. Steve Cannady leads the conference at 3.91, while Christian Montague (2.89), Alek West (2.05), and Butler (1.77) all are in the top six.
 
On the glass, WLU is +2.4 in rebounding margin and averages 13.38 offensive boards per game.
 
Butler, a junior guard, made it seven straight games with 20-plus points and as the team's leading scorer after his 21 at Concord. The Latrobe, Pa native leads DII with 128 made field goals, ranks third in points per game (23.7), and is 15th with a 61.8% field goal percentage. He also leads the Hilltoppers on the glass averaging 7.0 rebounds per game. The reigning MEC Player of the Year has 11 games with 20-plus and a trio of 30-point games this season. Butler has posted three double-doubles with the most recent being a 25-point, 10-rebound outing at Charleston on December 7.  Butler has earned three MEC Player of the Week awards in addition to a D2CIDA National Player of the Week honor on December 13 after his game-winning basket went through with just five seconds remaining in the battle against West Virginia State.
 
Four players join Butler averaging double-digits. Malik McKinney (12.2), Steve Cannady (12.2), Christian Montague (10.8), and Ben Sarson (10.5) complete the starting five all above 10 points per game.
 
Montague has made multiple three pointers in 10 of the 13 games this season and is shooting 48.1% from deep. Off the bench, Zach Rasile leads the team averaging 2.31 threes per game and is scoring 9.9 points a game. Rasile, a sophomore guard, had his second straight double-digit game and seventh of the season on Wednesday with 12 points off of four three pointers.
 
A graduate transfer from Mercyhurst, Cannady is shooting 42% from deep and is converting 52.3% of his shots from the floor. He posted his ninth double-digit game last time out with three long balls. McKinney (52.0%) and Chaz Hinds (54.9%) also make over half their shot attempts. Hinds has hit two threes in back-to-back games and is shooting 60% from beyond the arc (12-for-20).
 
Sophomore forward Ben Sarson charted 16 points last time out and had three triples for the fifth time this season.
 
Nine players average double-digit minutes per game for the Black and Gold.
 
West Liberty is 6-0 this season inside the ASRC.


THE PIONEERS
Glenville State put up 100 points for the first time this season in a 100-76 rout of Wheeling at home on Wednesday night to make it four straight MEC wins for the Pioneers after losing their first three conference games to West Virginia State, Charleston, and Notre Dame. The four game win streak features an 88-83 road win at Fairmont State, the second ranked team in the MEC preseason poll.
 
Glenville State is 11^th in DII and fourth in the MEC averaging 88.3 points per game. They are shooting 45.9% from the floor and 34.2% from beyond the arc, averaging 9.6 three pointers per game. When getting to the line, GSU struggles converting only 66.5% of its attempts.
 
The Pioneers extend possessions on the offensive glass pulling down 14.38 o-boards per game, the seventh most in DII and most in the MEC.
 
Four players average double digits for Glenville State. Junior guard Jordan Turbo Smith leads the team at 19.2 points per game and is shooting 49.2% from the floor with a 37.8% mark from deep. Smith is third in the conference in points per game and has attempted the most three pointers, while making 3.08 triples per game, the second most in the MEC. Smith leads the defense as well with a conference leading 35 steals, the seventh most in DII.
 
Fellow juniors Freddie Word (16.1 ppg), Jacquez Yow (16.1 ppg), and Jamarvious Jones (10.8 ppg) round out the double-digit Pioneers. Yow, a 6'6" forward, leads the group with a 51.9% shooting percentage. Meanwhile, Word, a 6'1" guard, leads three Pioneers averaging six rebounds per game, at 6.9. Harrison Eghan (6.7) and Yow (6.2) are right behind and lead the offensive rebounding efforts with 38 and 28 on the season, respectively.
 
The Pioneers own a +4.1-turnover margin, the second best in the conference, forcing 17.6 turnovers per game.
 
In exhibition play, GSU battled Marshall on December 19 and lost 99-73.

THE SERIES
The Hilltoppers have won the last 16 meetings and the last 12 inside the ASRC. WLU has scored over 100 in eight of the last 10 wins, with 158 coming in the home win on November 17, 2018. West Liberty downed GSU 102-70 and 101-90 in the two matchups last season. The only loss over the last 12 seasons came at the 2015 MEC Tournament, 83-68. This will be the 147^th meeting between the teams, WLU owns a 75-71 all-time advantage.

NEXT UP
West Liberty will stay home to take on Frostburg State on Wednesday at 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.