West Liberty, W.Va. – The No. 22 West Liberty University men's basketball team will face off against a former MEC foe to conclude the 2023 calendar year, hosting UVA Wise on Saturday afternoon. The Hilltoppers and Cavaliers will meet as non-conference opponents for the first time in series history as they tip-off at 4 p.m. inside the ASRC.

GAME DETAILS

• Location: West Liberty, W.Va. (Academic Sports & Recreation Complex "ASRC")
• Tip-Off: 4 P.M.

#22 WEST LIBERTY STORYLINES

• West Liberty enters Saturday's game with a record of 8-3 (4-1 MEC) following losses to (RV) Dominican (112-101) and No. 20 Angelo State (101-98) at the Daytona Beach Shootout on December 17 and 18.
• The Hilltoppers lead NCAA Division II in assists per game (24.2) and 3-point attempts per game (35.3). They also rank second in bench points per game (46.45), 3-pointers per game (12.5), and turnover margin (+11.1), and rank third in assist/turnover ratio (1.97), scoring offense (101.5), and turnovers forced per game (23.36).
• Joining the Hilltoppers in the top-4 scoring offenses in DII are three teams with ties back to the hilltop and their unique style of play. Gannon (116.0 ppg) is led by Jordan Fee who played at WLU from 2010-12, Nova Southeastern (108.4 ppg) is led by former WLU head coach Jim Crutchfield who was on the sidelines from 2004-17, and Coker (97.8 ppg) who is led by Mike Lamberti who played for WLU from 2011-16 and was an assistant coach from 2018-23.
• Since 2010 the Black & Gold have posted the best overall winning percentage in NCAA basketball (415-53, .887) and have the best home winning percentage (225-10, .957).
• West Liberty fell to No. 22 in the NABC Division II Coaches Poll on Thursday, December 21, after suffering back-to-back losses for the first time since January of 2021 when they fell in three consecutive games prior to making an Elite Eight run later that postseason.
• Through 11 games WLU is averaging 101.5 points, 37.5 rebounds, 24.2 assists, 13.6 steals, and 3.1 blocks per game, while shooting the ball 47.7 percent from the field, 35.3 percent from 3-point range, and 72.8 percent from the free throw line.
• A total of five players for the Hilltoppers are averaging double figures in scoring, led by Christian Montague with 13.6 points and Zach Rasile with 12.4 points per game. John Korte adds 11.6 points per game while Chaz Hinds and Dante Spadafora each score 11.5 and 10.5 points per game respectively. Montague and Rasile each have a pair of games with 20 or more points in 2023-24.
• Hinds, who ranks fifth in the MEC in both total 3-pointers made and 3-pointers per game, has knocked down a team-best 26 shots from beyond the arc with an average of 2.36 per game and is 26-of-67 (38.8%) on the year. Montague and Spadafora have the two best shooting percentages from deep on the team, going 24-of-50 (48.0%) and 25-of-54 (46.3%) respectively.
• The Hilltoppers have made a 3-pointer in 802 consecutive games, a streak dating back to November 14, 1999. In their last outing against Angelo State, WLU knocked down a season-high of 17 shots from beyond the arc.
• Ben Sarson is averaging a team-high 4.5 rebounds per game this year while Alek West and Finley Woodward add 4.3 and 4.2 rebounds per game.
• Montague ranks 22^nd in DII dishing out 57 total assists and is 29^th in the country with an average of 5.2 assists per game. Montague has tallied five or more assists in eight games, including a season high of seven on three occasions.
• West's 4.50 assist/turnover ratio ranks fourth in DII as he has dished out 36 assists compared to only eight turnovers. Montague also ranks 18^th nationally with a 3.17 assist/turnover ratio, totaling 57 assists compared to 18 turnovers.
• The WLU defense is spearheaded by Spadafora and Montague who rank sixth and 18^th nationally with 30 and 26 total steals and are 11^th and 28^th nationally with 2.73 and 2.36 steals per game respectively. Montague has nine games of two or more steals while Spadafora has eight, which includes three five steal games for Spadafora and one for Montague.
• Sarson and Korte have made it difficult for opponents to get their shot attempts off this season, tallying 1.1 blocks per game apiece. Sarson, who ranks eighth in the MEC with 12 total blocks, has recorded two or more blocks on four occasions.
• Ben Howlett is in his seventh season as the head coach at West Liberty with a career record of 169-28 (.858) with the Hilltoppers. He holds the second-best winning percentage of coaches with a minimum of five years of experience across all NCAA divisions, following only his predecessor Jim Crutchfield (current head coach at Nova Southeastern) who recently won his 500^th career game and is 504-82 (.860).

UVA WISE STORYLINES

• UVA Wise enters Saturday's game with a record of 6-5 (2-2 SAC) following a 79-76 loss at home to Chowan on Monday, December 18.
• The Cavaliers rank within the top-25 of NCAA Division II in _ statistical categories, ranking ninth in effective field goal percentage (59.4%), 13^th in assists per game (18.7), 15^th in 3-point attempts per game (28.3) and 3-pointers per game (10.6), and 20^th in assist/turnover ratio (1.46) and field goal percentage (50.5%).
• Through the first 11 games of the season the Cavs are averaging 82.7 points, 33.2 rebounds, 18.7 assists, 8.5 steals, and 3.0 blocks per game while shooting the ball 50.5 percent from the field, 37.6 percent from 3-point range, and 69.1 percent from the free throw line.
• Four Cavaliers average double figures scoring, led by Zion Fruster who ranks eighth in the SAC with 17.2 points per game. Zy'Ever Wingfield, Patrick Shelley, and Carmelo Pacheco each add 12.8, 12.2, and 12.1 points per game respectively. Six UVA Wise athletes have scored 20 or more points in a game this year, with Fruster leading the way with three games and Pacheco has two.
• Pacheco ranks fourth in the conference and 47^th nationally with a 44.2 shooting percentage from 3-point range, going 23-of-52 from beyond the arc this season. He has made a shot from deep in all nine games he has played and has connected on three or more shots on four different occasions.
• Joe'l Pettiford has grabbed a team-high 5.5 rebounds per game this season for the Cavs, securing double digit rebounds in two games in 2023-24. He has one double-double, going for ten points and 11 rebounds in a home win over Carolina.
• Shelley and Fruster are the facilitators of the UVA Wise offense, dishing out 3.8 and 3.4 assists per game respectively that ranks sixth and ninth in the SAC. Shelley's 12 assists in the Cavaliers' home win over Carolina is tied for the fifth most in a game by a player in DII this season.
• Shelley's 2.11 assist/turnover ratio is fourth in the conference this year, as he has dished out 38 total assists (fifth in the SAC) compared to 18 turnovers.
• On the defensive side of the ball, Fruster ranks 27^th nationally with 2.40 steals per game and is 34^th with 24 total steals. He has collected two or more steals in six games, including seven in a home win over Newberry which is tied for the fourth most in a game by a player in DII this season.
• Pettiford is the rim protector for the Cavs, ranking fourth in the SAC with 11 total blocks on the year and is averaging 1.0 block per game. He has twice posted two or more blocks in a game in 2023-24.
• Blake Mellinger is in his 11^th season as the head coach at UVA Wise, posting a career record of 89-199 during his time with the Cavaliers. Last year he led the Cavs to their first winning season and most wins since becoming a DII member with a 19-12 (9-9 SAC) mark in 2022-23.

SERIES HISTORY

• With all prior meetings occurring as MEC foes, West Liberty leads the all-time series 12-0.
• The Hilltoppers defeated the Cavaliers 112-100 in their final meeting as conference opponents on February 7, 2019, in Wise, Virginia.
• WLU has scored 100 or more points in nine of the 12 prior match-ups.