WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The No. 12/11 ranked West Liberty University men's basketball team is looking for its fifth straight win and a season sweep Wednesday night on the road at Glenville State.

THE BASICS
February 8, 2023 | 7:30 pm | Waco Center (Glenville, W.Va.)
#12/11 West Liberty (19-3, 14-2 MEC) at Glenville State (13-9, 9-7 MEC)
Live stats and video links will be available here.

THE HILLTOPPERS
West Liberty rolled past Charleston to keep hold of the top of the MEC standings on Saturday, 94-77, in front of its home crowd. The Hilltoppers took control of the game early and never trailed, scoring the first six points and leading by 16-plus for the entire second half. Bryce Butler led West Liberty with 17 points, while Christian Montague (12), Ben Sarson (11), and Steve Cannady (10) each scored in double digits. WLU posted consistent numbers with 18 made shots and five three-pointers in both halves.
 
The Hilltoppers are in the top five in Division II in nine statistical categories. They lead the country in three pointers per game (12.9), three-point attempts per game (33.8), and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.92). WLU ranks second in scoring offense (99.8 points per game) and assists per game (23.0). Then, is third in turnovers forced per game (19.50) and turnover margin (+7.5), while ranking fourth in scoring margin (+18.1) and fifth in steals per game (10.6). The Hilltoppers have forced 20 or more turnovers 10 times this season including three of the last four games.
 
West Liberty is shooting 49.2% from the field and 38.2% from beyond the arc, meanwhile opponents are converting at a 48.6% rate from the field and 34.4% from deep. The Hilltoppers have drained double-digit threes in 17 outings and have had three games with 20-plus triples. They have held opponents to single digit three pointers in 18 of the 22 games, including three of the last four.
 
WLU has scored over 100-plus 11 times this season including four of the last five games, while recording 15 of its 19 wins by double digits.
 
Bryce Butler leads all of DII with 204 made field goals and is shooting 60.7% from the floor. He is atop the MEC and sixth in DII averaging 22.6 points per game. Butler has six double-doubles on the season and has scored double-digits in every game with 17 games above 20 and three 30-point outings. The junior guard also leads the team on the glass pulling in 7.4 rebounds per game and has had an assist in every game dishing out 3.8 per game (second on the team). Butler is a four-time MEC Player of the Week and was named the D2CIDA National Player of the Week on December 13 after his game-winning shot over WVSU at home.
 
Five Hilltoppers average double-digit points per game. Malik McKinney (12.2), Christian Montague (12.0), Steve Cannady (11.4), and Ben Sarson (10.5) all join Butler. McKinney (53.5%) and Butler (61.0%) are both making over half their shots.
 
Montague has scored double digits in 10 of the last 11 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 six of the last eight games and is second on the team, averaging 2.18 triples per game, while shooting a team-best 47.1% from three. Montague leads the team averaging 3.9 assists per game and has had four-plus in six of the last seven. He is atop the conference leaderboard with a 2.85 assist-to-turnover ratio.
 
Four 'Toppers are in the top-five in the MEC in assist-to-turnover ratio, Cannady (2^nd – 2.72), Alek West (3^rd – 2.52), and Butler (5^th – 1.98) are behind Montague's number one ranking.
 
Cannady, a graduate transfer from Mercyhurst, scored a season-high 22 points with four three pointers in the loss at Wheeling and has netted double digits in four of the last five. He will look to tie his longest streak of double-digit games with four in a row in Glenville. Cannady has posted 10-plus 13 times in his first season dawning the Black and Gold. He has dished out multiple assists in eight straight games. Cannady dishes out 3.1 assists per game and ranks fifth in the MEC in steals per game (1.59).
 
Rasile is fifth in the MEC averaging 2.36 three pointers per game shooting 44.4% from deep. The sophomore guard has drained multiple threes in seven of the last eight games and tied his career-high with five triples three times this season. Rasile also tied his career-high with three steals versus Davis & Elkins and has recorded at least one in eight straight games.
 
6'6" forward Ben Sarson has been in double digits in six of the last eight games. Sarson is shooting 82.9% from the line this season. He has an assist in nine straight games and dished out a season-high three in Saturday's win.
 
McKinney has been to the line a team-high 88 times and is making 78.4% of his free throws. The senior guard from Bowie, Md is just two points away from 1,000 in his career on the hilltop.
 
10 Hilltoppers average over 10 minutes per game with Butler leading all players, at 28.8 minutes on the court.
 
West Liberty is 7-2 on the road, with all but one win being a conference game. WLU is 3-0 on Wednesday away games (102-97 at WVSU on Feb. 1, 113-97 at Concord on Jan. 4, and 98-81 at Charleston on Dec. 7).

THE PIONEERS
After its longest win streak of the season, Glenville State has won just one of its last four games and is coming off an 88-83 loss at Frostburg State on Saturday. Each of the last five games have been decided by five or less. The one win during this rough stretch was last Wednesday at home over Fairmont State (85-84).
 
The Pioneers lead the conference in rebounding margin (+5.5) and rank top-10 in the country pulling in 41.22 rebounds per game with a 13^th-best mark of 13.83 on the offensive end. Leading the Blue and White is Harrison Eghan (7.3) and Freddie Word (7.2) ranking fourth and fifth in the MEC, respectively, in rebounds per game.
 
Glenville State is scoring 87.0 points per game with a 46.3% field goal percentage and 35.3% clip from deep. Opponents are netting 80 points per game and shooting 46% from the floor and 33% from beyond the arc.
 
Jordan Turbo Smith leads the team scoring 18.9 points per game, good for fourth in the MEC. Word (15.4) and Jacquez Yow (14.3) also net double digits per game. Smith hoists the most three-point attempts in the MEC ad makes the second most, at 3.13 per game. Jamarvious Jones drains 2.09 triples per game.
 
Word also leads the team in assists per game (5.3) ranking second in the MEC and has nine double-doubles along with being one of seven players in DII with a triple-double this season.
 
Smith and Word both rank top-five in the MEC in steals with 46 and 35, respectively, on the year.
 
The Pioneers average a +1.6-turnover margin, the second best in the MEC forcing 16.04 cough ups per game.
 
Glenville State is 8-2 inside the Waco Center this season, including a 3-0 mark on Wednesday nights.

THE SERIES
The Hilltoppers have won the last 17 meetings and the last 10 in Glenville. WLU has scored over 100 in eight of the last 11 wins, with 158 coming in the home win on November 17, 2018. The only loss over the last 12 seasons came at the 2015 MEC Tournament, 83-68. This will be the 147th meeting between the teams, WLU owns a 76-71 all-time advantage.
 
West Liberty picked up an 88-73 win at home with a shorthanded roster earlier this season. Malik McKinney and Bryce Butler each scored 24 points for the Hilltoppers. The game was close throughout, but a 20-2 run by West Liberty broke the tie game with under 9 minutes to play. WLU's pressure defense resulted in a +9-turnover margin, leading to 29 points off 21 Pioneer miscues. West Liberty used a 64-32 advantage in the paint to secure the win, despite allowing double-digit three-pointers for only the second time this season.
 
MEC STANDINGS
West Liberty: 1
Glenville State: 6
Full Standings click here.

NEXT UP
West Liberty will host Concord on Saturday at 4 pm inside the ASRC.

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