West Liberty, W.Va. - Fresh off an NCAA Division II National Championship appearance a year ago, the West Liberty University men’s basketball team and seventh year head coach Ben Howlett have announced their schedule for the 2023-24 season on Monday morning. The upcoming season will feature a 28-game regular season slate with 20 games against Mountain East Conference opponents. The Hilltoppers will also see four games against three opponents who qualified for the NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Tournament last season.

The 2023-24 campaign gets underway in the friendly confines of the Academic Sports & Recreation Complex (ASRC), as West Liberty will play five of their first six games at home. The Hilltoppers will host Shippensburg and Seton Hill of the PSAC in an Atlantic Region Crossover event on November 10 and 11 respectively. Four days later WLU will welcome Chestnut Hill to the hilltop on November 15.

West Liberty will travel to Salem on November 18 before closing out the first month of the season with their first two Mountain East Conference games at home against Notre Dame (OH) and West Virginia Wesleyan on November 21 and 29. The month of December begins with two consecutive MEC games on the road with West Liberty traveling to Davis & Elkins on December 2 and Charleston on December 6. The Hilltoppers will host West Virginia State on December 9 before stepping out of conference play for a trio of non-conference games to end the calendar year.

West Liberty will face a pair of 2023 NCAA Tournament qualifiers on December 17 and 18 as they take part in the Daytona Beach Shootout, facing Dominican (N.Y.) and Angelo State at the Ocean Hill Center in Daytona Beach, Florida. The Hilltoppers final non-conference contest and final game of the 2023 calendar year will be December 30 when WLU welcomes former MEC foe UVA Wise to the ASRC.

The new year gets underway as West Liberty returns to MEC action at home against Frostburg State on January 10. The Hilltoppers will then play a pair of road games at Fairmont State and Concord on January 13 and 17 before a trio of home games late in the month begins another stretch of five home games in six games. West Liberty opens a 3-game home stand with Glenville State on January 20 before Salem and Wheeling come to town on January 24 and 27.

The month of January ends with the Hilltoppers in a road contest at West Virginia State on January 31. The Black & Gold then returns home to face Charleston and Davis & Elkins to begin the month on February 3 and 7.

West Liberty will wind down the regular season with five of their final seven games on the road, beginning with games at West Virginia Wesleyan and Frostburg State on February 10 and 14. The Hilltoppers will host Fairmont State on February 17 before traveling to Glenville State on February 21. WLU’s final home game of the regular season will be against Concord on February 24, and the Black & Gold will conclude MEC action on the road at Notre Dame (Ohio) and Wheeling on February 28 and March 2.

All home and MEC contests will be streamed live with audio on MEC TV. Video and stat links will be available on the WLU men’s basketball schedule at hilltoppersports.com.