WISE, Va. – UVa-Wise welcomes West Virginia State for its home opener Monday night inside the David J. Prior Convocation Center. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. with the women's game starting at 5:30 p.m.
 
The Cavaliers take on a 1-2 West Virginia State team that fell 92-82 Saturday evening at Concord University, giving the Yellow Jackets a loss in their Mountain East Conference opener. West Virginia State also suffered a loss in its season opener, dropping a home decision to (RV) Virginia Union University after the Panthers hit a buzzer-beating, deep 3-pointer to claim an 86-83 win. The Yellow Jackets' lone victory of the season came at home against Elizabeth City State University (77-68). UVa-Wise also defeated Elizabeth City State earlier this season, winning a 100-97 overtime decision in a neutral-site game at West Virginia State's Earl Lloyd Classic.
 
Last season the Cavs went 1-1 against West Virginia State, winning 102-89 on senior night in the Cavs' home finale after being defeated 85-65 the third week of November in Institute, West Virginia. In UVa-Wise's home win against the Yellow Jacket last season, forward Matt Day scored a MEC and school record 49 points and the Cavs reached the 100-point mark for the third time of the season. Last year's victory over the Yellow Jackets was the Cavs' first win against West Virginia State as UVa-Wise is 1-5 against the Yellow Jackets since joining the MEC.
 
The two teams played one of UVa-Wise's highest scoring games in recent years during the 2013-14 season when West Virginia State earned a 118-113 overtime victory in the Prior Center after a wild finish to regulation.
 
This season, the Yellow Jackets have been led by sophomore guard Brent Bauer who is averaging 20 points and six assists through three games. West Virginia State has also had three other players average double-digit scoring in its first three games in freshman Ernest Jenkins (13.3 ppg), freshman forward Jayson Hankins (12.3 ppg) and junior center Mohammed Camara (11 ppg).
 
UVa-Wise is looking to rebound from a 93-80 defeat at the University Charleston Saturday evening in the Cavs' MEC opener. The Cavs will have to step up their rebounding after being outrebounded by the Golden Eagles 44-26, and will need to play better defense down low after giving up 50 points in the paint Saturday. One bright spot for UVa-Wise Saturday was the Cavs' ability to force turnovers, creating 19 Golden Eagle turnovers and scoring 26 points off of those miscues.
 
Averaging 87 points per game as a team, UVa-Wise is still searching for a way to slow teams down as the Cavs are allowing opponents to score 93.5 points per game. Redshirt junior forward Taiwo Badmus (London, England) and redshirt sophomore forward Dimitri Sousa (São Paulo, Brazil) are both averaging over 20 points per contest, while freshman guard Chance Sheffey (Staunton, Va.) is averaging 13.8 ppg off the bench.
 
Visit uvawisecavs.com for all Cavalier men's basketball news, statistics, complete schedule and more.