WISE, Va. – UVa-Wise men's basketball wraps up its final road trip of the season Thursday night in Institute, West Virginia, with a 7:30 p.m. game at West Virginia State.
 
Storylines – at West Virginia State
The Cavaliers are set to take on the host Yellow Jackets in a key Mountain East Conference road matchup for UVa-Wise. Earlier this season back on Nov. 21, the Cavs were defeated by West Virginia State in heartbreaking fashion inside the David J. Prior Convocation Center. Only the second league game of the season, UVa-Wise rallied from a 10-point deficit in the second half and tied up the score at 76-76 with only 36 seconds reaming. After a missed 3-pointer by the Yellow Jackets on the ensuing possession, the Cavs had a chance to win with just under four seconds left but had the ball stolen on their inbound following a timeout. West Virginia State's Ernest Jenkins stole the inbound pass and was fouled when he launched a deep 3-pointer with only 0.2 seconds left. Jenkins knocked down two of his three foul shots to clinch the road win for the Yellow Jackets.
 
Currently, UVa-Wise sits one game back from both Urbana University and Concord University in 11th place in the MEC standings. With only two games left in the regular season, the Cavs are fighting for a spot in the upcoming MEC Tournament and need to finish in the top 10. UVa-Wise must win both Thursday night's game and Saturday afternoon's regular season finale to clinch a spot in the 10-team postseason tournament, or get help from Concord.
 
West Virginia State is mathematically eliminated from the league tournament sitting in 12th place with a 3-17 MEC record and 6-20 overall mark on the season.
 
The Cavs are 1-6 against the Yellow Jackets since joining the MEC with UVa-Wise's lone win in the series coming a year ago on senior night in Wise (102-89).
 
Led by 18th-year head coach Bryan Poore, West Virginia State features freshman guard Ernest Jenkins who averages a team-best 17.2 points per game and ranks in the top five in the league in 3-point field goals made per game (2.9) and percentage (.399).
 
About UVa-Wise
UVa-Wise is attempting to stop a three-game slide after dropping a pair of close road games last week. The Cavs were defeated 93-86 at Notre Dame College last Thursday night before falling 88-83 at Urbana University this past Saturday. Despite shooting 57 percent from the floor in the game and holding the Blue Knights' Jahmere Howze to just three points, UVa-Wise was tripped up by 24 turnovers, 15 committed in the second half, that led to 29 points for Urbana.
 
Freshman point guard Michal Seals (Lancaster, Pa.) and redshirt junior forward Taiwo Badmus (London, England) both had an excellent week, each averaging 27 points and shooting 58 percent or better from the field in the two games. Seals also averaged eight rebounds and five assists, while Badmus averaged nine rebounds and two steals.
 
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