STORYLINES – VS. WEST VIRGINIA STATE UNIVERSITY
Bryan Poore's team returns home to host UVa-Wise after a Saturday afternoon road win over West Virginia Wesleyan, 78-64. The victory puts West Virginia State in the seventh spot in Mountain East Conference standings with an 8-8 overall record and a 5-5 league mark. The Yellow Jackets are currently on a three-game win streak, topping each team by double-digits. After losing to UVa-Wise by 13 points back in November, West Virginia State will attempt to even the score behind its leading scorer, league's fourth leading scorer, senior forward Pat Johnson-Agwu who is registering 23 points per game on 60.5 percent shooting from the field. Johnson-Agwu also leads his team in rebounding with 7.1 per game and is sixth in the league with his 2.8 offensive rebounds per contest. The team is averaging 86.9 ppg on 47.3 percent shooting from the floor. The Yellow Jackets defensive effort has proved to be a strong point for West Virginia State forcing 14.7 turnovers per game for opponents while registering 8.2 steals and 4.4 blocks per contest. The Yellow Jackets are at a -2.7 margin against opponents on the boards, averaging 36.7 per game. West Virginia State will follow Wednesday night's game with a road matchup against Charleston on Saturday before returning home to close out January hosting Notre Dame College.
ABOUT UVA-WISE
Five games into 2019, Blake Mellinger's squad will need to come out with a sense of urgency against West Virginia State in the hopes of halting a five-game losing streak. UVa-Wise has struggled with sluggish starts and will look to settle into a rhythm early on offense as the team seeks its first road win of the season Wednesday night. The Cavaliers are coming off of an 0-2 week with a 108-93 loss to No. 9 West Liberty before giving Wheeling Jesuit its first conference win of the season with the Cardinals posting a 78-68 victory. Through the last four league games, UVa-Wise is shooting 44 percent (118-for-264) from the field, just 25 percent (25-for-97) from beyond the arc, and only 62 percent (59-for-94) from the free throw line. In those games, opponents have averaged a +9.3 rebounding margin and have dished out over 20 more assists than the Cavs. As a team, UVa-Wise is averaging 83.6 points per game while shooting 43.2 percent from the field. The Cavs are shooting significantly better than opponents from beyond the arc, averaging almost 10 three-pointers per game on 36.1 shooting from downtown. UVa-Wise will also look to improve their percentages from the free throw line after shooting under 60 percent from the line in each of the last two games. Coach Mellinger's team will follow Wednesday night's contest with a challenging matchup against Concord on the road Saturday afternoon before heading back to Wise to finish up the month taking the court against West Virginia Wesleyan.
