Storylines – vs. Coker University
Picked 12th in this year's South Atlantic Conference preseason coaches poll, the Cobras of Coker University come to Wise with a 3-10 overall mark, 2-7 in the league, picking up SAC wins against Tusculum and on the road at Wingate. In his first season at the helm of the program, head coach Jarred Merrill's squad returns 11 players from last season and added seven newcomers to this year's roster. To start the new decade, Coker has dropped three of their first four games in January, suffering double-digit losses on the road at Lenoir-Rhyne and Anderson while falling by four to then-16th ranked Catawba College. So far this season, Coker is scoring 66.5 points per game while shooting 42.2 percent from the field and 28.4 percent from behind the arc. Coach Merrill's team is collecting 32.3 rebounds per game while opponents are averaging nearly four more boards per contest. In conference play, Coker has allowed 78.4 points per game by opponents and are averaging 15.2 turnovers per contest. Junior Royce Hunter is leading his team in scoring (17.8 ppg) while redshirt sophomore Dakota Jennings is posting 5.3 rebounds per game. Sophomore Chandler Lindsay is providing a team-leading 2.7 assists per contest while the Cobras are dishing out 10.2 assists per game. Coker will return home following Saturday's contest to face Newberry College Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m.
About UVA Wise
An injury-stricken UVA Wise team fell to to Lenoir-Rhyne in the two teams first ever matchup, 81-64, this past Wednesday night inside the David J. Prior Convocation Center. In the loss, sophomore
Cameron Whiteside notched another career day as he poured in a career-high 37 points on a career-high 14 field goals while also tying his career-best five three-point field goals in the game. The team is averaging 79.8 points per game this season and shooting 45 percent from the field, 33.8 percent from three-point range, and 75.6 percent from the foul line (third in the SAC). Whiteside now sits at fourth in the SAC in scoring, averaging 20 points per game following his back-to-back 30+ point performances. The Cavalier men sit atop two individual categories in the conference rankings with senior
Chance Sheffey's team-leading 5.5 assists per game and freshman
Drew Greene's team-best 93.8 percent shooting from the charity stripe. As a team, UVA Wise is ranked second in the league in assists (17.1 per game) and fifth in defensive rebounds (27.1 per game). Whiteside also leads the team in rebounding (6.3 per game) and steals (1.9 per game). Up next, head coach Blake Mellinger's team will go back on the road for a three-game road tilt visiting the Eagles of Carson-Newman University first next Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. tip.
