After starting the season with seven straight home games, the UVA Wise men's basketball team will head on the road Saturday to face Limestone for the Cavs' first test away from the David J. Prior Convocation Center. 
 

UVA WISE NEWS AND NOTES

>> The Cavaliers will compete in their first road game of the season when they travel to Gaffney, S.C. on Saturday to face Limestone. UVA Wise opened the season with seven straight home games, going 4-3 (0-1 SAC) in those contests. The Cavs are most recently coming off a 94-67 win over Carolina University on Wednesday night.

Wednesday's win was maybe the most complete game of the season for UVA Wise, expanding a seven-point halftime lead into a 27-point victory, outscoring the Bruins 56-36 in the second stanza. Freshman guard Carmelo Pacheco had his best game of the season scoring an early career-high of 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting and knocking down four three pointers. Redshirt sophomore Joe'l Pettiford grabbed double digit rebounds for the second consecutive game with 10 points and 11 boards, marking his first double-double since Jan. 12, 2022 of his freshman season. Sophomore guard Patrick Shelley, who recorded his first career double-double just two games prior against Southern Wesleyan, had a near triple-double Wednesday with eight points, eight rebounds and a career-high 12 assists. Junior transfer forward Lav Cvetkovic' had his best game in a Cavalier uniform recording a season high in both points (15) and rebounds (9) while sophomore guard Calen Lightford got his first start since the opening weekend of the season and responded with 12 points going 4-for-6 from downtown.

The Cavs shot 54.4 percent (37-for-68) from the floor and 48.4 percent (15-for-31) from three point land in the game to contribute to their No. 9 national ranking in effective field goal percentage at 60.8 percent. Along with Shelley's 12 helpers, the team dished out 26 assists on 37 made field goals, aiding them in their climb to being the current best passing team in the SAC and a top-10 passing team in the country with an average of 20.1 assists per game.

Additionally, the Cavs got production in the form of 29 points from the bench in the win, slotting them at No. 1 in the SAC and No. 33 in the country with an average of 34.3 bench points per game. Most impressively, UVA Wise only turned the ball over six times against a Carolina Bruins team that entered the contest forcing an average of 19.3 turnovers per game.
 

ABOUT THE LIMESTONE SAINTS

>> Saturday's showdown in Gaffney will mark the conference opener of the 2023-24 season for Limestone. The Saints are currently 1-4 this year after picking up their first win of the season Wednesday night against Belmont Abbey, 87-84. Limestone's record is not indicative of its talent, as all four losses for the Saints this year have come by single digits with a combined point differential of just 16 points in all contests. Additionally, the Saints have lost to teams that are currently a combined 18-4 so far this season.

Limestone is currently leaning on four double-digit scorers for its offense this season, all of which are averaging 13.2 points per game or more. Three of the four leading scorers for the Saints are scoring better than 15 points per game, led by seniors Zeb Graham and Jacquez Yow who are each dropping 15.6 points per outing. Yow, a transfer from Glennville State University, is with his fourth school in five years at Limestone. He averaged 14.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists last year for the Pioneers.

The Saints have rarely turned the ball over this season, averaging a conference-best just 11.8 turnovers per game which ranks them No. 78 in the country. They also attempt more three pointers than almost every team in the SAC, launching an average of 29.7 threes per contest. That mark is No. 11 in the country and second in the conference only to Coker who puts up 34.8 threes per game. One of Limestone's best defensive assets is its defensive rebounding. Despite only grabbing 21.8 defensive rebounds per game (No. 12 in the SAC), the Saints are snagging 66.2 percent of available defensive rebounds this season, which ranks No. 59 across the country.

The Saints are coached by Kyle Perry who is in his fifth season with the program. Perry was hired in 2019 to oversee Limestone's transition from the Conference Carolinas to the South Atlantic Conference, which was completed in the 2020-21 season. Perry, a former Division I coach at USC Upstate, is 30-73 in Gaffney with his best season coming last year after the Saints went 13-16, recording their most wins in a season since the 2018-19 campaign before Perry's arrival.

All UVA Wise conference road games will be broadcast live with Brendan Schabath (Play-by-Play) and Steve Curran (Analyst) on WLSD 92.5 FM, AM 1220.