UVA Wise looks to get back on the right track with a home date against Anderson after dropping last two games.

UVA WISE NEWS AND NOTES

>> After falling on the road 94-73 against Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday, UVA Wise looks to get back to .500 on the season against the Anderson Trojans Saturday with what will be the Cavs first home game in 10 days.

Wednesday's loss was a tough pill for the Cavs to swallow. Against a perenially phenomenal LMU team, the Cavs handled the Railsplitters for the first 20 minutes and were up 41-39 at the half. However, LMU lit up the scoreboard in the second half knocking down 10-of-13 threes and outscoring the Cavs 55-32 in the half. Preseason All-SAC 1st Team selection Chase Rankin had a game-high 22 points while adding seven rebounds, four assists and just one turnover in 36 minutes.

The Cavs got some good performances from the transfer tandem of juniors Zy'Ever Wingfield and Lav Cvetkovic. Wingfield went 9-for-20 from the floor for 20 points along with six rebounds. His performance is the fourth 20-point outing of his collegiate career and the third such in the last four games

For Cvetkovic, he added 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting with five rebounds. Cvetkovic made his first career start for UVA Wise against Chowan back on Dec. 18 and has started all four games for the Cavs since. In that span he's averaging 14.6 points while shooting 54 percent from the floor and 45.8 percent from three-point land. He's scored 15 or more points in three of his five starts.

The Cavs are 2-0 all-time against Anderson in games played at the David J. Prior Convocation Center but have not faced the Trojans at home since Feb. 5, 2022 when they defeated Anderson 78-75.
 

ABOUT THE ANDERSON TROJANS

>> The Trojans are riding high after a stunning upset victory in an exhibition contest Sat. Dec. 30 over the Furman Palladins in Timmons Arena. Including the exhibition win, the Trojans are winners in three straight games all of which were on the road. Most recently, Anderson took down Limestone at the Timken Center to hand the Saints just their second home loss of the year.

Anderson is led by three double-digit per game scorers this season, namely senior guard Garrett Denbow who is averaging 20.2 points per game to rank second in the South Atlantic Conference. Denbow's season high of 38 points came to open the season against Flagler on Nov. 11, but he's been on a tear lately for the black and gold. He had a game-high 27 points in the upset win over Furman and followed that up with 27 points against Mars Hill and 33 points against Limestone. Denbow has scored 27 or more points in six different games this season. He averages 3.3 made threes per game to rank second in the SAC and No. 10 nationally.

Defensively, the Trojans rely on the swiping prowess of freshman guard AJ Wright Jr. The Tampa, Fla. native ranks second in the conference in both steals (33) and steals per game (2.5). Both marks are top 15 nationally as he's tallied two or more steals in 10 games this year which includes having six games with four or more steals. He's averaging 3.4 steals per contest since Dec. 6 while also chipping in a team-high 4.8 assists per game over the entire season.

Anderson is coached by Jimmie Williams in his second season at the helm of the program. He's 16-25 to start his head coaching career after picking up a win against his former employer, Furman, where he was an assistant from 2018-2022.