WISE – The UVA Wise men's basketball team finds themselves both in familiar territory and on the verge of doing what no other UVA Wise men's team has done before as they open play in the SAC Tournament Wednesday against Carson-Newman at High Noon.

The tournament will be held in the Rock Hill Sports and Events Center from March 4-7.

This is the second appearance by the Cavs in the tournament in the past three seasons.

Tournament and ticket information can be found at the SAC's tournament website, while links to audio, video and live statistics can be found at UVAWiseCavs.com. Locally, the game can be heard on 92.5 WLSD-FM with Chris Davis and Steve Curran with the call on the Cavalier Sports Network.

GETTING WISE
- The Cavs are the four seed and enter the tournament with a 18-10 overall and best-ever 15-9 SAC record.
- First-Team All-SAC player Bradley Dean is back for his senior season to lead the Cavs. He averages 17.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, 5.04 assists, and 1.39 steals a game.
- Evan Ramsey, a Second-Team All-SAC performer, leads the team and is amongst the SAC leaders in rebounds, as he is averaging 14.5 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 1.92 blocks a game.
- Lav Cvetkovic' is averaging 12.5 points a game, Patrick Shelley 11.8 points and 6.0 rebounds a game, and Zy'Ever Wingfield is averaging 10.1 points a game.
- As a team the Cavs are averaging 81.6 points per game, compared to the 79.2 from their opponents.
- The team also has higher percentages in shooting (46.2%-43.4%), and rebounding (39.6 rpg-37.6 rpg) than their opponents this season.
- The team was ranked ninth in last week's Division II Regional Rankings. The updated rankings will be released sometime on Wednesday.
 
MEET THE OPPONENT
- Fifth-seed Carson-Newman enters the contest with a 20-10 overall record and a 15-9 record in SAC play.
- They are also ranked in the Regional rankings.
- The teams split the regular season series, with the home team defending their turf in each meeting. This will be the first time the teams have met on a neutral floor.
- Jack Browder is leading the team with an average of 19.7 points, followed by John Zhao with 19.0. Trey Hubbard is averaging 16.7 points a game, while Nick Brenegan has 14.0 points a game this season.
- Browder also leads the team in rebounding with 8.8 boards a game.

THINGS TO WATCH
- The ninth place spot in the regional rankings came before all the SAC teams above the Cavs losing on Wednesday and the Cavs losing on Saturday. So there is a good chance they move up. The top eight teams in the region earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament (notwithstanding unranked teams winning their conference's tournament and the automatic qualification to the NCAA Tournament.
- In their last tournament appearance, the Cavs defeated Newberry and LMU before falling in the finals to Catawba.
- Should the team make the NCAA Tournament, it would be their first appearance in that tournament, and their third postseason appearance. They made the NAIA National Tournament in 2003 and 2010. In 2003 they lost to Cornerstone (MI) 78-73, and in 2010 they lost to Indiana Wesleyan 81-56.

UP NEXT
- The winner of this quarterfinal game will advance to the semifinals and take on the top seed, Lincoln Memorial, who defeated Wingate 85-67. That game will be played at noon on March 6.
- The championship game will be played at 4 p.m. on Friday, March 7. The winner of that game will receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament.