Pioneers Host Nationally Ranked Hilltoppers of West Liberty

2/7/2023 2:07:00 PM

By: GSU Sports Information

Glenville, W.Va. - Glenville State Men's Basketball team returns to the Waco Center hosting the perineal Mountain East Conference power West Liberty. While the Hilltoppers have been dominant the entire season they have struggled on the road. Similarly to West Liberty, the Pioneers have also had one of the better home records in the conference

Game Information

February 8th, 2023 | 7:30 PM | Waco Center
Glenville State (13-9, 9-7 MEC) | West Liberty (19-3, 14-2 MEC)
Watch Here | Live Stats

A Look at the Pioneers

Glenville State has another opportunity to create history in Wednesday night's conference matchup. The Pioneers have not beaten the Hilltoppers since the 2015 Mountain East Conference Championship. It has been since the 2008-09 season GSU has defeated Wes Liberty in the regular season.

The Pioneers are coming off a close loss to the Bobcats of Frostburg State. MEC player of the week Freddie Word led Glenville State in scoring with 16 and produced 10 assists. Word was one rebound short of his second triple-double of the 2022-23 campaign. Both Jordan Turbo Smith and Jacquez Yow were close behind with 15 points.

Throughout the season GSU has had one of the top offenses in the conference. On average the Pioneers are producing 87.0 points per contest which is 11th in the nation and fourth in the league. Glenville has also ranked toward the top in the conference for steals per game producing 8.6 per contest. With Coach Caldwell's squad forcing turnovers, Glenville State has consistently one the turnover battle throughout the season.

GSU by the Numbers

9: Junior guard Freddie Word is first in the MEC for double-doubles and 15th in Division II.
3.04: Harrison Eghan sits first in the conference for offensive rebounds per game.
5.5: The Pioneers have the best rebounding margin in the league.
18.9: Jordan Turbo Smith has been Glenville State's leading scorer this and is fourth in the MEC for points per contest.
11.5: In the last four games Trevor Chandler is averaging six more points than his season average.

A Look at the Hilltoppers

Since the last meeting between these two squads, West Liberty has dropped two road games to Fairmont State University and Wheeling. However, the Hilltoppers offense has been firing on all cylinders scoring 100 or more points in five of their last eight.

In the Hilltopper's last time out they defeated the University of Charleston 94-77. West Liberty was able to jump out to a 20-point advantage before heading into the half. In the first half, the Hilltoppers shot 47% from the field and just shy of 40% from beyond the arc.

West Liberty has had the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the MEC and in all of Division II. The Hilltoppers this season are having success shooting from deep. Coach Howlett's squad on average is hitting 12.9 threes per game which is #1 in the country. While West Liberty attempts a plethora of three-pointers, they are shooting 34.4% from beyond the arc.

West Liberty by the Numbers

22.6: Bryce Butler has been the Hilltopper's leading scorer this season and ranks 6th in the nation for points per game.
18.1: West Liberty has the best scoring margin in the conference and sits fourth in the nation.
19.5: The Hilltoppers are forcing the third most turnovers in all of Division II.
69: Malik Mckinney has attempted the eighth most free throws in the MEC.
4: Four Hilltoppers are averaging three or more assists per game.

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