CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Of all the thousands of basketball tournament games played over the next month or so, it'd be hard to find a more closely matched pairing than tonight's West Virginia Conference men's quarterfinal game between the University of Charleston and Wheeling Jesuit.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Of all the thousands of basketball tournament games played over the next month or so, it'd be hard to find a more closely matched pairing than tonight's West Virginia Conference men's quarterfinal game between the University of Charleston and Wheeling Jesuit.
The teams in the 6:30 p.m. showdown at the Civic Center played two regular-season games, with WJ winning both - but by scores of 68-67 (Jan. 26 at UC) and 86-80 in double-overtime (Feb. 21 in Wheeling).
Both teams went 14-8 in league play, with Wheeling Jesuit (18-9 overall) earning the No. 4 seed and the home white jerseys tonight by virtue of the Cardinals' regular-season wins over the fifth-seeded Golden Eagles (19-8).
"We're different kinds of teams but we're pretty evenly matched," UC coach Mark Downey said of the Cardinals. "They found a way to win in the end both times, but they were two really good games against each other. We had our chances but we didn't get it done."
Although both were tightly contested, Downey said the two games with WJ came with alternating styles.
"They outrebounded us in the first game here, that's what cost us," he said. "We did a better job of that in the game up there, it was played more to our style, but what hurt us were turnovers. They had 18 steals that led to some easy baskets for them.
"[Today] we have to do a good job of attacking their zone and not turn the ball over."
The double-OT loss to Wheeling Jesuit is UC's only setback in its last five games. The Golden Eagles advanced to the quarterfinals with a 97-83 win over rival West Virginia State in the opening round at Eddie King Gym.
Wheeling Jesuit comes in even hotter. If you could throw out the Cardinals' two losses to WVC-ruling West Liberty - most recently Saturday's 101-76 road drubbing - they'd have 12 straight wins.
UC is the only team to beat top-ranked West Liberty this year, 101-96 on Jan. 21 at EKG, but the Golden Eagles followed that by going 3-5 in their next eight games.
Since then, they seem to have righted the ship.
"We've been doing some good things lately," Downey said. We've been playing kinda loose and well offensively. I like where we are."
The Golden Eagles are led by the trio of 6-foot junior guard Terrell Lipkins, an All-WVC first-team selection scoring 17.4 points per game; Evan Faulkner, a 6-1 senior guard averaging 13.4; and 6-4 junior guard Robbie Dreher, scoring at an 11.2 clip.
Wheeling Jesuit's top guns are 6-1 guard Justin Fritts (15.6 points per game), the WVC's freshman of the year; 6-3 senior guard Ben Seifert (15.4), an All-WVC first-teamer; 6-2 senior guard Recardo Gaddy (13.1); and 6-6 senior forward Joe Prati (12.1).
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Of all the thousands of basketball tournament games played over the next month or so, it'd be hard to find a more closely matched pairing than tonight's West Virginia Conference men's quarterfinal game between the University of Charleston and Wheeling Jesuit.
The teams in the 6:30 p.m. showdown at the Civic Center played two regular-season games, with WJ winning both - but by scores of 68-67 (Jan. 26 at UC) and 86-80 in double-overtime (Feb. 21 in Wheeling).
Both teams went 14-8 in league play, with Wheeling Jesuit (18-9 overall) earning the No. 4 seed and the home white jerseys tonight by virtue of the Cardinals' regular-season wins over the fifth-seeded Golden Eagles (19-8).
"We're different kinds of teams but we're pretty evenly matched," UC coach Mark Downey said of the Cardinals. "They found a way to win in the end both times, but they were two really good games against each other. We had our chances but we didn't get it done."
Although both were tightly contested, Downey said the two games with WJ came with alternating styles.
"They outrebounded us in the first game here, that's what cost us," he said. "We did a better job of that in the game up there, it was played more to our style, but what hurt us were turnovers. They had 18 steals that led to some easy baskets for them.
"[Today] we have to do a good job of attacking their zone and not turn the ball over."
The double-OT loss to Wheeling Jesuit is UC's only setback in its last five games. The Golden Eagles advanced to the quarterfinals with a 97-83 win over rival West Virginia State in the opening round at Eddie King Gym.
Wheeling Jesuit comes in even hotter. If you could throw out the Cardinals' two losses to WVC-ruling West Liberty - most recently Saturday's 101-76 road drubbing - they'd have 12 straight wins.
UC is the only team to beat top-ranked West Liberty this year, 101-96 on Jan. 21 at EKG, but the Golden Eagles followed that by going 3-5 in their next eight games.
Since then, they seem to have righted the ship.
"We've been doing some good things lately," Downey said. We've been playing kinda loose and well offensively. I like where we are."
The Golden Eagles are led by the trio of 6-foot junior guard Terrell Lipkins, an All-WVC first-team selection scoring 17.4 points per game; Evan Faulkner, a 6-1 senior guard averaging 13.4; and 6-4 junior guard Robbie Dreher, scoring at an 11.2 clip.
Wheeling Jesuit's top guns are 6-1 guard Justin Fritts (15.6 points per game), the WVC's freshman of the year; 6-3 senior guard Ben Seifert (15.4), an All-WVC first-teamer; 6-2 senior guard Recardo Gaddy (13.1); and 6-6 senior forward Joe Prati (12.1).
Here's a capsule look at today's other quarterfinals.
No. 3 Alderson-Broaddus (19-8, 17-6) vs. No. 11 Glenville State (13-15, 8-14), 1 p.m.: A-B won both regular-season meetings, but both were close - a 105-99 decision at home on Jan. 14 and a 79-70 win Saturday at Glenville.The Battlers advanced with an 84-54 romp over Bluefield State in Tuesday's opening round while the Pioneers moved on by upsetting 6th-seeded Shepherd 88-83 in Shepherdstown.
Kurklin Bohanon, a 6-3 senior guard and first-team All-WVC pick, leads A-B with 17.6 points per game, while 6-3 sophomore guard Jamel Morris leads Glenville with a 19.7 average.
No. 2 Fairmont State (20-7, 17-5) vs. No. 7 Seton Hill (16-11, 12-10), 3 p.m.: The two head-to-head matchups resulted in wins for the home teams, with the Falcons prevailing 69-53 in Fairmont on Jan. 7 and the Griffins returning the favor with a 76-73 home win a week ago.Fairmont State was pushed by Ohio Valley but came away with a 96-85 win in Tuesday's opening round. Seton Hill advanced with a 66-63 home win over West Virginia Wesleyan.
Isaac Thornton, a 6-3 sophomore from Martinsburg and a first-team All-WVC pick, is Fairmont's top scorer at 17.7 points per game. Malachi Leonard, a 6-7 junior, averages a team-high 13.1 points for Seton Hill.
No. 1 West Liberty (27-1, 21-1) vs. No. 9 Pitt Johnstown (15-12, 10-12), 8:30 p.m.: UPJ was one of several teams to challenge the Hilltoppers this season, losing by just 101-92 Jan. 5 at West Liberty before being handed a 98-83 home loss a week ago.While top-seeded West Liberty had a first-round tournament bye, the Mountain Cats went to Concord Tuesday and came away with a 92-82 win.
West Liberty is led by WVC player of the year Alex Falk, who averages 20.7 points. UPJ's Nick Novak, a 6-0 senior guard and first-team All-WVC, finished second in the conference in scoring this year with 22.1 points per game, trailing only Shepherd's Chad Moore (22.9).
The WVC men's tournament continues with semifinal games Friday night, with the title game set for 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
Reach Nick Scala at 304-348-7947 or nsc...@wvgazette.com.
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