West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[Scrub]

But now we need to talk about the fact that WLU got manhandled in Richmond earlier this season. They're clearly a more mature version of the Hilltoppers now than they were then, but they better have a plan for how to crack the vaunted VUU defense that caused them so many problems before.

[Columbuseer]

Fyi
wlu post game press conference starts at 33:15. Montgomery and Williams there with lamberti.
montgomery was tourney mvp with mec tourney record 14 steals. williams and muldowney also made all tourney.
https://mountaineast.tv/?B=3670729

[boatcapt]

Worth noting that future MEC school Shawnee State is going-dancing their final season in the NAIA Tourney.

We'll see how a good NAIA team stacks up against DII competition next year

[Scrub]

FINALLY WLU shoots over .400 from 3 and claims the MEC Tourney title.

The season ending loss to Wheeling is huge. If we had done what we should have done and win that game, we would have been hosting the NCAA Regional Tourney at the ARSC where we are really hard to beat

You're right about one thing, Boat. Shooting carried the day today. Lost both the rebounding and turnover battle (and not by a little on that last front). Hard to win when you give the opponent 23 extra possessions. Hot shooting was the lifeline. Good to get out of there with a win.

[boatcapt]

FINALLY WLU shoots over .400 from 3 and claims the MEC Tourney title.

The season ending loss to Wheeling is huge. If we had done what we should have done and win that game, we would have been hosting the NCAA Regional Tourney at the ARSC where we are really hard to beat

[Columbuseer]

FYI - Data Analytics for D&E game

• Red cell indicates 20% below D1 median value, green cell is above 90^th percentile D1 value (where D1 data available)

WLU vs D&E MEC 3/6/26 game 29
Statistic	D&E MEC	WLU	WLU Season Avg	WLU Season Totals	2024 D1 Median Value For Comparison
FGM	23	30	34.6	1004	N/A - sensitive to number of possessions
FGA	54	80	70.8	2052	N/A - sensitive to number of possessions
FTM	19	21	19.0	552	N/A - sensitive to number of possessions
FTA	23	33	25.4	738	N/A - sensitive to number of possessions
Three Point FGM	9	3	10.5	305	N/A - sensitive to number of possessions
three Point FGA	21	15	29.7	860	N/A - sensitive to number of possessions
Off REB	10	26	11.9	344	N/A - sensitive to number of possessions
Def REB	27	22	25.5	740	N/A - sensitive to number of possessions
Total REB	37	48	37.4	1084	N/A - sensitive to number of possessions
Personal Fouls	21	20	19.2	558
Assists	14	13	18.6	538	d1 median 13.7 90th percentile 16.5
Turnovers	25	7	12.3	357	d1 median 11.6 90th percentile 10.2
Blocks	7	4	2.2	65	d1 median 3.4 90th percentile 4.7
Steals	3	17	12.2	355	d1 median 7.0 90th percentile 8.7
Turnovers Forced	7	25	20.0	580	d1 median 12.4 90th pctile 14.6
Points off Turnovers	4	26			N/A
Points in the Paint	26	46			N/A
Second Chance Points	9	24			N/A
Fast Break Points	17	19			N/A
Bench Points	18	45			N/A
Points	74	84	98.8	2865	D1 median 74.9 90th pctile 81
Games Played	30	29	29.0	29
Number of Possessions	79	76	82.4	2390	median 70.7 90th pctile 74.6
Pts per Possession	0.94	1.11	1.2	1.20	median 1.034 90th pctile 1.134
Effective Possession Ratio EPR =(Possessions + Off. Rebounds - Turnovers) / Possessions	0.81	1.252	1.0	0.995	median .953 90th pctile .994
Offensive Rating - pts/100 possessions	94	111	119.9	120	median 103.4 90th pctile 113.4
Shooting Efficiency (FGM +0.5*3ptFGM) /FGA	50.9%	39.4%	0.6	56%	median 50.5% 90th pctile 55.4%
True Shooting % (0.5*(PTS*(FGA+(0.44*FTA)))	57.7%	44.4%	0.6	60%	median 54.2% 90th pctile 58.9%
FT %	82.6%	63.6%	0.7	75%	median 71.9% 90th pctile 77.9%
FG%	42.6%	37.5%	0.5	49%	median 44.1% 90th pctile 47.9%
3PT%	42.9%	20.0%	0.4	35%	median 33.3% 90th pctile 37.4%
2PT%	42.4%	41.5%	0.6	59%	median is about 47.8% 90th pctile 50.8%
Turnovers Per Game	25	7	12.3	12	median 12.1 90th pctile 10.4
Turnover Margin (+ is good)	-18	18	19.8	7.7	D1 median 0.6 90th percentile 3
Turnover %	31.6%	9.3%	0.1	15%	typicall D1 is 15% to 20%
Forced Live Ball Turnovers % of total Forced Turnovers	42.9%	68.0%	0.6	61%	D1 90th percentile is 55%
Points per Opponent Turnover	0.57	1.04	N/A	N/A	N/A
Assists % of FG Made	60.9%	43.3%	0.5	54%	median 51.6% 90th pctile 59.8%
Assist to Turnover Ratio	0.56	1.86	1.5	1.51	median 1.087 90th pctile 1.487
Defensive Rebound %	50.9%	68.8%	0.7	71%	median 72.3% 90th pctile 75.9%
Offensive Rebound %	31.3%	49.1%	0.3	32%	median 28.1% 90th pctile 33.7%
Scoring Margin	-10	10	16.6	-481	Median 3 pts, 90th pctile 11 pts.

[Columbuseer]

A Dummy’s Observations on MEC WLU vs D&E 3/6/26
WLU 84 – D&E 74

Davis and Elkins (DE) Preview
DE has 683 students (as of 2023). DE comes into the WLU game with a 14-14 record and 6-14 in MEC. They have lost some games recently due to injured players. DE seemed to be using one of the common recruiting templates to challenge WLU – tall, long, and/or quick athletic players with guard skills, who can shoot the three and attack the rim in transition. They have depth, as 8 players play >= 20 minutes a game. Okoroji shoots >=40% from three. Evans (6-7 16.1 ppg), Gray (6-7 16.6 ppg), Adamczyk (6-0 12.2 ppg) and Okoroji (6-5) are double figure scorers. They have the potential to be a dangerous team in March.

Davis & Elkins (DE) Game Plan
The DE strategy seemed to be:

• PASSED – Shoot their average. They were outstanding in 3FG % and FT %.

Stat	Season Avg	WLU Game Stat
FG %	46.2%	42.6%
3 FG %	34.9%	42.9%
FT %	73.5%	82.6%

• PASSED– Use their height and athletic ability to get the ball inside and attack the WLU defense in the half-court offense. They had 26 points in the paint.
• PASSED – Attack the rim in transition.
• FAILED – Limit the turnover margin. DE had 25 turnovers while forcing just 7 WLU turnovers.
• FAILED – Limit fatigue by subbing frequently. DE players play far too long before a sub.
• FAILED – control the boards. WLU outrebounded DE 37-32. WLU won offensive rebounds 26-10 and won 48-37 overall.

Keys to the WLU Game
Often, victory often depends on 3 factors– true shooting %, offensive rebounding, and points off turnover margin. Teams that are deficient in one factor can win by dominating in one or more other factors to get enough additional FGA or FTA to survive the game.

In this game, WLU had an abysmal shooting night in all three phases FG, 3FG and FT.
The WLU offensive rating was 111, compared to 94 for D&E. Their shooting was far worse overall than the Wheeling game. But unlike the Wheeling game, WLU compensating by dominating offensive rebounding (26-10) and points off turnover margin (26-4). Every WLU player attacked the boards for rebounds, getting 49.1% of offensive rebounds (D1 90^th percentile is 33.7%). WLU committed only 7 turnovers, which is elite, compared to 25 for D&E. WLU got 17 steals, which are 68% of turnovers (D1 90th percentile is 55%).
WLU only attempted 15 3FGs, making 3 (20%). To compensate, they attacked D&E inside, using their strength and footwork advantage of their big men. The result is that WLU had 80 FG attempts to only 54 for D&E, which overcame a poor shooting night.
The victory was aided by mental and physical fatigue by D&E, especially in the last 4 minutes of the game. Down by only 1 point with 3:50 remaining, D&E committed 4 turnovers, which allowed WLU to increase their lead to 7 points and get greater control over the outcome.

Areas for Improvement for WLU

1. Free throw % and 3FG %.

[Scrub]

Tomorrow will be an uphill battle less than 24 hours after a double OT war. And to make matters worse, Fairmont had a very relaxing game against Concord. Fairmont will definitely be in a better position to win tomorrow, but let's hope there's a little fight left in the Hilltoppers. Especially given the fact that if Gannon women take care of their business, there might be a half-a-bracket to host for tomorrow's MEC winner.

[Scrub]

WLU refuses to make it easy. DOUBLE OT win v Glenville. All 5 Glenville starters fouled out.

Offense seemed a little stagnant to me today. Felt like a lot of one-on-one stuff today. Gotta get back to moving the ball. And hats off to Glenville's defense for making it tough on them tonight.

But it's March: survive and advance I guess.

[boatcapt]

WLU refuses to make it easy. DOUBLE OT win v Glenville. All 5 Glenville starters fouled out.

[bballfan03]

And the story continues..........

Have heard from a few people the word is he again felt he didn't need to attend practices if he was hurt and he was dismissed from the team mid-February.

Least with Gannon he was on bench until postseason lol

[gman16506]

According to Rivals, Montano will transfer from Frostburg State, with 2 years eligibility left (assuming he applied for a redshirt this year then).

And the story continues..........

[bballfan03]

Given the history of Mike Montano, it had me wondering..........

According to Rivals, Montano will transfer from Frostburg State, with 2 years eligibility left (assuming he applied for a redshirt this year then).

[boatcapt]

Woof. That was ugly. I guess the March mantra holds: survive and advance.

WOW, that was a pitiful showing. Good thing we where playing the #8 seed! 20% from 3...overall shooting .375 where both season lows and .636 on FT's is the second lowes of the season.

[Scrub]

Woof. That was ugly. I guess the March mantra holds: survive and advance.