SAN ANTONIO – Tested by a challenging non-conference schedule that saw them scrap courageously in the face of multiple injuries, the University of the Incarnate Word men's basketball team (5-8) opens Southland Conference competition on Wednesday night, hosting McNeese (4-9) at the McDermott Center on campus. Tipoff time is scheduled for 7 p.m.
 
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RUGGED NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
UIW has completed the non-conference portion of its schedule, having been tested by teams from the Southeastern, Big 12 and Big East Conferences, a three-game tournament sojourn to The Bahamas, three games in the state of Illinois, and four teams that saw post-season action last season. Counting repeat opponents on the conference schedule, UIW will play 17 of 31 regular season games against teams that played in post-season tournaments.
 
INJURY BUG
Beginning its season with 10 games in 19 days, the Cardinals were challenged by a series of injuries that allowed the team to dress out only 10 of its 15 roster players. Approaching the end of the non-conference schedule that concluded with the Dec. 19 game against DePaul, UIW was able to put only eight healthy players on the floor. Fortunately, the Christmas season bestowed the gift of healing on the UIW hoops family, with several players receiving medical clearance to return to action just in time for conference competition.  
 
CHARLES BROWN III HAS A SIGNATURE GAME
UIW's only senior, Charles Brown III, achieved two career bests in the Cardinals' game against DePaul. He led the team in scoring with 27 points and hit five of seven shots from behind the three-point arc. Overall, he made 11 of 16 shots from the floor, which boosted his team-leading season field goal percentage to 57.7. From the free throw line, he has made 22 of 27 attempts this season.
 
CARDINALS REGAIN LEAD AT THE LINE
UIW is once-again leading the nation's Division I basketball teams in free throw percentage. According to the latest NCAA statistics, released Tuesday afternoon, the Cardinals are scorching the nets from the charity stripe at a rate of 80.2 percent. UIW led the nation for three weeks, fell into second place after its mid-December trip to Chicago, and resumed the lead this week when several competitors could not keep pace.

Individually, sophomore Christian Peevy is the nation's 21^st-ranked free throw shooter, having made 59 out of 66 shots for a percentage of 90.9. Four other Cardinals, Jorden Kite (100), Antoine Smith Jr. (93.3), Augustine Ene (85.0) and Charles Brown III (81.5) are hitting more than four of five free throws, but do not qualify for an individual ranking because they do not meet the required number of makes (2.5 times the number of games played). However, their totals combine to enhance the team's ranking.
 
CHRISTIAN PEEVY SHOOTS LIGHTS OUT
Christian Peevy went on a tear midway through the non-conference schedule to claim the lead among Cardinal scorers. He scored in double figures against Northern Colorado (26), SIUE (32), Trinity (23) and LSU (16). Against SIUE, he hit 14 of 15 free throws. During that four-game stretch, he missed only three of 41 free throws. For the season, Peevy is averaging 14 points per game and shooting 56.6 percent from the field. He has been named honorable mention SLC player of the week on two occasions, Nov. 26 and Dec. 10.
 
MORGAN TAYLOR'S OUTSANDING TOURNAMENT
At the conclusion of the Cardinals' run in the Islands of the Bahamas Showcase (Nov. 16-18), freshman point guard Morgan Taylor was named Southland Conference Player of the Week. He was the hero of an 80-78 overtime win over North Dakota State, making the winning layup with 26 seconds remaining in overtime and hauling in the defensive rebound that assured victory. Taylor hit a three-pointer with six seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime, after having made two key free throws at the 1:24 mark to keep UIW in contention. In the next day's game against Florida Atlantic, Taylor hit three consecutive free throws in the waning seconds of the first half, then stole the ball and scored a buzzer-beater layup to turn a four-point deficit into a one- point halftime lead. Taylor is the team's second-leading scorer with an 11.8-point average and leads the squad with 42 assists.
 
YOUTH MOVEMENT
UIW's roster is made up of one senior, two juniors, four sophomores and eight true freshmen. Ten different players have started for the Cardinals in their first 13 games. Against Texas Lutheran on Nov. 12, freshmen scored 51 of the team's 70 points.
 
CARDINALS STAR IN THE CLASSROOM
UIW head coach Dr. Carson Cunningham, a two-time academic All-American as a starring point guard at Purdue almost two decades ago, places a premium on academic success by his teams. During his first complete semester of coaching at UIW, his team's diligence in the classroom produced an average GPA of 3.15 on a four-point scale.
 
CARDINALS EXCEL IN SERVICE
During the 13-day holiday break, UIW's basketball team resumed its tradition of community service. On Dec. 21, players and coaches visited The Village at Incarnate Word, an assisted living center that the university hosts. Since Dr. Cunningham became coach, his team has performed several volunteer projects, including to build a a Habitat for Humanity house and visiting young patients at the Children's Hospital of San Antonio.

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