SAN ANTONIO – University of the Incarnate Word men's basketball is making its first trip away from the McDermott Center this week as the team heads to Wyoming to play the Cowboys (1-1) on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. CT. UIW then goes to Texas State (2-1) to play the Bobcats on Saturday afternoon in a 2 p.m. CT game that will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
THE GAMES THIS WEEK

• UIW heads to Wyoming on Wednesday night with a 1-1 record. The Cardinals fell to Rice (Nov. 27), 53-68, and defeated Our Lady of the Lake (Nov. 29), 84-71.
• The Cardinals take a trip to San Marcos on Saturday to play Texas State, marking the second meeting between the programs and the first since 1990.
• It will be the first meeting between the Cowboys and Cardinals.
• UIW's game against Texas State on Saturday will be streamed on ESPN+ at 2 p.m. CT.

THE CARDINALS

• The Cardinals reached their 600th win in the program's 41-year history with its victory over OLLU.
• Redshirt senior Des Balentine grabbed a career-high eight rebounds against OLLU.
• Sophomore Keaston Willis recorded career highs with seven rebounds and a 9-for-10 mark from the free throw line, leading the Cardinals with 18 points against OLLU.
• Sophomore Marcus Larsson recorded a career-high eight field goals and scored 16 points against OLLU; he tied a career-high nine rebounds against Rice.
• Freshman Josh Morgan scored 17 points, averaged 42 percent shooting and went 5-of-6 from free throw line in his UIW debut against OLLU.
• Overall, UIW is averaging 41.7 percent shooting from the field, 37.9 percent form the 3-point line and 62.5 percent at the free throw line in two games this season.

 
THE CUNNINGHAM CULTURE

• Since taking over as head coach in 2018-19, Dr. Carson Cunningham has guided the Cardinals to new heights in the classroom, in the community and on the court in his first two seasons.
• Overall team GPA rose from sub-3.0 in 2017-18 to 3.23 in 2018-19 and 3.46 in 2019-20.
• In 2018-19, the Cardinals registered the program's first 1,000 APR score.
• In 2018-19, UIW completed 282 hours of community service and was the top men's program by completing 261.5 service hours in 2019-20.
• UIW had a five-win improvement in conference play, going from one (2018-19) to six (2019-20) - the highest conference wins total since the team went 7-11 in the 2016-17 season.

 
HISTORY

• UIW began playing men's basketball in 1980-81. Our teams have achieved a 600-464 record. The Cardinals transitioned to Division I status when they joined the Southland Conference in 2013-14.
• UIW is 393-162 (.708) all-time in away games.
• UIW, the largest Catholic university in Texas, was founded in 1881 by the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word. Enrollment is 10,389.

 

 
SCOUTING THE COWBOYS

• Wyoming has outscored its opponents 107-57 in the first half this season and holds a +17 scoring margin.
• The Cowboys are averaging 48.8 percent (60-of-123) shooting from the field, 35.0 percent (21-of-60) from 3-point range and 75.0 percent (30-of-40) from the foul line.
• Marcus Williams is averaging 18.5 points per game and is the team leader with 12 assists, six rebounds and three takeaways.
• Hunter Thompson leads the team in shooting percentage (70.6) and 3-point field goal percentage (62.5), hitting 5-of-8 this season, while Hunter Maldonado has knocked down team-high 82.4 percent (14-of-17) of his free throw attempts.
• Drake Jeffries and Jeremiah Oden lead the Cowboys defense with 16 rebounds each.

 
SCOUTING THE BOBCATS

• Texas State is outscoring its opponents by 11.4 points per game.
• Mason Harrell leads the Bobcats' offense, averaging 16 points per game and shooting 50 percent (18-of-36) from the floor, 60 percent (6-of-10) from beyond-the-arc and 85.7 percent (6-of-7) from the foul line.
• Isaiah Small leads the team with 57.1 percent (8-of-14) field goal percentage, 5.7 rebounds and three blocks per game.
• Caleb Asberry is averaging 10.7 points and 4.7 rebounds off the bench, shooting 57.9 percent (11-of-19) from the field, 6-of-10 from 3-point range and 4-of-4 from the foul line in three games.
• The Bobcats held Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to 34 percent (16-of-47) shooting and 25.9 percent (7-of-27) from 3-point range.

 
FOLLOW ALONG
 
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Follow the team on Twitter @UIWMBB and on Instagram @uiwmensbasketball.