Thanks to exam week, the Wilmington men's basketball team will return to the court for their home opener less than 48 hours after dispatching Muskingum, 84-69, Thursday. However, don't expect anyone wearing the white home uniforms to make any excuses Saturday.  

"If we can't play in 48 hours, then we need to get in better shape," said Wilmington head coach K.C. Hunt.

Wilmington is aided by the fact that 10 players are averaging at least 8.8 minutes per game, and no is averaging more than 30 minutes per contest. In Thursday's game, only junior Klarke Ransom (Richwood, OH/North Union) played 30 minutes.

Their conditioning level could be put to the test when Marietta invades the confines of Fred Raizk Arena in Hermann Court.

The Pioneers are the top scoring team in the OAC with 81.4 points and also leads the league in scoring margin at plus-10. Senior J.J. Martin is ninth in the PAC with 13.2 points and seventh with 6.4 rebounds. Garrett Stephenson comes off the bench to tally 10.8 points. He is shooting 57 percent from the field, good enough for sixth in the OAC.

Marietta is shooting 50 percent from the field, and is only committing a shade of 10 turnovers per game. Fans can expect the Pioneers to take plenty of long-range jumpers Saturday as 39 percent of the team's shots are three-pointers. MU has connected on 61 three-pointers. In contrast, Wilmington has only launched 76 shots from beyond the arc.

Senior Brandon Candella (West Chester, OH/Lakota West) and junior Malcolm Heard II (Wilmington, OH/Wilmington) are combining for more 43 percent of the team's offense. However it's coming within the framework of the WC offense as the team has 99 assists on 159 baskets (65 percent).

Sophomore R.J. Leppert (Liberty Township, OH/Lakota East) has started to thrive coming off the bench. He has taken more of the ball handling responsibilities with second group. He is coming off a career-high eight assists Thursday.

Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m. Saturday at Fred Raizk Arena.