The West Liberty men's basketball team is an almost automatic triple digits.
Since the Hilltoppers' 2009-10 campaign, there has been only one season where the team didn't average at least 100 points for the season. And in that year, 2013-14, WLU scored 99.9 points per game.
West Liberty averages 111.5 points through 11 games this season, and Division II's No. 1 team has scored at least 106 in eight of those 11 games. It has scored as many as 133, which it tallied in its win over Urbana, and just overwhelmed West Virginia State, 127-88, on Monday night.
Yet if there's any team that has been able to somewhat stem that scoring tsunami over the past few seasons, it has been Dwaine Osborne's University of Charleston team.
Since Osborne took over the UC program in 2013, it has been rare that West Liberty has reached those eye-popping scoring averages. That clash, WLU's offense versus UC's defense, goes another round when the Hilltoppers visit the Golden Eagles at 7:30 tonight in the Civic Center.
West Liberty (11-0, 5-0 Mountain East Conference) plays full speed ahead and its motion offense - where set plays are seldom and players read and react to what they see from opposing defenses - makes the Hilltoppers tough to scout. Many look at the barrage of 3-pointers the Hilltoppers score. WLU leads the MEC and is seventh in Division II with 148 made. But they also have a knack for finding the lanes to the basket for layups.
"I think that they're a really good rhythm team," Osborne said. "And we just have to find ways to keep them out of a rhythm."
When West Liberty finds that rhythm, games like Monday's can happen. The Hilltoppers made 17 of 28 3-pointers (60.7 percent) and 46 of 82 shots (56.1 percent) overall.
Run-and-gun, however, is not the way to describe West Liberty's offense, Hilltoppers coach Jim Crutchfield said. His team is aggressive when it has the ball, but the strategy has never been bombs away.
"I don't think that wins basketball games," he said. "I've been here 12 years and I have never once said we need to get a shot off quickly. That's never been our goal. It's about getting a good shot, whether it takes 1 second or 30 seconds. That's the key offensively. I know we've been confused with people saying we just run down and launch the ball ... we're just kind of aggressive, but we're just like any other team. If it takes us 25 seconds to get a good look, I'm not the least bit unhappy with that."
UC senior forward Aleksander Kesic said there's another category that boosts West Liberty's offense - its rebounding. The Hilltoppers lead the MEC in total rebounds (45.7 per game), as well as offensive rebounds (14.64 per game). Those offensive boards can lead to plenty of second-chance points.
Yet against the Golden Eagles (6-5, 3-2 MEC), West Liberty isn't always so prolific. During the 2013-14 season, West Liberty scored 99.9 points per game, shot 49.2 percent from the floor and 39.7 percent from 3-point range. In three games versus UC that season, the Hilltoppers averaged 84 points and shot 45.4 percent from the floor and 38.4 percent from 3. That included Charleston's 63-60 win over WLU in the inaugural Mountain East Conference tournament championship game, where the Hilltoppers shot just 36.8 percent from the floor.
In 2014-15, West Liberty averaged 100.5 points, shot 52 percent from the floor and 41.3 percent from 3. In two games against UC that season, WLU averaged 82.5 points, shot 44.4 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from 3. Of the five games West Liberty and Charleston have played in the last two seasons, the Hilltoppers have hit the century mark just once, in a 103-71 win on Feb. 1, 2014.
"I think we do a good job of controlling the boards against them," Kesic said, "and we do a really good job of slowing them down. They like to press and we're more a team that likes to play in the halfcourt.
"We do a good job of talking on defense," he added, "and if you talk well on defense and switch good and know where the main shooters are, we can do well."
Crutchfield said the two teams' contrasting styles help generate those lower numbers. That's the case on both offense and defense. Crutchfield said UC tends to hold on to the ball longer during possessions, which cuts down on possessions on West Liberty's end. He thinks the Golden Eagles play good man-to-man defense and rarely gamble, which reduces the opportunities for West Liberty to score early.
"I would be shocked if we scored 100 points on Charleston, unless they came into the game with a different philosophy," he said. "We're just hoping at the end of the game that we've got more points than they do."
While West Liberty dominates the offensive categories - first in Division II in points and shooting percentage and third in 3-point shooting percentage - Charleston has been one of the MEC's top defenses. The Golden Eagles are tied for first with West Virginia Wesleyan in scoring defense (70.9 points allowed per game), second in field goal percentage defense (41.4 percent) and second in 3-point field goal percentage defense (31.1 percent).
Charleston tries to take away a team's main weapons. It's been the mantra since Osborne arrived, and both he and the team take playing tough defense personally.
"It really bothers me when we can't guard," Osborne said. "When we give up stuff, it really bothers me. I think it's a toughness thing, and some of it is a focus-slash-awareness thing. It's like any other sport. You're trying to make people beat you on their third and fourth option, not their first and second."
While Charleston has defended West Liberty well, the Golden Eagles are still 1-4 in their last five games against the Hilltoppers. Offense has been the issue there. UC has averaged 69 points in those five games, so while West Liberty's scoring numbers are lower, Charleston has had problems getting the ball through the net itself.
Osborne felt UC struggled both offensively and defensively Monday in its 71-62 loss to Wheeling Jesuit, which snapped Charleston's four-game winning streak. UC averaged 87.8 points in that streak, but shot just 25 for 61 (41 percent) from the floor against the Cardinals. Jesuit also was able to shoot 53.3 percent (16 of 30) from the floor in the second half.
Osborne said the Golden Eagles must get stronger on both offense and defense with the challenge ahead of them tonight.
"Against good teams, you can't have lapses," he said. "We've got to try to get back on the horse pretty quick. There's no time to be pouting. We've got the No. 1 team in the country coming and they're not going to be worried about how we're feeling."