Basketball Game Preview: Wagner Red Raiders vs. O'Neill Eagles

The Wagner Red Raiders will venture away from home to square off against the O'Neill Eagles on Tuesday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.

Wagner will head into Thursday's game on the come-up: they were handed a 21-point defeat in their previous outing, but that didn't affect their clutch gene on Thursday. They had just enough and edged Parkston out 57-55.

Meanwhile, O'Neill had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 18.7 points) and they went ahead and made it four on Saturday. They blew past the Huskies 60-38. The Eagles have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five matchups by 22 points or more this season.

O'Neill found their leader in sophomore Hannah Hilker, who went 6 for 11 from beyond the arc on her way to 19 points and three steals. Hilker's afternoon made it nine games in a row in which she has scored at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Olivia Young, who posted ten points.

O'Neill's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 9-5. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 59.0 points per game. As for Wagner, their win bumped their record up to 7-3.

Wagner took their victory against O'Neill when the teams last played back in January of 2024 by a conclusive 66-44. The rematch might be a little tougher for Wagner since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.