News and Notes- W&M has won six straight against UNCW entering Saturday's match-up. The Seahawks though lead the all-time series at 40-25, including a 19-13 mark in Wilmington. Last season, these teams played two memorable games as W&M rallied from a 20-point deficit to win in Williamsburg, 76-72, before tallying a tough 56-53 win on the road.
- Saturday's match-up pits the top two-point shooting team in league play against the top two-point field goal defense in the CAA. In league games, W&M lead the CAA at 61.1 percent from two-point range, while UNCW's is the conference's top defense limiting teams to 42.6 percent inside the arc.
- W&M and UNCW are the top two shot blocking team's in the CAA. The Tribe leads the league and ranks 22nd nationally at 5.5 per game followed by UNCW at 5.3 per contest, which is 34th in the country. W&M boasts four of the top 15 shot blockers in the CAA, including league-leader
Terry Tarpey.
- The Green and Gold's 12-4 start to the season is the third-best mark in school history through 16 games. W&M started 14-2 in 1948-49 and 13-3 in 2009-10.
- The Tribe is off to a 4-1 CAA start for the second straight season and third time overall under head coach
Tony Shaver. This season marks the fifth time as a member of the CAA that W&M won four of its first five league games.
- Thanks to a pair of wins last week, the Tribe moved back into the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 at No. 24. W&M was also receiving votes in the Mid-Major Madness Power 15.
Scouting UNCWUNCW enters the game with the Tribe having won its last two games, both on the road, at Delaware, 85-67, and Elon, 91-82. The Seahawks own victories in six of their last eight games and sit at 11-5 overall, including a 3-2 league ledger.
The Seahawks pressure the basketball on the defensive end, forcing opponents into 17.4 turnovers per game, which ranks eighth nationally. UNCW ranks 26th in the country in turnover percentage, forcing foes into miscues on 21.9 percent of their possessions. They have increased that number to 24.5 percent in CAA play. According to KenPom.com, UNCW ranks eighth nationally in steal percentage at 6.2. The Seahawks are one of the fastest teams in the country, ranking among the top 50 nationally at 72.9 possessions per game. UNCW leads the CAA in steals per game (9.1) and turnover margin (+6.31), while ranking second in blocked shots (5.3). The turnover margin ranks third in the country, while the steal average is 11th nationally.
Offensively, the Seahawks lead the CAA and rank 23rd nationally at 82.8 points per game. They are first in the league in scoring margin (+11.2), which ranks 42nd in the country, while shooting 45.6 percent from the floor. UNCW also does good job of not turning the ball over, ranking 17th nationally in turnover percentage at 15.2.
Junior transfer Chris Flemmings leads the Seahawks and ranks ninth in the CAA at 15.4 points per game. He is shooting 55 percent from the field, which ranks third in the CAA. Flemmings has been even better in league play, scoring at a 17.6 per game clip. Senior Craig Ponder and junior Denzel Ingram both average in double figures for UNCW at 12.6 and 10.5 points per game, respectively. Sophomore Jordan Talley leads the Seahawks and ranks fourth in the CAA in assists at 4.4 per contest.
UNCW leads the all-time series with the Tribe at 40-25, but W&M has won six straight over the Seahawks. In Wilmington, UNCW holds a 19-13 advantage. Last season, the team's played a pair of memorable contests. W&M overcame a 20-point deficit and rallied for a 76-72 victory in Williamsburg. In the meeting at UNCW,
Tom Schalk's putback with 1:39 left gave W&M the lead for good in a 56-53 win.
Among the Best Starts in School History Winners of four straight and sitting at 12-4 on the year, the Tribe is off to the third-best start, through 16 games, in school history. It marks the sixth time in the 111 years of W&M basketball that a team started the year 12-4 or better through 16 games. The 1948-49 and 2009-10 teams are the only seasons with a better start. In 1948-49, W&M started 14-2 on the way to a school-record 24 wins. The
Tony Shaver-led 2009-10 team began the year at 13-3 on the way to earning the program's second NIT bid and finishing with 22 wins. Along with the 2015-16 team, the Tribe started 12-4 in 1927-28, 1977-78 and 1997-98. W&M claimed a share of the CAA regular season title and won 20 games in 1997-98.
Playing in the ClutchThe Tribe has made it a habit of playing well in the clutch, and getting production of a number of different players. Here is a look at some of the Tribe's recent clutch performances:
- Trailing by three with 1:34 left at Charleston on Jan. 14, senior
Sean Sheldon and junior
Omar Prewitt made big plays down the stretch to help W&M pull out a 63-61 win. Prewitt hit a floater to cut the deficit to one with just 54 seconds left, before Sheldon pulled down a rebound on the other end and was fouled. His free throws with 32.8 left put the Tribe on top for good at 62-61. Prewitt came up big on the defensive end drawing a charge to preserve the road win as CofC's Cameron Johnson drove toward the hoop with six seconds left.
- In the Tribe's final game before Christmas on Dec. 21, junior
Daniel Dixon rose to the occasion in leading the Green and Gold to a 78-75 overtime win over three-time defending Big South regular season champion High Point. Dixon scored 12 of the Tribe's final 14 points, including nine in overtime. He knocked down the game-winning 3-pointer from the right side with 3.4 seconds to break a 75-all deadlock.
- Senior
Terry Tarpey and Prewitt combined to make clutch play after clutch play in the 55-47 win over Old Dominion on Dec. 1. The duo scored W&M's final 14 points, and Tarpey tallied all seven of his points in the final 2:33, including the go-ahead lay-up with 57 seconds remaining. Tarpey's traditional 3-point play with 13.7 seconds left put the game away. Prewitt scored 15 of his game-high 18 points in the final 10 minutes. Twice over the final 3:30, he answered ODU buckets to keep the game tied before dishing to Tarpey on the go-ahead bucket.
Starting CAA Play 4-1With its win on Thursday, the Tribe improved to 4-1 and sit in a first-place tie in the league standings with Hofstra. It marks the second straight season in which W&M started CAA play with victories in four of its first five games and the third time under W&M head coach
Tony Shaver. Overall, the Tribe has started 4-1 in CAA play on five occasions in W&M's 31 years as a member of the league. Along with the last two seasons, the Green and Gold enjoyed 4-1 CAA starts in 1994-95, 1997-98 and 2009-10. The Green and Gold began CAA play at 6-1 in both 1997-98 and 2009-10, while it was 5-1 to start the league slate last season.
Tarpey Named CAA Player of the Week After leading W&M to a 2-0 week, senior
Terry Tarpey was named the CAA Player of the Week for the second time in his career and first time this season on Jan. 11. He averaged 16 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and four steals per game in helping the Tribe to wins over Drexel and Northeastern. Tarpey scored a season-high 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting to go with six rebounds and six steals in the Tribe's 72-63 win at Drexel. He followed that up with a 11-point, 11-rebound double-double in a victory over Northeastern. Tarpey was named CAA Player of the Week on Jan. 12, 2015 after recording the first triple-double in W&M history.
Impact TransferSophomore guard
David Cohn, who joined the W&M program after spending his freshman campaign at Colorado State, is starting to hit his stride as the schedule turns to CAA play. Over the last five games, he is averaging 11.8 points and four assists per game, while shooting 58.8 percent from the floor (20-of-34) and a league-best 60 percent from 3-point range (9-of-15). In league play, he leads the CAA in 3-point percentage and ranks fourth in field goal percentage. Cohn scored a career-high 16 points against Towson on 5-of-9 shooting, including a 2-of-4 effort from 3-point range. In W&M's win at Charleston, he topped W&M with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting and 3-of-5 from 3-point range. On the year, Cohn has started all 16 games at the point guard position and led W&M in assists in 10 contests. He ranks as one of the top assist men the CAA, dishing out 3.8 per game, which ranks sixth in the league. Cohn has also protected the ball, sporting the CAA's second-best assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.7, which also ranks 58th nationally.
Hot Shooting Starts in CAA Play After winning three straight when trailing at halftime to end the non-conference slate, the Tribe has jumped out to fast starts in every game in CAA play. In the first half of its five league contests, W&M is shooting a combined 57.5 percent (77-of-134) from the field and averaging 38.6 points per first half. The Green and Gold shot better than 60 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes to jump out to a 19-point halftime lead over Charleston on Jan. 2 and a 17-point advantage at Drexel on Jan. 7. W&M connected on 60.9 percent (17-of-28), including 7-of-13 from 3-point range, in the first half against the Cougars, before shooting 63 percent (17-of-27) and 5-of-10 from 3-point range in the opening period at Drexel.
In the National RankingsThe Tribe ranks among the top 100 nationally in a number of statistical categories. Here is a look at where W&M ranks nationally (as of Jan. 14):
4th in 3-Point Field Goal Percentage Defense (.271)
16th in Defensive Rebounds Per Game (29.4)
22nd in Blocked Shots Per Game (5.5)
24th in Fouls Per Game (16.6)
31st in Field Goal Percentage (.482)
42nd in Field Goal Percentage Defense (.397)
45th in Assist-to-Turnover Ratio (1.34)
54th in Turnovers Per Game (11.5)
54th in Winning Percentage (.750)
71st in Assists Per Game (15.4)
76th in 3-Point Field Goal Percentage (.370)
79th in Scoring Margin (+7.9)
79th in Scoring Defense (66.9)
