News and Notes- Northeastern and W&M have split the 20 games in the all-time series between the programs with eight contests decided by five points or less. The Tribe downed NU, 78-60, in Williamsburg earlier this season.
- Thursday's contest pits the top two 3-point shooting teams in the CAA. W&M leads the CAA and ranks 33rd nationally at 38.2 percent from distance, while NU is second in the league and 49th in the country at 37.8 percent.
- For the seventh time in the 111-year history of Tribe basketball, W&M posted 15 wins in its first 21 games of the year. This season marks the second time under head coach
Tony Shaver that W&M accomplished the feat and the third time since 1950.
- The Tribe tied the school record for 3-pointers made (16) in its win over Delaware on Jan. 28. Over the last four games, W&M is averaging 11 3-pointers and shooting 42.3 percent (44-of-104) from long range.
- In four of the last seven games, the Tribe has dished out 20 or more assists, including the second most in school history with 28 at Delaware. W&M ranks 25th nationally in assists at 16.6 per game.
- Senior
Terry Tarpey scored in double figures in eight straight games, averaging 13.6 points per game during the stretch. He is shooting 55.8 percent from the field and 80.8 percent at the free throw line in those games.
- Junior
Omar Prewitt, who scored 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting in the win over Northeastern on Jan. 9, averaged 17 points, five rebounds, 4.5 assists and three steals per game last week in W&M's pair of wins.
Scouting NortheasternNortheastern enters the contest with the Tribe at 12-11 overall and 4-6 in CAA play. The Huskies have lost their last four games, including three at home, and six of their last seven. NU's recent skid started with a 78-60 loss at W&M on Jan. 9. Over the last three contests, Northeastern has been forced to play without senior Quincy Ford, who is one of the top players in the CAA, due to injury.
The Huskies are one of the best shooting teams in the CAA, leading the league in free throw percentage (71.7) and ranking second in 3-point percentage (37.8). NU is averaging nine 3-pointers per game and has increased that total to 9.5 in CAA play. The Huskies scored at 73.7-points-per-game clip offensively, while allowing 71.8 on the defensive end. Teams are shooting a CAA-best 45.7 percent from the field against NU. Northeastern ranks third in the CAA at 6.6 steals per game.
Senior David Walker leads the conference in scoring at 18.5 points per game. He also tops the league in 3-point percentage (42.6) and 3-pointers made per game (3.0), while coming in second in free throw shooting (86.4 percent) and sixth in assists (4.0). Ford, who scored 18 against W&M in the first meeting, ranks fifth in the CAA at 16.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. Senior Zach Stahl rounds out the Huskies double-digit scorers at 11.3 per game, while ranking fifth in the CAA in field goal percentage (49.3) and 10th in rebounding (6.5).
With its victory over NU earlier this season, the Tribe evened the all-time series between the teams at 10 apiece. Eight of the 20 meetings between the teams have been decided by five or less points, and the Huskies have won eight of the nine meetings in Boston. The Tribe's lone victory at Northeastern came in 2014 when W&M downed NU, 82-70.
Don't Call it a ComebackIn its victory over James Madison on Sunday, the Tribe rallied from an 18-point first-half deficit to pick up a 68-62 victory, marking the second-largest comeback for the Green and Gold under head coach
Tony Shaver. Last season, W&M overcame a 22-point deficit with a minute remaining in the first half to defeat UNCW, 76-72, in Williamsburg. The comeback was the largest in program history and the second biggest in CAA annals. The Tribe's comeback win over James Madison marked the second time this season and 19th under Shaver that W&M rallied from a double-digit deficit to pick up a victory. After falling behind by 18 points against JMU on Jan. 31, the Tribe held the Dukes to just 27.7 percent shooting and 3-of-25 from 3-point range over the final 28:55 of the game. W&M also shot 56 percent from the floor and hit 11-of-13 at the charity stripe in the second half to dispatch JMU.
Among the Best Starts in Program HistoryThanks to its triumph on Sunday, the Tribe improved to 15-6 on the year, equaling its best start through 21 games under head coach
Tony Shaver. In fact, it marks the seventh time in the 111-year history of W&M basketball that the Green and Gold recorded 15 wins in at least its first 21 games of a season. Three of those seasons have come since 1950, including 1997-98 and 2009-10. In four of those previous six campaigns W&M posted 20-wins seasons, while the other two years in 1926-27 (15-5) and 1928-29 (17-6) included only 20 and 23 games, respectively, on the schedule. The Tribe's 20-win seasons after winning 15 of its first 21 games came in 1948-49 (24 wins), 1949-50 (23), 1997-98 (20) and 2009-10 (22). The last time a Green and Gold team started better than 15-6 through 21 games came in 1949-50 when it posted its second-straight 16-5 start.
Rallying at the HalfHalftime deficits have not fazed the Tribe in 2015-16. The Green and Gold has trailed at the break this season on nine occasions and is 6-3 in those games. W&M rallied from halftime deficits in each of its last three non-conference victories over Mary Washington, High Point and Central Michigan. It marked the first time since 2008 that the Tribe overcame halftime deficits in three straight games to pull out victories. It was the offense that led the way after halftime in those tilts as W&M averaged 55.7 points per game in the second half and overtime and shot 56.4 percent from the field and 54.8 percent from 3-point range. More recently in CAA play, the Tribe rallied from a 12-point deficit against James Madison on Jan. 31. The Green and Gold did it on both end of the court, shooting 56 percent from the field and hitting 11-of-13 from the free throw line in the second half. Defensively, W&M limited JMU to 32.3 percent shooting and only 2-of-16 (12.5 percent) from 3-point range over the final 20 minutes.
Give Me 20 Sporting the CAA's top offense, the Tribe has a number of players who can make an impact by providing a scoring punch. In fact, with
David Cohn's career-high 23 points at Delaware, six different Tribe players have scored 20 or more points in a game this season. The six players with 20-point games are the most in the CAA. Five Hofstra players own 20-point contests, while Charleston, Delaware, JMU, Towson and UNCW have four players each. Junior
Omar Prewitt leads the Tribe with seven 20-point games, which ranks fourth in the CAA. Junior
Daniel Dixon has scored 20 or more points in three contests this season. Seniors
Terry Tarpey and
Sean Sheldon scored 21 and 20 points at Drexel and UNCW, respectively. Sophomore
Connor Burchfield accomplished the feat in a win over Elon with 20 points on Jan. 21, while Cohn pulled the trick at Delaware.
Protecting the Leather Over the last three years, W&M has been one of the top teams in the country at protecting the basketball, ranking among the top 75 nationally each season. During the 2015-16 campaign, the Tribe ranks 28th nationally in fewest turnovers per game at 11.0. W&M was 26th in 2013-14 (10.3) and 73rd in 2014-15 (11.5). The Green and Gold turned the ball over just five times in its win at Delaware on Jan. 28. It marked the second time this season that W&M turned it over on only five occasions in a game, which is the ninth-lowest single-game total in program history. This season, W&M is 7-1 when turning the ball over 10 or fewer times. Along with ranking among the national leaders in fewest turnovers, the Tribe has ranked among the top 40 in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio. The Green and Gold is currently 17th nationally in assist-to-turnover (1.52). W&M was 31st in the category in 2013-14 (1.35) and 40th in 2014-15 (1.28).
Top 3-Point Shooting Team For the fourth straight season, the Tribe leads the CAA in 3-point shooting at 38.2 percent. In fact, the Green and Gold has ranked among the top 50 nationally in 3-point field goal percentage each of the last four years, including 33rd this season. W&M is one of only four teams nationally, along with Duke, Drake and Gonzaga, to rank among the top 50 in the country each of the last four years. The Tribe has upped its 3-point shooting since getting into conference play, connecting at a 39.4 percent clip in league action.
CAA Play is Tarpey TimeSince entering CAA play, senior
Terry Tarpey has increased his scoring production. It is a similar pattern that the Stamford, Conn., native followed during his junior season as well. After scoring at a 9.6 per game clip in the non-conference this season, the Tribe senior bumped his scoring average to 12.2 in CAA play, which ranks 22nd in the league. In 2014-15, Tarpey averaged 7.6 points per game in the non-conference slate, before pushing his averaged to 14.4 per contest in CAA action, which was ninth in the league. In the Tribe's win at Drexel on Jan. 7, Tarpey scored a season-high 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting. All four of Tarpey's career 20-point games have been in league play.
