News and Notes
• The Tribe leads the all-time series with Charleston at 5-3, including a 3-0 mark in Williamsburg. The Cougars won the earlier meeting this season, 77-67, but the Tribe played without its leading scorer
Daniel Dixon. Last season, W&M swept the season series, including a 78-70 win in Williamsburg.
• Saturday's game between the Cougars and Tribe will be a clash of strengths. Charleston leads the CAA and ranks 10th nationally in scoring defense (62.2), while W&M is second in the league and 35th nationally in scoring (80.8). The Tribe is second in the CAA and 37th nationally in 3-point shooting at 38.6 percent, while Charleston leads the league and is sixth nationally, limiting teams to only 28.9 percent from 3.
• Saturday marks W&M's third annual Gold Rush Game and the second-straight season it will be played on Charter Day. W&M's charter as an institution was granted 324 years ago by the Crown in England. In 2015, W&M won the first Gold Rush Game, 78-62, over CAA leader Northeastern, before dominating Delaware, 90-64, in the event last season.
• The Green and Gold is 11-0 at home this season, one of 19 teams nationally to be undefeated at home in 2016-17. The 11-game home court winning streak is the fifth longest in W&M history and 17th longest active streak in the country.
• The Tribe currently ranks among the top 50 nationally in assists (10th at 17.4), field goal percentage (18th at 48.9), scoring (35th at 80.8), 3-pointers made per game (36th at 9.2), and 3-point percentage (37th at 38.6).
Scouting Charleston
- Charleston enters Saturday's games in second place in the CAA at 10-3. The Cougars are 19-7 overall and are coming off a buzzer-beating loss at home to Northeastern, 73-72, on Thursday night. CofC had won three straight prior to the loss, including an impressive 67-66 win at UNCW on Feb. 2.
- The Cougars sport one of the top defenses in the country. Charleston leads the CAA and ranks 10th nationally allowing foes to score just 62.2 points per game. They also lead the league and rank 33rd nationally according to KenPom.com in defensive efficiency (95.8).
- Charleston ranks among the top five in the country in 3-point field goal percentage defense, holding teams to just 28.9 percent from long range. CofC leads the CAA in both field goal percentage defense (41.2) and 3-point percentage defense. According to KenPom.com, the Cougars are 44th nationally in effective field goal percentage defense (44.4).
- Offensively, Charleston scores 67 points per game, while shooting 41 percent from the field and 32.2 percent from 3-point range. They are among the bottom three in the CAA in all three categories. CofC limits its turnovers, averaging only 10.6 per game this season, which is 14th nationally. Charleston scores 25.7 percent of its points at the free throw line, which ranks fifth in the country.
- Junior guard Joe Chealey is the Cougars top player, averaging 16.8 points per game, which ranks fourth in the CAA. He adds 3.1 assists per game and ranks ninth in the league at 39.7 percent from 3-point range. Chealey has been even better in CAA play, averaging 19 points per contest.
- Freshman Grant Riller and sophomore Jarrell Brantley both rank among the top 20 in the CAA in scoring at 13.3 and 13 points per game, respectively. Riller, who had 20 points in the first meeting with W&M, is averaging 16.5 points per game in CAA play. Brantley, who had a 17-point, 12-rebound double-double in the first game, is third in the CAA in rebounding at 8.2 per tilt.
- W&M leads the all-time series with Charleston at 5-3, including a 3-0 all-time mark in Williamsburg. Charleston won the earlier meeting between the teams, 77-67. The Green and Gold swept the season series in 2015-16, including a 78-70 victory in Williamsburg.
The Gold Rush Game
- The Tribe hosts its annual Gold Rush Game on Saturday for the third-straight year. The 2017 edition marks the second season in a row that the contest has been played in conjunction with W&M's Charter Day. Its marks the 324th year since W&M's Royal Charter was granted by the Crown of England. Fans are encouraged to wear gold for the event, while 6,000 free gold t-shirts will be handed out and 3,000 gold pom-poms.
- In its first two seasons, the Gold Rush Game has served the Tribe well. W&M rolled to a 78-62 win over CAA leader Northeastern in the first Gold Rush Game in 2015, before dominating Delaware, 90-64, last season. The Green and Gold shot better than 50 percent in both games against the Huskies (52.7) and the Blue Hens (53.2).
- Individually,
Omar Prewitt has led the way in scoring during each of the first two seasons of the Gold Rush Game. He averaged 20 points per contest, while 63.2 percent (12-of-19) from the field and 76.5 percent (13-of-17) from the free throw. Last season,
Greg Malinowski and
Connor Burchfield tallied 15 and 11 points, respectively, in the win over Delaware, while
David Cohn dished out 10 assists.
- Along with the performances on the court, the Gold Rush Game has been a success in the stands as well. Last season, a total of 6,028 fans attended the Gold Rush Game, making it the highest attended CAA game and best in a CAA arena in 2015-16. The 2015 event brought in 5,053 fans, which ranked among the top-five crowds in the league that year.
Home Sweet Home
- The Tribe is currently 11-0 on the year at home in Kaplan Arena following its four-straight wins over Delaware, UNCW, Drexel and Northeastern.
- W&M is one of 19 teams nationally that is currently undefeated at home in 2016-17. The 11-game home winning streak is the 17th longest active streak in the country.
- The Green and Gold's 11-game home court winning streak is the fifth longest in program history. It is the second best for the Tribe inside Kaplan Arena and the fourth-best single-season streak. W&M's school-record home court winning steak is 24 games from Feb. 21, 1948 through Jan. 7, 1950.
- The Tribe's current 11-game home win streak is the second longest under head coach
Tony Shaver. The Tribe won 14 consecutive home games between Feb. 17, 2014 and Feb. 11, 2015.
- With three remaining regular season home games, the Tribe is trying to go undefeated at home for the first time since 1950-51. In fact, W&M has gone unbeaten at home on six occasions in 1950-51 (13-0), 1948-49 (18-0), 1930-31 (7-0), 1921-22 (8-0), 1920-21 (3-0) and 1912-13 (6-0).
- Over the last three years, the Tribe is 35-5 (.875) inside Kaplan Arena. W&M was 12-2 in 2014-15 and 12-3 last season.
- This season, the Tribe averages 93.6 points per game inside Kaplan Arena, while shooting 55.7 percent from the field and 45.2 percent from 3-point range.
In the National Rankings
The 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 Feb. 9):
Assists Per Game - 10th (17.4)
Field Goal Percentage - 18th (48.9)
Blocked Shots Per Game - 25th (5.3)
Defensive Rebounds Per Game - 31st (27.6)
Assist-to-Turnover Ratio - 30th (1.34)
Scoring - 35th (80.8)
Three-Pointers Made Per Game - 36th (9.2)
Three-Point Percentage - 37th (38.6)
Fewest Personal Fouls Per Game - 84th (17.7)
Helping Hand
- An important characteristic of the Tribe's offense under head coach
Tony Shaver has been its ability to share the basketball. W&M currently ranks 10th nationally at 17.4 assists per game, and according to KenPom.com, is 23rd nationally in assist percentage (61.3), as of Feb. 9.
- Against Towson, W&M eclipsed the 400-assist mark for the fifth straight season and ninth time in the last 10 years. Last season, the Tribe dished out 500 assists for just the second time in school history, finishing with 501.
- The Tribe has led the CAA in assists in three of the last four years. The Tribe ranked among the top 100 nationally in assists per game each of the last three years, including 28th in 2015-16 (16.2) and 39th in 2014-15 (14.8).
- In 11 of Shaver's previous 13 seasons, W&M ranked among the top 100 in the country in assist percentage, according to KenPom.com. In fact, the Tribe has been among the top 50 in five of the last eight seasons. Assist percentage measures the percentage of made field goals assisted on by a team.
Dixon Named CAA Player of the Week for the Second Time
- For the second time in 2016-17, senior
Daniel Dixon was named the CAA Player of the Week on Feb. 6. He averaged 27.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game in leading W&M to a 2-1 record during the week. It marked the second-straight week that a Tribe player garnered the CAA weekly honor after senior
Omar Prewitt received the award on Jan. 30.
- Dixon, who took home the CAA Player of the Week honor on Jan. 2 as well, scored over 20 points in all three games last week and has tallied the mark in each of the Tribe's last five games. He shot 56.6 percent (30-of-53) from the field, 72.2 percent (13-of-18) from 3-point range and 83.3 percent (10-of-12) from the free throw line during the week.
- The Great Falls, Va., native is just the fourth player in the CAA to take home multiple player of the week awards in 2016-17, joining UNCW's Devontae Cacok (Nov. 21 and Dec. 19), Tyler Seibring of Elon (Jan. 23 and Jan. 30) and Northeastern's T.J. Williams (Nov. 14 and Dec. 26).
- In the Tribe's 108-85 win over Drexel, Dixon scored 23 of his game-high 32 points in the second half and finished the contest shooting 12-of-16 from the floor to go with six rebounds. He was a perfect 5-of-5 from 3-point range, which tied the W&M record for 3-point percentage in a game, and marked the third time in his career he made at least four 3-pointers without a miss in a game.
- Dixon followed with a nice stat line of 28 points, seven rebounds and four assists in the victory over Northeastern. He was 10-of-16 from the floor, including 5-of-7 from 3-point range against the Huskies. Dixon closed out the week scoring a game-high 23 points to go with four rebounds and four assists at Towson.
Oh What a Knight
- In his freshman season,
Nathan Knight has made a significant impact, averaging 7.6 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. Knight has scored in double figures in each of the Tribe's last three games, averaging 11.3 points per game. He is shooting 66.7 percent from the field and 83.3 percent from the free throw line during the stretch.
- Knight currently leads the CAA in blocked shots at 1.5 per game. Over the last six games, he is averaging 2.5 blocks per game. He tallied three against Delaware, four in the win over UNCW and five at Towson.
- Knight came up big on the road at Towson, scoring career-high 15 points on 4-of-6 shooting and 7-of-8 from the free throw line in 19 minutes. He pulled down a team-high five rebounds and blocked five shots.
- In his first collegiate start vs. Milligan earlier this season, Knight tallied the first double-double of his young career. The Green and Gold rookie scored 14 points on 4-of-6 from the floor and 6-of-7 at the free throw line to go along with 10 rebounds. It was the first double-double for a W&M freshman since 2008.
- To make his night against the Buffaloes even more impressive, Knight blocked a W&M freshman record seven shots. His seven rejections rank fourth in W&M history and the most since David Cully's school-record 10 blocked shots against George Mason in 1996. Knight is just the second player along with Cully, who owns the other seven contests, to have seven or more blocked shots in a game.
- Along with his double-double vs. Milligan, Knight enjoyed double-digit performance at Louisville (14 points and seven rebounds), Duke (11 points and five rebounds) and UNCW (10 points and four rebounds).
