W&M News and Notes
- Thursday will be the second of four W&M games in the 2018 Gotham Classic, which is in its sixth season. The Tribe competes in a multi-team exempt (MTE) event for the first time since the 2011-12 season and also travels to Notre Dame (Nov. 17) before hosting Radford (Nov. 20). W&M's last exempt event was the 2011 2K Sports Classic, when the Tribe traveled to St. John's and played Lehigh, Eastern Kentucky and Liberty in Lynchburg, Va.
- Freshman
L.J. Owens became the first Tribe player since 2015 to the named CAA Rookie of the Week on Monday. Owens averaged 11 points and 2.0 rebounds per game last week. His scoring average is tops among league rookies, while his field goal percentage of 61.5 percent (8-of-13) leads the Tribe and ranks fifth in the CAA.
- W&M is one of two teams in the CAA to have four players ranked among the top 25 in the league in scoring along with UNCW. Junior
Justin Pierce is fourth at 21 points per game followed by classmate
Nathan Knight (18.5) in eighth and junior Matt MIlon (11.5) and Owens (11.0) in 23rd and 25th, respectively.
- Pierce is the only player in the CAA currently averaged over 20 points and more than 10 rebounds per contest. He is one of three players, along with Charleston's Jarrell Brantley (16.5 ppg and 11.5 rpg) and Devontae Cacock (16.5 ppg and 10 rpg) to average a double-double on the year. Pierce, who pulled down 14 rebounds in the opener vs. High Point, ranks fourth in the CAA in scoring (21.0) and is tied for the league lead with Brantley in rebounds at 11.5 per game.
- Junior
Nathan Knight registered his 10th career double-double with 26 points and 11 rebounds at Duquesne on Saturday. Knight also led the Tribe in assists for the second-straight contest with four. He is one of three players in the CAA to rank among the top 10 in scoring (eighth at 18.5), rebounding (sixth at 8.5) and assists (fifth at 4.0) per game.
- Knight blocked three shots against High Point and followed it up with two rejections at Duquesne. He is second in the CAA at 2.5 per game. With his two blocks on Saturday, Knight increased his career total to 107 which moved into fifth place on the program's all-time list with W&M Hall of Famer Thomas Roberts(1990-93). He is three shy of fourth-place Marcus Kitts (2008-11).
- Through the first two games of the 2018-19 season, W&M ranks second in the CAA shooting 47.3 percent from the field. Over the last six years, the Tribe is one of two teams nationally, along with Gonzaga, to rank among the top 30 nationally in field goal percentage. Last season, W&M was second in the country at 51.1 percent.
- The Tribe has been one of the top teams in the country in terms of sharing the basketball. Each of the last two seasons, W&M ranked seventh nationally in assists per game at 17.5 in 2016-17 and 17.7 in 2017-18. In five of the last six years, the Green and Gold led the CAA in assists per game. W&M currently leads the league at 14.0 assists per game in 2018-19.
- W&M was picked fourth in the preseason CAA poll released in October by vote of the league's coaches, SIDs and media. Northeastern was the preseason CAA favorite followed by Charleston and Hofstra. The Tribe has finished inside the top four in the league each of the last five seasons, producing double-digit CAA wins.
- After earning All-CAA honors last season, Knight and Pierce were voted among the top 10 players in the league as Preseason All-CAA Second Team picks in October. It marks the sixth-straight year that W&M had two Preseason All-CAA picks. Knight and Pierce concluded 2018 on the CAA's second and third teams, respectively.
- Knight was named one of 21 players nationally to the Watch List for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award presented by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The 6-10 center was selected to the NBC Sports Preseason Mid-Major All-America Second Team in September.
- Second-year Law student
Paul Rowley and Milon both rank among the active NCAA Division I leaders in career 3-point percentage. Rowley is seventh on the list at 45.1 percent (88-of-195) from long range, while Milon comes in ninth at 44.4 percent (120-of-270).
- Nine of the Tribe's 11 DI non-conference opponents in 2018 finished in the top five of their respective leagues last season. The slate features six teams that competed in the 2018 post season, including NCAA Tournament foes Marshall and Virginia. In total, the Tribe's opponents won 60.8 percent (226-146) of their games in 2017-18.
- According to advanced statistical website KenPom.com, the Tribe has ranked among the top 25 nationally in effective field goal percentage and in the top 60 in adjusted offensive efficiency each of the last six years. In 2017-18, W&M finished with program bests of second in effective field goal percentage (59.5) and 27th in offensive efficiency (115.3).
- Since 2013-14, the Tribe is shooting nearly 40 percent from 3-point range (39.7). The Green and Gold has topped the CAA in 3-point percentage in five of the last six seasons and in 3-pointers made per game in three of those campaigns. The Tribe has averaged 9.1 3-pointers made per game over the last five years. This season, W&M ranks fourth in the CAA in 3-point percentage (37.8) and 3-pointers made per game (8.5).
