WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Following a season-opening win on Wednesday night, the William & Mary men's basketball team hits the road to play its first of four games in the 2018 Gotham Classic at Duquense on Saturday. W&M plays in an MTE event for the first time since 2011, and the Dukes will be the first of three Atlantic 10 Conference opponents for the Tribe this season. The game tips at 5 p.m. from the A.J. Palumbo Center in Pittsburgh, Pa. and will be broadcast on ESPN+.

Tribe fans can catch the men's basketball action over the Tribe Radio Network with Andrew Phillips and Kris Sears on the call. The Tide 92.3 FM and 107.9 Bach FM are the flagship stations of the Tribe Radio Network and the audio is also available over the Web at TribeAthletics.com.

Catch up with the Tribe through social media. Fans can keep up with W&M men's basketball by following the program on social media as well. Be sure to check out the Tribe on Twitter (@WMTribeMBB), Facebook (WMTribeMBB), Instagram (WMTribeMBB) and Snapchat (TribeMensHoops).
 

W&M News and Notes
- The Tribe opened the 2018-19 season with a 79-69 victory over High Point on Wednesday night to improve to 15-1 all-time in openers under head coach Tony Shaver. Saturday's contest will be Duquesne's season opener.
 
- Saturday will be the first 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 Illinois-Chicago (Nov. 15) and Notre Dame (Nov. 17) before hosting Radford (Nov. 20). W&M's last exempt event was the 2011 2K Sports Classic, when the Tribe faced St. John's, Lehigh, Eastern Kentucky and Liberty.
 
- Duquesne will be the first of three Atlantic 10 Conference opponents for the Tribe this season, which is a first in program history. W&M hosts Saint Joseph's on Nov. 24 and George Mason on Dec. 1. It marks the 10th-straight season and 21st year in the last 24 that W&M has played an A-10 opponent. The Tribe faces multiple A-10 teams in the same season for the fourth time overall and first since 1982-83. Three of W&M's six wins against the A-10 have come under head coach Tony Shaver.
 
- Junior Justin Pierce recorded his eighth career double-double in the opener, tallying 23 points and 14 rebounds. He was one of only three CAA players to record a double-double this season (as of Nov. 8). His 14 rebounds tied for the most in the CAA along with Charleston's Jarrell Brantley.
 
- Freshman L.J. Owens made an impact in his rookie debut, hitting his first five shots in the first half to pace the Tribe. He finished with 14 points in the opener, which marked the most for a CAA true freshman through Nov. 8. Charleston's Zep Jasper scored 15 after redshirting for CofC last season as a rookie.
 
- Junior Matt Milon scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half of the Tribe's win over High Point on Wednesday.  the win over High Point. He hit all five of his shots in the second half, including a perfect 4-of-4 from 3-point range. His four triples rank second in the CAA (as of Nov. 8).
 
- As a team, the Tribe tallied seven blocked shots vs. High Point, a total that ranks second in the CAA. Each of the last four years W&M has averaged 4.3 blocked shots per game and produced top-10 efforts in program history.
 
- Junior Nathan Knight blocked three shots against the Panthers, which is tied for the most in the CAA. His 105 career rejections rank sixth in W&M history, and he is just two shy of fifth place on the program's all-time list. Freshman Mekhel Harvey blocked two shots vs. High Point and ranks third in the league in rejections.
 
- A focus of head coach Tony Shaver and his team during the preseason was on defense. After allowing 1.15 points per possession last season, the Tribe showed marked improvement in the season opener, holding High Point to less than a point per possession (0.98). Over the final 5:43 after High Point tied the game at 62, W&M limited the visitors to just 2-of-8 from the floor with three turnovers over it final 10 possessions.
 
- The Tribe shot 49.1 percent (27-of-55) in the opening win over High Point, which was the top performance in the CAA through the opening set of games. W&M connected on 53.3 percent (16-of-30) in the second half.
 
- 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.
 
- Senior 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 45.1 percent (120-of-266).
 
- 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.