W&M News and Notes
- W&M and Virginia meet of the 81st time on Saturday. The Cavaliers lead the all-time series at 54-26 and the teams meet for the third time in the last nine years. W&M looks for its first win over UVa since 1984 and its first in Charlottesville since 1977.
- The Tribe is 16-97 all-time against the ACC, including three wins under head coach
Tony Shaver over the last 10 seasons. W&M won at NC State, 85-68, behind 51.7 percent shooting in 2015. The Tribe posted ACC road games against a pair of eventual NCAA Tournament teams in Wake Forest, 78-68, and Maryland, 83-77, during the 2009-10 season. The Terps went on to share the ACC regular season title. Despite leading at the half and by three with 10:58 left, the Tribe fell at Notre Dame earlier this season, 73-64.
- The Green and Gold has played one of the toughest schedules in the country. According to the NCAA's new NET rankings, W&M's schedule currently ranks 67th in the country, playing opponents with an average NET rating of 142 (as of Dec. 20). W&M has played six road games in the non-conference and will play its CAA-high seventh in the non-conference finale at Virginia, which is third in the NET rankings. The Green and Gold's road opponents are a combined 38-5 (as of Dec. 20) at home in 2018.
- Junior
Nathan Knight became the 40th player in school history and 13th under head coach
Tony Shaver to score 1,000 career points with his 24-point effort at Hampton on Dec. 8. He has led W&M in scoring in eight of 11 games and ranks third in the CAA with six 20-point games. He has scored 20 or more in five of the last seven games and in 17 contests over last two years (42 games). Knight, who was named the Lou Henson National Player of the Week on Nov. 26, ranks among the top 15 in the CAA in nine categories, including second in field goal percentage (.589) and blocked shots (1.4), fifth in scoring (19.1), eighth in rebounding (7.6) and 11th in assists (3.1).
- Junior
Justin Pierce recorded his fifth double-double at Hampton and ranks 25th nationally in double-doubles. He is the only player in the CAA to rank among the top 10 in the league in points (sixth at 17.6), rebounds (second at 10.2) and assists (ninth at 3.6). Pierce is one of only two players in the country averaging 15 points, 10 rebounds and three assists per game along with Wisconsin's Ethan Happ (19.3 ppg, 10.8 rpg, 4.9 apg).
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Paul Rowley was named one of 30 candidates for the 2018-19 Senior CLASS Award®. The award recognized DI seniors with notable achievements in four categories (community, classroom, character and competition). W&M is one of three schools (out of 353 in DI) to have both a men's and women's player recognized as Bianca Boggs was also honored. Rowley, a second-year law student who graduated magna cum lade in just three years with a double major in finance and computer science, is the third Tribe player to be named a candidate, joining Quinn McDowell '12 and Omar Prewitt '17. The CAA led all conferences with four players on the men's 30-player list. The 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award will be named in February.
- W&M, which has led the CAA five of the last six years, once again tops the conference in assists at 17.1 per game in 2018-19. That number also ranks 29th nationally. The Tribe is 17th in the country according to KenPom.com in assists percentage, recording an assist on 61.4 percent of its made field goals. W&M has ranked among the top 50 in the category in 10 of head coach
Tony Shaver's 16 seasons, including each of the last four.
- The Tribe's freshman class has accounted for 86.8 minutes per game this season. W&M's rookies have produced averages of 23.7 points, 9.5 rebounds and 7.4 assists in 2018-19. The group has accounted for 30.7 percent of W&M's scoring, 27.9 percent of its rebounds and 43.1 percent of its assists. According to KenPom.com, the Tribe is the 20th youngest team in the country in terms of experience, averaging just 1.05 years per player.
- In two of the first three weeks of the season, freshmen
L.J. Owens (Nov. 12) and
Chase Audige (Nov. 26) were named the CAA Rookie of the Week. The duo is the first Tribe teammates to earn the league's weekly rookie honor in the same season since 2004-05. Owens ranks fourth among CAA rookies in scoring at 9.4 points per game followed by Audige in fifth at 8.1 per contest.
- Pierce is one of the top rebounders in the country, ranking 15th at 10.2 per game. He averages 7.9 defensive rebounds per game which ranks second in the CAA and 11th nationally. His defensive rebounding percentage (28.6) is 20th in the country.
- 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 CollegeInsider.com Lou Henson Mid-Major Player of the Year Watch List and was an NBC Sports Preseason Mid-Major All-America Second Team in September.
- With his two blocks at Hampton, Knight moved past Marcus Kitts '11 and into fourth on the Tribe's career blocked shots list. His 117 blocked shots are two away third-place Terry Tarpey '16. Knight's career block total ranks 41st among active NCAA DI players. He ranks second in the CAA at 1.4 per game this season.
- W&M erased a 20-point second-half deficit in an 87-85 win over Saint Joseph's on Nov. 24. The Tribe shot 67.7 percent (21-of-31) in the final 20 minutes and Knight scored with 1.7 seconds left for the game-winner. It marked W&M's third comeback of 20 or more points under head coach
Tony Shaver and 27th double-digit comeback overall.
