W&M News and Notes
- W&M and ODU meet for the 46th-straight season dating back to 1974. The Monarchs lead the all-time series at 67-22, but the Tribe has won six of the last seven meetings, including a 79-77 buzzer-beating win last season in Williamsburg. W&M has won two of the last three meetings in Norfolk, including a 65-54 win in 2016.
- ODU is the second Conference USA foe in the last week for W&M as the Tribe traveled to Marshall on Nov. 28. W&M is 6-4 all-time against C-USA, which was established in 1995. The Tribe has won six of its last eight against the league over the last six seasons.
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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.
- The Tribe ranks 15th nationally in effective field goal percentage (57.0) and 16th in two-point field goal percentage (58.2) according to KenPom.com. W&M has ranked among the top 20 nationally in both categories each of the last six years.
- W&M, which has led the CAA five of the last six years, tops the conference in assists at 17 per game in 2018-19, which ranks 36th nationally. The Tribe is 14th in the country according to KenPom.com in assists percentage, recording an assist on 62.1 percent of its made field goals. W&M has ranked among the top 50 nationally 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 90.8 minutes per game this season. W&M's rookies have produced averages of 25.1 points, 9.9 rebounds and seven assists in 2018-19. The group has accounted for 32.7 percent of W&M's scoring, 30.5 of its rebounds and 41.1 percent of its assists. According to KenPom.com, the Tribe is the 19th youngest team in the country in terms of experience, averaging just one year per player.
- Junior
Justin Pierce recorded his fourth double-double in six games against Mason and ranks 15th nationally in double-doubles. He is the only player in the CAA to rank among the top 10 in the league in points (third at 19.0), rebounding (2nd at 10.8) and assists (8th at 3.5). Pierce is one of only four players in the country averaging 17 points, 10 rebounds and three assists per game along with Kansas's Dedric Lawson (18.8 ppg, 11.2 rpg, 3.5 apg), Wisconsin's Ethan Happ (17.4 ppg, 11.6 rpg, 5.4 apg) and BYU's Yoeli Childs (22 ppg, 11.9 rpg, 3.4 apg).
- Junior
Nathan Knight, who is only 27 points shy of becoming the 40th player in school history with 1,000 career points, led W&M with 22 points vs. George Mason, marking his fourth 20-point game of the season, which ranks third in the CAA. He has scored 20 or more in three of the last four games and in 15 contests over last two years (39 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 fifth in scoring (18.3), ninth in assists (3.4) and 11th in rebounding (6.5).
- 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. Both players are averaging 9.3 points per game, which ranks fourth among CAA rookies.
- Pierce is one of the top rebounders in the country, ranking 11th at 10.8 per game. He averages 8.2 defensive rebounds per game which leads the CAA and ranks eighth nationally. His defensive rebounding percentage (29.5) is 17th 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.
- 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.
- Rowley and junior
Matt Milon both rank among the active NCAA Division I leaders in career 3-point percentage. Rowley is eighth on the list at 44.3 percent (90-of-203) from long range, while Milon comes in 13th at 43.8 percent (135-of-308).
- Knight is 27th among active NCAA DI players in career field goal percentage (.581) and 50th in career blocked shots (109).
