WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary men's basketball team returns home to welcome league-leading Hofstra to Kaplan Arena for the Shoeless Showdown on Thursday night. The match-up pits the teams sitting in first and second in the Colonial Athletic Association standings, and the Pride is one of the hottest teams in America having won 10 in a row. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

The game will be the program's seventh annual Shoeless Showdown, teaming with C&F Bank and Chick-fil-A to raise awareness for children and adults in the area in need of shoes. Fans who donate a pair of new shoes will receive FREE admission to the game vs. Hofstra, a coupon for a FREE Chick-fil-A sandwich, $10 coupon toward a new C & F Bank checking account and two FREE tickets to an upcoming Tribe game (either Elon or Drexel). Donations will be made to Williamsburg FISH, Inc, and are also accepted at any C&F Bank in the Williamsburg area.

The contest will be broadcast online at Tribe Athletics TV via Stretch Internet. Tribe fans can catch the men's basketball action over the Tribe Radio Network with Jay Colley and Charlie Woollum 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
- W&M and Hofstra have split their last 22 meetings dating back to 2008, including each of the last 12 since Joe Mihalich took over the head coaching job with the Pride in 2013-14. The Tribe has won five of the last seven tilts between the teams in Williamsburg. The games have been close recently with four of the last nine being decided by a single possession, including two OT buzzer-beating wins for W&M.
 
- The Tribe has come on strong defensively with the start of CAA play. Over the first four games of the league slate, W&M ranks second in defensive efficiency (96.4), allowing opponents less than a point per possession. In its last six Division I games, W&M is holding opponents to 67 points per game. In CAA games, the Tribe leads the league, limiting its foes to just 29.5 percent from 3-point range.
 
- Over its last three contests, W&M held Delaware to 58 points, Towson to 61 and Drexel to 66. It marked the first time in three years that the Tribe limited three-straight opponents to 66 or fewer points. The 58 points allowed at Delaware on Jan. 3 was the lowest total for a CAA opponent in nearly two years, while Towson shot only 14.3 percent (2-of-14) from 3 on Dec. 30, which was the lowest for a CAA opponent since 2015.
 
- With the start of CAA play, the Tribe's 3-point production has increased. After shooting just 31.7 percent from 3 and hitting 7.9 triples per game through the non-conference season, the Tribe's numbers have jumped to 38.8 percent and 10 3-pointers per contest in league action. W&M is also scoring 41.4 percent of its points in CAA play on 3-pointers compared to just 32 percent in the non-conference.
 
- Junior Matt Milon scored 19 points in each of the Tribe's last three games and also started to find his form from 3-point range. In CAA play, Milon is averaged 4.3 treys per game, which ranks second in the league, and is shooting 48.6 percent from 3. He knocked down 5-of-10 from 3-point range at both Delaware and Drexel.
 
- Twice this season, freshman Chase Audige was named the CAA Rookie of the Week. He garnered the honor on Nov. 26 and Dec. 31. Audige is one of four CAA players to earn the league's top rookie honor on two occasions this season and the first W&M player since Omar Prewitt in 2013-14 to win multiple honors. Audige ranks third among CAA rookies and 28th overall in scoring at 9.4 points per game and eighth in the league in steals (1.2). 
 
- The Tribe dished out 20 or more assists in three of its first four CAA games and is averaging 20.7 per game in league play. In total, W&M has dished out 20 or more assists on six occasions this season and is 5-1 in those contests. Over the last nine seasons, the Green and Gold is 42-3 when dishing out 20 or more assists in a game.
 
- The Tribe has taken better care of the basketball recently. After averaging 15.9 turnovers per game in the opening seven games of the year, W&M is averaging just 9.4 per contest over the last nine. The Tribe leads the CAA and ranks 28th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.39). The Green and Gold has ranked among the top 20 nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio each of the last three years.
 
- Junior Justin Pierce ranks among the national leaders in both double-doubles and rebounding. He is third in the CAA and 32nd nationally in double-doubles. Pierce ranks 42nd nationally at 9.2 rebounds per game and 22nd in defensive rebounding (7.4). He is one of only seven players in the country averaging 15 points, nine rebounds and three assists per game (as of Jan. 9).
 
- Knight tallied his fourth 20-point, 10-rebound double-double of the year in the win over Drexel (24 points/12 rebounds). He ranks third in the league with eight 20-point games. Earlier this season, he became the 40th player in school history and 13th under head coach Tony Shaver to score 1,000 career points.
 
- Knight and Pierce lead the CAA with four 20-point, 10-rebound double-doubles apiece this season. The pair is also the only two players among the top 10 in the CAA in points, rebounds and assists. Knight is fourth in scoring (18.6), ninth in rebounding (7.1) and 10th in assists (3.1), while Piece is 10th in scoring (15.5), third in rebounding (9.2) and ninth in assists (3.5).
 
- 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 league in assists at 17.1 per game in 2018-19. That number also ranks 24th nationally. The Tribe is seventh in the country according to KenPom.com in assists percentage, recording an assist on 64 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.
 
- 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.