W&M News and Notes
- Saturday will be the Tribe's first game against a Mid-American Conference opponent since 2017. The Green and Gold owns three wins against the MAC in 12 games, and Buffalo will be the seventh of the 12 current members of the MAC that the Tribe has faced. Buffalo head coach Jim Whitesell owns a pair of wins over the Tribe when he was the head coach at Loyola (Ill.).
- Senior
Nathan Knight is one of six current D1 players with 1,500 career points and 600 career rebounds. This season, the 6-10 center moved into the program's top 10 in both scoring (9th at 1617 points) and rebounding (10th at 699). He is one of only two players in program history, along with Jeff Cohen (1958-61), to rank among the top 10 in both categories. Knight was one of five finalists for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year last season.
- Junior
Luke Loewe is enjoying a breakout season, ranking among the national leaders in shooting. He leads the CAA in 3-point shooting at 58.8% and ranks fourth in field goal % (63.0). According to KenPom.com, the 6-4 guard is 15th nationally in effective field goal % (73.9) and 25th in true shooting % (73.0). Loewe doubled his previous career-high with 26 points on 8-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range and 7-of-9 at the free throw line, in the win over Morehead State.
- On Nov. 18, senior
Andy Van Vliet was named the CAA Player of the Week after averaging 21.5 points and nine rebounds per game in two wins. He tallied 21 points on 5-of-9 from 3 in the one-point win at Wofford, before netting a career-high 22 points to go with 12 rebounds vs. Hampton. Van Vliet notched his third double-double of the year with 16 points and 13 rebounds at Oklahoma.
- Knight dominated at Big 12 opponent Oklahoma on Nov. 18 to the tune of a season-high 30 points. He was 13-of-18 from the floor, including 2-of-5 from 3-point range. It marked his 10th career game of 30 or more points, which is a program record.
- Both Knight and Van Vliet rank among the top 25 nationally in double-doubles and in the top 10 in the CAA in both scoring and rebounds. Knight is second in the country with five double-doubles, while Van Vliet is 23rd with three. Knight's 27 career double-doubles rank sixth among active D1 players and are the most at W&M in the last 43 years. Knight ranks third in the CAA in scoring (19.9) and second in rebounding (10.3), while Van Vliet is ninth in scoring (15.6) and third on the glass (9.3).
- The Tribe leads the country in road wins with three. W&M tied a school record with three-straight road wins to open the season. On Nov. 12, the Green and Gold snapped Wofford's 17-game home court win streak, which was the fourth-longest in the country.
- The Green and Gold have proven to be a dangerous offensive team in the early part of 2019-20. According to KenPom.com, W&M ranks 16th nationally in effective field goal % (57.3). The Tribe tallied season-highs shooting 60% from the field, hitting 13 3-pointers and scoring 95 points in the win over Morehead State. The Tribe ranks second in the CAA in 3-point % (40.0) and field goal % (49.4) and fourth in scoring (74.6). W&M comes in 29th nationally in 3-point % and 34th in field goal %.
- In six of its seven games, the Tribe has outrebounded its opponent. W&M ranks third in the CAA in rebounding margin at +3.7. The Tribe is 5-1 this season when it outrebounds its opponent and 37-16 over the last four sea-sons. W&M leads the CAA in defensive rebounding % (78.2) and is second in defensive rebounds (29.7).
- The Tribe outplayed Big 12 foe Oklahoma, who ranks just outside the top 25 in both the AP and coaches poll, for the majority of the teams meeting on Nov. 18. W&M led the game for nearly 34 minutes, including by as much as 11 in the first half. The Tribe outshot OU (46.7% to 41.8%), hit more 3-pointers (10-3) and outrebounded the Sooners (40-35), but OU used a 10-2 run in the final three minutes to rally past W&M.
- Graduate student
Bryce Barnes has emerged on the offensive end. His driving lay-up with 3.8 seconds left gave W&M an 80-79 win at Wofford on Nov. 12. He followed by scoring 17 of his career-high 21 points in the first half of the win over Hampton. In three of the last four games, Barnes has posted a career-high tying seven assists. He ranks third in the CAA and 24th nationally in assists (5.3) and is fourth in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.9).
- The Green and Gold started the season 4-0 for just the 10th time in the 115-year history of the program. It marked the first time W&M began a year 4-0 since 1992-93 and just the second time in the last 60 years.
-
Dane Fischer became just the third W&M head coach to start his career 4-0 and the first since Rube McCray in 1943-44. He is the first to win his first three road games.
- The Tribe's 16-point comeback at American on Nov. 8 equaled the program's largest on the road in the last 30 years. Trailing 24-8, the Tribe held AU to 0.77 points per possession (44) over the final 31 minutes. The Eagles shot just 31.4% shooting from the field (16-of-51) and only 4-of-17 from 3 (23.5%) over that stretch.
- Knight's list of preseason accolades continued to grow as he was named to the watch lists for both the Lute Olson National Player of the Year Award and the Lou Henson Mid-Major Player of the Year Award, presented by CollegeInsider.com. A two-time Lou Henson All-American as a finalist for the award, Knight was one of only 40 players on the Lute Olson Watch List. For the second-straight year, Knight was one of 20 players nationally named to the preseason watch list for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year award.
