WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Winners of two in a row, William & Mary men's basketball returns home for the final time during the non-conference schedule and in 2019, hosting Division III opponent Goucher on Sunday afternoon. Tip-off is set for noon inside Kaplan Arena, and the game will be broadcast on FloHoops.
Sunday's game features a trio of promotions for fans to receive a discounted ticket to watch the Tribe. It will be the program's Toys for Tots, which gives fans a discounted $8 mezzanine ticket with a donate unused, packaged toy. The contest will also be a camper reunion game and a Griffin's Kids Club Day. All
Dane Fischer Basketball Camp members are invited back to see old friends and cheer on the Tribe with campers and their families receiving discounted $8 mezzanine tickets. All Griffin's Kids Club members receive complimentary admission to the game, and friends & family can purchase discounted $8 mezzanine tickets.
All Tribe home games will be streamed on FloHoops. A
FloHoops subscription is $12.50 per month or $95.88 per year ($7.99 per month) and provides access to 130 CAA men's basketball games, as well as special features.
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 via the Tune-In app.
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), and
Instagram (WMTribeMBB).
W&M News and Notes
- Sunday's match-up with Goucher marks the 13th year in a row that the Tribe has faced a non-Division I opponent. Over that stretch, W&M has won those games by an average margin of 37.4 points. The Tribe scored at a 93.2 points per game clip in those contests, including an average of 101 points over the last five seasons.
- Senior
Nathan Knight earned his second-straight CAA Player of the Week honor on Monday. He owns four-straight double-doubles during the last two weeks in helping the Tribe to a 3-1 record. Last week, Knight averaged 17.5 points and 10 rebounds per game in wins over Old Dominion and at Fairfield. The previous week, he averaged 29 points and 11 rebounds per game to earn the honor, including 30 points at Buffalo. Knight ranks second in W&M history with five weekly honors, trailing only Marcus Thornton's six.
- With its victory at Fairfield, the Tribe picked its national-leading fourth road win. It marks the sixth time in program history that W&M won four road games during the non-conference slate. It is just the fourth time since joining the CAA that it accomplished the feat. They tied a school record with three-straight road wins to open the season, including snapping Wofford's 17-game home win streak, the fourth-longest in the country, on Nov. 12.
- As of Dec. 12, the Tribe had the third-best improvement nationally in Ken Pomeroy rating since the start of the 2019-20 season. After beginning the year at No. 251, W&M improved to No. 162. The improvement trails only Stephen F. Austin (115 spots to No. 184) and Delaware (95 to No. 161).
- In winning its seventh in the last nine against Old Dominion on Dec. 5, the Tribe turned in its best defensive performance, statistically, in the last five years. W&M limited ODU to just 28.6% shooting (18-of-63) and just 2-of-20 (10%) from 3-point range. Those numbers were the best since limiting Western Illinois to 26.8% in 2014 and Northeastern to the same 3-point % in 2015. The Tribe held the Monarchs to just 46 points, the lowest for ODU since 2016 and the fewest for a W&M DI opponent since holding Charleston to 45 in 2015.
- Knight added another notable accolade to his resume, being selected one of 46 players on the Oscar Robertson Trophy, recognizing the national player of the year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, on Dec. 6. Earlier this season, the Tribe bigman 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. 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 after being one of five finalists in 2019.
- Junior
Luke Loewe is enjoying a breakout season, ranking among the national leaders in shooting. He leads the CAA in 3-point % (56.0) and ranks second field goal % (59.4). According to KenPom.com, the 6-4 guard is third nationally in 3-point % and 18th in effective field goal % (69.6) and true shooting % (71.3). Loewe doubled his previous career-high with 26 points in the win over Morehead State. He ranks 20th in the CAA at 12.1 points per game and is one of only three players, along with Northeastern's Jordan Roland and Delaware's Nate Darling, to rank among the top 15 in 3-point %, field goal % and free throw % (15th at 75%).
- Knight owns four-straight double-doubles and leads the country in the category with eight. His 30 career double-doubles rank fourth among active D1 players and are W&M's most in the last 43 years. Knight is the only player nationally to average 20 points (20.4) and 10 rebounds (10.2) per game. He ranks second in the CAA and 24th nationally in rebounding, while coming in fourth in the league and 28th in the country in scoring.
- Senior
Andy Van Vliet, along with Knight, provide the Tribe with one of top front courts in the country. Van Vliet tallied his fourth double-double of the year with 20 points and 10 rebounds at Fairfield. He ranks 30th nationally in double-doubles, while coming in fourth in the CAA in rebounding (9.1) and 10th in scoring (14.7). Van Vliet, who earned CAA Player of the Week honors on Nov. 18, scored a career-high 22 points to go with 12 rebounds vs. Hampton and added a 16-point and 13-rebound double-double at Oklahoma.
- Knight is one of five current D1 players with 1,600 career points and 700 career rebounds. This season, the 6-10 center moved into the program's top 10 in both scoring (8th at 1682 points) and rebounding (7th at 729). 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 ranks 1fth among active D1 players in rebounding, 15th in scoring and fifth in blocked shots.
- The Green and Gold has proven to be a dangerous offensive team in 2019-20. According to KenPom.com, W&M ranks 27th nationally in effective field goal % (55.0). The Tribe, which has shot 50% or better from the floor in four games this season, ranks second in the CAA in 3-point % (38.1) and third in field goal % (47.5). W&M comes in 38th nationally in 3-point % and 50th in field goal %.
- Graduate student
Bryce Barnes has emerged for the Tribe. He posted a career-high five steals with seven rebounds in the win over ODU. 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. On three occasions this season, Barnes has posted a career-high tying seven assists. He ranks third in the CAA and 73rd nationally in assists (4.8) and is fifth in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.7).
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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.