W&M News and Notes
- W&M faces a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opponent for the first time since 2012 and the 19th time overall. The Tribe, which owns six wins over the league, has played only four current members of the MAAC, including Fairfield, Iona, Manhattan and Siena. The Green and Gold faced three MAAC foes as part of BracketBusters, drawing Fairfield in 2007, Manhattan in 2009 and Iona in 2010.
- As of Dec. 6, 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. 173. The improvement trails only Delaware (104 spots to No. 152) and Stephen F. Austin (97 to No. 202).
- In winning its seventh in the last nine against Old Dominion on Tuesday, 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.
- Senior
Nathan 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. 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.
- For the second time in the last three weeks, a member of the Tribe earned CAA Player of the Week honors as Knight garnered his fourth career award on Monday. Knight averaged 29 points and 11 rebounds per game last week. He tallied 28 points and 12 rebounds in the win over Morehead State, before posting 30 points and 10 rebounds at Buffalo. He moved into eighth on W&M's career scoring list at Buffalo.
- 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 third field goal % (62.3). According to KenPom.com, the 6-4 guard is seventh nationally in 3-point %, eighth in effective field goal % (73.8) and and ninth in true shooting % (74.3). 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 averaging 18 points per game over the last three contests.
- Knight registered his three-straight double-double vs. ODU and leads the country in the category with seven. His 29 career double-doubles rank fourth among active D1 players and are W&M's most in the last 43 years. Knight is one of only two players nationally to average 20 points (20.3) and 10 rebounds (10.2) per game. He ranks second in the CAA and 19th nationally in rebounding, while coming in fourth in the league and 36th in the country in scoring.
- 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 on Nov. 18.
- 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 1661 points) and rebounding (7th at 719). 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. Knight ranks 15th among active D1 players in scoring and rebounding and fifth in blocked shots.
- The Tribe leads the country in road wins and is one of 11 teams nationally with three victories on the road. 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 has proven to be a dangerous offensive team in 2019-20. According to KenPom.com, W&M ranks 23rd nationally in effective field goal % (55.9). The Tribe, which has shot 50% or better from the floor in four games this season, ranks second in the CAA in 3-point % (38.3) and third in field goal % (48.2). W&M comes in 38th nationally in 3-point % and 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 63rd nationally in assists (4.9) and is fifth in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.8).
- 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.
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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.
