W&M News and Notes
- Thursday's match-up pits the two longest-tenured head coaches in the Colonial Athletic Association. W&M head coach
Tony Shaver is the dean of CAA coaches at 16 years followed by Northeastern's Bill Coen at 13. Both rank among the top five in career CAA wins and have combined for 275 league victories (Coen 142/Shaver 133).
- The Tribe has improved defensively in CAA play. W&M ranks fourth in defensive efficiency (105.3) in league games and has held four opponents to a point or less per possession. In comparison, the Tribe limited two opponents in the non-conference to a point or less per possession. In CAA play, the Tribe leads the league in effective field goal percentage defense (50.2), while ranking third in defensive 3-point percentage (33.1) and fourth in field goal percentage defense (44.2).
- W&M hit a 10 3-pointers and shot a season-best 50 percent from long range in its win over Delaware. It marked the fifth time in CAA play and eighth overall this season that the Tribe hit 10 or more 3-pointers in game. Under head coach
Tony Shaver, the Tribe is 90-53 when it hits double-digit 3-pointers. In CAA play, W&M has increased its 3-point shooting to 37.4 percent, while hitting 9.2 triples per game, which ranks second in the league.
- For the third time this season, freshman
Chase Audige was named the CAA Rookie of the Week on Monday. He also won the award on Nov. 26 and Dec. 31. He averaged 17 points, nine rebounds, three assists and 3.5 steals per game in a pair of W&M wins last week. Audige is one of four CAA players to earn the league's top rookie honor on three occasions this season and is one of only five W&M freshmen to win three weekly awards. Fellow freshman
L.J. Owens earned CAA Rookie of the Week honors on Nov. 12. It marked the first time since 2004-05 that multiple Tribe players have earned the weekly award in the same season.
- Junior
Nathan Knight recorded a double-double in five of his last eight games. He is one of only six players in the country to rank among the top five in his league in scoring, rebounding and assists, joining a list that includes Illinois State's Milik Yarbrough, Wisconsin's Ethan Happ, Penn's AJ Brodeur, Central Connecticut State's Tyler Kohl and Purdue-Fort Wayne's John Konchar. Knight is the only player in the CAA to rank among the top 10 in the league in scoring (third at 19.2), rebounding (fifth at 8.1) and assists (fifth at 3.6).
- Audige has come on strong in CAA play, including a career-high 24 points at UNCW on Jan. 24. In league action, he has started all 11 games and leads all rookies in scoring at 13.3 per game. Audige is adding 5.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game while shooting 44.7 percent from 3-point range in CAA play. His scoring average has increased to 10.5 points per game overall, which is 24th in the league and third among rookies.
- W&M, which has led the CAA five of the last six years, once again tops the league in assists at 17 per game in 2018-19. That number also ranks 19th nationally. The Tribe is seventh in the country according to KenPom.com in assists percentage, recording an assist on 62.8 percent of its field goals.
- In CAA play, junior
Matt Milon ranks second in the league at 3.3 3-pointers per game and is averaging 14.2 points per contest. He has scored in double figures in 12 of the Tribe's last 15 games, including nine of 11 CAA contests. Milon ranks 74th nationally in 3-pointers per game (2.8) and 93rd in 3-point percentage (.378). Among active NCAA DI players, his 42.1 career 3-point percentage ranks 38th nationally.
- Junior
Justin Pierce ranks among the national leaders in both double-doubles and rebounding. He is fifth in the CAA and 56th nationally in double-doubles (7). Pierce ranks 56th nationally at 8.6 rebounds per game and 34th in defensive rebounding (6.9).
- The Tribe dished out 20 or more assists on eight occasions this season, including five in CAA play, and is 6-2 in those contests. Over the last nine seasons, the Green and Gold is 43-4 when dishing out 20 or more assists.
- Knight moved into second on the Tribe's career blocked shots list this season. His 151 career blocks trails only David Cully's (1993-96) total of 248. Knight's career total ranks 25th among active NCAA DI players. He leads the CAA at 2.1 blocks per game this season, which is also 29th nationally. Knight is up to 2.9 blocks per game in CAA play.
- As a team, W&M leads the CAA in blocked shots at 4.8 per game, which also ranks 26th nationally. In CAA play, the Tribe is blocking 5.8 shots per game. W&M owns the top two single-game blocked shot totals this season in the CAA with 14 against William Peace and 10 on Jan. 31 against Drexel.
- Knight ranks among the national leaders in a number of statistical categories. He is 22nd in total blocks (49), 28th in field goals made (161), 29th in blocked shots per game (2.1), 36th in free throws made (111), 37th in field goals percentage (.571), 38th in double-doubles (8), 39th in total points (442) and 60th in scoring (19.2). Prior to the start of the season, 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.
-
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 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award will be named in February.
