WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Following its first CAA win of the year on Jan. 9, William & Mary men's basketball travels to Philadelphia to take on Drexel for two games this weekend. In total, the Tribe will have played eight of its first 10 games on the road. Both games on Saturday and Sunday are slated for 1 p.m. tips.
In lieu of a traditional, home‐and‐home round-robin schedule in CAA play, teams will play against the same opponent at the same site on consecutive days for the 2021 slate. The lone exception will be when teams face their designated travel partner, which is Elon for the Tribe.
All CAA contests will be streamed on FloHoops. A
FloHoops subscription is $12.50 per month or $95.88 per year ($7.99 per month). Tribe fans can catch the men's basketball action over the Tribe Sports Network with Jay Colley on the call. Locally in Williamsburg, fans can listen in on The Tide 92.3 FM 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
- Drexel leads the all-time series at 24-18, but W&M has won 16 of the last 27 meetings dating back to the 2007 season. The teams split the series in 2019-20 with each winning at home. The Tribe has won five of the last seven meetings on in Philadelphia.
- W&M head coach
Dane Fischer (2002) and Drexel head coach Zach Spiker (2000) know each other from their days at Ithaca College. Fischer credits Spiker as being instrumental in helping him get into coaching.
- W&M has attacked the offensive glass, especially in CAA play. In league action, the Tribe is averaging 14 offensive rebounds and posting a 33.3 offensive rebounding %. Both those numbers lead the CAA in conference play. The Tribe pulled down a season-high 16 offensive rebounds in the win over Delaware (Jan. 9). Overall, W&M is second in the CAA at 11.8 offensive rebounds per game and an offensive rebounding % of 21.4. In CAA play, the Tribe is averaging 41.7 rebounds per game, which also leads the league.
- In CAA play, senior
Luke Loewe has proven to be one of the top guards in the league. Loewe, who scored a career-high 27 points in the CAA opener vs. Hofstra, leads the league at 19.7 points per game. He has played 115 out of 120 minutes in league action, producing an impressive assist-to-turnover ratio of 17-to-3.
- Junior
Quinn Blair has enjoyed a strong start to CAA play, averaging 14.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game through three contests. He scored a career-high 17 points on Jan. 3 at Hofstra. Blair leads the Tribe and ranks fifth in the CAA in rebounding at seven per game. He is also 23rd in the league in scoring at 11.1 points per game.
- Over the past four games, Blair has connected on 22 consecutive free throws. The W&M school record is 38-straight by David Cohn in 2017-18. On the year, Blair is shooting 84.4% at the free throw line, which ranks sixth in the CAA and 92nd nationally.
- Freshman
Yuri Covington became the second Tribe player to be named CAA Rookie of the Week this season on Dec. 21. Following a 16-day lay-off, Covington helped the Tribe to a 2-1 week, averaging 12.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game. He had a career-high 16 points at George Washington, including 14 in the second half and OT. He joined
Connor Kochera in earning CAA Rookie of the Week honors this season Kochera earned the honor on Nov. 30 after leading the team with 19 points in the opener at Old Dominion.
- Covington and Kochera statistically rank among the top freshmen in the CAA. Kochera is second among league rookies and 25th overall in scoring (11.1), while Covington is fourth among freshmen and 29th overall (9.4). Kochera is second among CAA freshmen in 3-pointer made (2.0), which is also 14th overall, and Covington is third in assists (1.9).
- After playing two years behind
Nathan Knight, who is currently with the Atlanta Hawks, junior
Mehkel Harvey has made an impact in the paint. The 6-9 forward picked up his first career double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds in the win at Hampton and recorded a career-high 16 at Hofstra. Harvey leads the CAA and ranks 21st nationally in blocked shots at 2.3 per game. He also ranks third in the CAA in offensive rebounding (2.8) and eighth in rebounds (6.5).
- As the Tribe's lone scholarship senior, Loewe has stepped into a starring role this season. Overall, he ranks fourth in the CAA at 17.1 points per game. He leads the CAA and ranks 35th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.1). Loewe is also second in the league in steals (2.0) and minutes (36.9), fourth in assists (4.6), ninth in 3-point % (35.9) and field goal % (45.8), 11th in free throw % (75.8) and 12th in 3-pointers made (1.8).
- W&M played four of its five nonconference contests on the road and in total will play eight of its first 10 games on the road in 2020-21. Last season, the Tribe played 12 of its first 16 games on the road. Over head coach
Dane Fischer's first two seasons, the Green and Gold has played 13 of its 18 nonconference games on the road. Last season, the Tribe tied a school record with 10 road wins and already have two victories away from home this year.
- As a team, the Tribe was picked 10th in the preseason standings. Last season, W&M was picked seventh in the preseason and finished second with a 13-5 league mark. In 2019-20, the Tribe won the fourth-most games in school history (21) and posted program records in conference wins (13) and road wins (10).
- In his first season as a head coach,
Dane Fischer received multiple Coach of the Year award, including VaSID State, CAA and NABC District 10 honors. He was also a finalist for a pair of National Coach of the Year awards, including the Hugh Durham Award Mid-Major Coach of the Year and the Joe B. Hall Award, which is presented annually to first-year D1 head coach. His 21 wins in 2019-20 were the second-most for a rookie head coach in the country last season.
