By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics
 
William & Mary's roster doesn't lack for shooters. That much was evident in the season's first three games, in which the Tribe averaged 79 points on 50-percent shooting from the field, 44 percent (26-of-59) from the 3-point arc.
 
In the eight games since, W&M (4-7, 2-4 Colonial Athletic Association) hasn't shot better 44 percent overall or 35 percent from deep. In six of those games, the Tribe made 39 percent or worse.
 
True, playing only weekend games during a pandemic isn't ideal. But W&M coach Dane Fischer sees another factor at play, one his team can control.
 
"The biggest thing for us with our shooting has been our shot selection," he said. "We're in a little stretch now where a lot of times we're taking the sort-of first good look we get, kind of a good look, and not necessarily working to get ourselves a great shot.
 
"Earlier in the year, we were getting better shots. Getting them early in the shot clock is not always a result of running great offense. As you head into league play, you've got to be able to run the offense and stay with it and work for a great shot. There have been times we haven't done a great job of that."
 
Like in last weekend's 79-64 home loss to Drexel, in which W&M shot 39 percent and went 5-of-21 from the 3-point arc. The Dragons made 60 percent of their attempts, which Fischer doesn't blame entirely on the Tribe's defense.
 
"A lot of that has been a result of us playing poor offensively," he said, "by turning the ball over and giving teams easy looks."
 
Not that the defense is completely off the hook. It was the second time in what became a three-game series that Drexel shot 60 percent against the Tribe.
 
"I thought the thing on Saturday that was the most disappointing was that we gave them shots we didn't want to give them," Fischer said. "They capitalized on a lot of those and got themselves rolling. And we could never get caught back up."
 
Going into a pair of games this weekend at Towson (3-7, 2-3), Fischer is emphasizing those two points — get better shots on offense and force worse shots on defense. It won't be easy against a team that, as always, has tough and physical athletes.
 
Charles Thompson and Solomon Uyaelunmo both go 6-foot-7, 235 pounds. Victor Uyaelunmo, Solomon's brother, is 7-foot, 220. The Tribe's interior answers with Mehkel Harvey (6-9, 225), Ben Wight (6-9, 205), and Quinn Blair (6-7, 225).
 
The Tigers' top scorer is Zane Martin (16.7 points a game), who at 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds has the physique of an outside linebacker. Yet another challenge for Tribe stopper Luke Loewe, who will be giving up about 20 pounds.
 
"They'll play the way they've always played," Fischer said. "We've got to be able to match their physicality and we've got to make sure we work on offense to get great shots."
 
Loewe (16.7 points a game) leads W&M's non-post players in shooting 43 percent from the field. That's 11 percentage points below what he shot as a junior, but that's when he was the offense's third option. Now, he's the leading scorer.
 
In his first three seasons, Loewe never took more than 11 shots in a game. This season, he's done it seven times with a high of 21.
 
"He's adjusted to it really well," Fischer said. "What he did last year was phenomenal in terms of the step he took for us, given how he had played during his sophomore year. And this year, he's obviously even more of a focal point for us on offense.
 
"He's done a great job of playing at a high level, playing a ton of minutes, and still defending at a really high level. That's what we need from him."