- Radford is the first of two Big South teams that the Tribe will face this season. W&M travels to Winthrop next week as part of the Rock Hill Classic on Nov. 15. The Tribe and Highlanders meet for the third time in the last four years. W&M won the last meeting in 2022, while RU won the most recent contest in Radford.
- In its season-opening win over Dickinson, the Tribe forced the Red Devils into 21 turnovers and recorded 14 steals, which were the program's most since it had 22 in 2016 vs. Bridgewater. The Green and Gold scored 26 points off Red Devil turnovers. Senior
Gabe Dorsey, junior
Miles Hicks, and freshman
Isaiah Mbeng led W&M with three steals each.
- W&M turned in a strong defensive performance in its opening win, limiting Dickinson to 36 points, 23.7% from the field, and 12.9% from 3-point range. Each number ranks among the top 10 in the country over the opening week. The 36 points are the second fewest allowed so far this year nationally, the field goal % is the fifth lowest, and the 3-point % is the ninth best defensively this season as of Nov. 7.
- On Monday, the Tribe scored 55 of its 86 points off the bench. Mbeng led the Green and Gold bench in scoring with 11 points in his collegiate debut vs. Dickinson, while junior
Kyle Pulliam had 10 in his first game with the Tribe. Head coach
Brian Earl's teams at Cornell made a habit of ranking among the top five nationally in bench scoring. Last season, the Big Red led the nation at 36 points per game from reserves after coming in fifth at 30.4 points per game in 2022-23.
- Senior
Gabe Dorsey was named to the Preseason All-CAA First Team by vote of the league coaches. He is the first Tribe player to earn preseason first team honors since Nathan Knight in 2019. Dorsey ranks third among returning players in the CAA at 14 points per game. He topped the Tribe with 16 points on 4-of-7 from 3-point range in just 14 minutes in the season-opener vs. Dickinson.
- Junior
Chase Lowe, who was recruited by
Brian Earl to Cornell before signing at W&M, was a honorable mention Preseason All-CAA selection. He was one of only 16 players in the country to average 12 points, seven rebounds and three assists per game in 2023-24. Lowe ranked seventh in the CAA in rebounding (7.3), 10th in assists (3.2), and 18th in scoring (12.5) a season ago.
- W&M announced a TV deal that includes five games on the MASN this season. Thanks to presenting sponsor Howard Hanna Real Estate Services, the Tribe's home games vs. Norfolk State (Nov. 12), Navy (Dec. 29), Monmouth (Jan. 25), Hofstra (Feb. 13), and Drexel (Feb. 15) will be broadcast regionally on MASN, which spans Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington, D.C.
- W&M's 11 nonconference DI opponents this season averaged 18.5 wins and posted a 54.7 winning % in 2023-24. The Tribe's non-conference slate includes three games against 2024 NIT teams – Richmond (at home on Dec. 18), VCU, and App State – and a Final Four team in defending ACC Champion NC State.
- Earl's teams are known among the fastest paced and highest scoring in the country. According to KenPom.com, Cornell ranked among the top 25 nationally in adjusted tempo each of the last three years. In terms of points, Cornell averaged 81 points per game over the last three years and ranked among the top 20 in the country in scoring each season. W&M had 74 possessions in the opener vs. Dickinson, nearly nine more than it averaged in each of the last two season.
- Along with the Dorsey brothers, the Tribe has two more former teammate connections on the roster. Junior guard
Kyle Frazier, who transferred from DII Belmont Abbey, is a former high school teammate of
Chase Lowe. The pair won two state titles and 49-straight games at Weddington High School (N.C.) in 2021 and 2022.
Malachi Ndur, who graduated from Brown before enrolling at W&M, was an AAU (with the Northern Kings) and Canadian Youth National teammate of
Matteus Case. The duo helped Canada to the silver medal at the U16 FIBA America Championship in 2017.
- In his two seasons at W&M,
Gabe Dorsey has established himself as one of the top 3-point shooters in the country. Last season, he set school records for 3-pointers (113) and 3's made per game (3.42). Those numbers ranked fourth and sixth, respectively, in the country. In 2022-23, he was fourth nationally in 3FG% (44.4) and 18th in 3's made per game (3.04).
- Three-point shooting has been a key piece of head coach
Brian Earl's offenses, and it proved true in the opener vs. Dickinson. W&M hit 12 3-pointers against the Red Devils with 42.9% of its points coming from long distance and 56.3% of its field goal attempts. Earl's teams ranked among the top 10 nationally in 3-pointers made and attempted each of the last two years.
