PREVIEW Game 18 - W&M vs. Towson



The Opponent: Towson Tigers 8-10, 1-4 CAA


The Coach: Pat Skerry, Fourth season as a TU, 45-58, 76-90 overall, (Last season 13-3, 25-11, most wins in a season ever for Towson BB).

The Series: This will be the 29th meeting between these two teams. The Tribe leads the series by 15-13, after Towson picked up the win in the last regular meeting, 70-68, but fell to the Tribe by 75-71 in last season’s CAA Semi-Final game.
The Tribe won the first game ever played between the two schools, by a 94-31 count, 65 years ago, in 1948. The 63-point difference remains Towson’s largest margin in a loss in their basketball history.

Last Time Out: The Tigers come into this game on a three game losing streak, coming off a 67-64 road loss to Delaware on Wednesday. Soph. John Davis had 18 and 10 in the loss to the Blue Hens. Four McGlinn had 11 points for the Tigers.


The Skinny: The Tigers lost most of their starting five, that produced a team record 25 wins, including Jerome Benniman. John Davis and Four McGlinn have picked up the load and, again, the Tigers are a VERY strong rebounding team, leading the CAA in rebound margin by a large number.



The Key Players:


• Sophomore F John Davis had a double double in the loss to Delaware, scoring 18 points, with 10 rebounds. He added 10 points vs. Drexel and 11 points against NU. He’s 2nd in the CAA in rebounding (8.1 rpg), 1st in double-doubles (7) and has scored double figures 12 times.

• Sophomore F Walt Foster posted his first career double-double with team-highs of 13 points and 10 rebounds vs. Elon and followed with 10 points and 8 boards vs. DU.

• Junior G Four McGlynn has scored double figures nine times and is averaging a team-best 12.4 ppg. He is 71-of-76 (93.4%) from the free throw line this season, which ranks 3rd nationally.

• Freshman G Byron Hawkins is averaging 7.4 ppg. He is second on the team in assists at 1.3 apg.

• Gr-Sr C Alex Gavrilovic chipped in 9 points off the bench vs. DU and NU and was 4-for-8 from 3-point range. He is averaging almost 5 rpg in his last three games.





Tribe Disa & Data

• Terry Tarpey averaged 16.3 ppg, 11.3 rpg and 5.0 apg last week, including a career-high 22 points at Elon and the first triple-double (18pts/11reb/10ast) in Tribe history vs. JMU, earning him CAA Player of the Week honors.

• Marcus Thornton has reached double figures in 22 consecutive contests and has topped the 20-point mark in seven of his last 11 games. He was 18-of-32 from 3-point range over the last four games.

• Omar Prewitt is now second on the team in scoring, 11.3 ppg, and rebounding, 4.3 rpg, as well as blocks, 16, and steals, with 11. (Call him "Avis")

• Daniel Dixon added 14 points at Drexel and has reached double digits in seven of the last 12 games. He put in 7 vs. UNCW, with 4 boards.

• W&M hit double-digit 3-pointers in all 3 games last week, averaging 11 per game, before going to the inside game againt UNCW, hitting only 7 threes in that contest.

• The Tribe blocked 10 shots vs. JMU, with Sean Sheldon leading the way with a career-best four rejections. The Tribe leads the CAA in league play, with 6 blocks per game.

• W&M is shooting a league best 50.5% from the floor and a second best 41.8% from three in CAA play. The Tribe is averaging a league-best 76.8 points per game against conference foes.




The Broadcast: This game has a 12:00 PM Noon tip. The Countdown to Tipoff begins at 11:30 AM on our affiliates 92.3 FM and 107.9 FM and on the internet at http://www.tribeathletics.com. Tune in early to hear Tony's thoughts on the game versus the Cougars, then join Jay, Charlie and me for the full broadcast. There is TV coverage of this game on CSN/Comcast.




Final Thoughts: The Tribe, after looking totally asleep and sloppy in the first half versus the Sea Hawks, put on one of the greatest shows in W&M history in the second half. That is the type of intensity that will be required to make this season the year it finally gets taken care of. There was great team play and sharing of the basketball and it is nice to see some more freshmen getting their feet wet. They will be needed in the weeks to come. The Tribe has been up and down on the road and needs that “home” intensity to carry over. This is a good road test, against a team that has a strong bunch of rebounders and could give the Tribe a run for their money on Saturday.


Go Tribe!!

I'll be there with about 6-7 others. Go Tribe!!!

Bookmakers are giving Towson 6 points.

TU has "improved" in 2015 as they kept it close against NU and beat a worn out Elon. However; they lost in OT against Delaware and Drexel (huh?) beat them by 14.

Let's put the hurt on Towson. They're not so scarry without their super transfer (just like football)

Thanks Billy Mac!

Tot with a sweet assist as soon as he gets in. He's gonna be good.

Our defense needs to be stronger in the 2nd half.

We are getting killed on the defensive boards and in the paint. Sheldon has 0 fouls right now so he can get a little more aggressive

Dixon and Malinowski are playing very well.

35-35 on the road. If we play better in the 2nd, we are all good.

yea... giving up too many points. At one point they were out shooting us 28 to 20 (attempts)... that's a big difference.

Gotta keep Towson off the offensive boards. We were mostly in zone that half and Towson got easy rebounds and putbacks in the paint.

(01-17-2015 12:57 PM)soccerguy315 Wrote:  yea... giving up too many points. At one point they were out shooting us 28 to 20 (attempts)... that's a big difference.

Finished it at 32-21 in shots though we are 7 of 9 for FTs and they are 3 of 7.

Giving up too many offensive rebounds and too many turnovers

Two more offensive rebounds turns into two points for Towson

got a little lead but no ability to pull away and get the lead to 10+

And there it is!

Thornton is so good. We are shooting 60% for the game 64% from 3. Keep it up guys.

Sheldon dribbling up the court after the block. Wow.

Three blocked shots this half. Much better d in the paint.

(01-17-2015 01:23 PM)soccerguy315 Wrote:  got a little lead but no ability to pull away and get the lead to 10+

I will take credit for getting the lead up over 10

We've gotten a little sloppy the last few minutes... Don't want to let them come back