.


CAA STANDINGS: One of the most competitive conference races in the nation remained tight after last week’s action. UNCW, which extended its winning streak to a season-best seven games with victories over JMU (78-73) and CofC (65-55), and Hofstra, which has won six of its last seven after beating Elon (66-64) and Drexel (70-64), are tied atop the standings at 8-2. The Seahawks and Pride meet in a first-place showdown on Thursday night. Towson and The Tribe also went 2-0 last week and remain just a game out of first place at 7-3. The Tigers have won five of their past six games and W&M has captured three of its past four contests.


RALLY BACK: Four teams rallied from sizeable deficits to post victories in CAA play last week. The Tribe came back from 18 points down to beat JMU (68-62) on Sunday. College of Charleston fought back from a 20-point deficit with 14:17 left and edged Northeastern (68-61) in overtime on Thursday. Hofstra trailed by 13 with 14:10 to go before topping Drexel, 70-66 on Saturday. Elon dug out from a 15-point hole to also defeat Northeastern, 71-67 on Saturday. (tough week for the Huskies)


ROAD TEAMS: Road teams have a 27-23 record thus far in CAA play. Seven of the league’s 10 teams have winning road records in CAA play, including four squads that have at least four wins. All 10 teams have suffered at least one home loss in conference competition and only five have winning records.


THE LATEST RPI: Five CAA teams are ranked among the Top 100 in the latest RPI report released by Collegiate Basketball News (rpiratings.com). William & Mary leads all CAA squads at #36, followed by Hofstra at #70, UNCW at #94, College of Charleston at #96 and James Madison at #98. The CAA is ranked #9 among the nation’s 32 Division I conferences.



NON-CONFERENCE PLAY: The CAA turned in one of the strongest non-conference performances in conference history with the 10 squads putting together a 75-44 overall record. Making the numbers more impressive is the fact that less than half of those games were at home. CAA teams were dominant (47-8) at home and had 21 victories in true road contests, which is the 3rd-most among all conferences.



NATIONAL STATS LEADERS: Hofstra’s Rokas Gustys ranks 9th nationally in rebounding (11.1 rpg) and FG percentage (64.2%) and 12th in double-doubles (12). Hofstra’s Juan’ya Green (6.9 apg) is 9th in assists. In steals, The Tribe’s Terry Tarpey is 12th (2.35 spg) and Drexel’s Terrell Allen is 32nd (2.0 spg). Delaware’s Marvin King-Davis is 17th in double-doubles (11) and 34th in the country in rebounding (9.7 rpg).



Tribe Disa & Data:

Coach Shaver’s crew made a school-record 16 threes in the recent 94-78 win at Delaware. The Tribe faces Delaware in the rematch, at Kaplan, on Saturday.

Omar Prewitt averaged 17.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 4.5 apg and 3.0 spg in the two wins last week. He’s scored double digits in 20 of his last 23 games.

David Cohn scored a career-high 23 points and dished out 9 assists at UD. He’s averaging 12.8 ppg and 5.2 apg in CAA play.

Connor Burchfield hit 6-of-7 threes for the 2nd time in the 3 games and scored 18 points at UD. He’s shooting 64% from three in CAA play.

Terry Tarpey averaged 13.5 ppg and 7.0 rpg last week and has scored double figures in 8 straight games. He ranks 4th in the CAA in rebounding, 1st in steals and 2nd in blocks.

Daniel Dixon made 3-of-6 treys and scored a team-high 17 points vs. JMU. He leads W&M with 54 treys on 39.7% shooting.





This week's opponents:


Northeastern


The Huskies fell 68-61 in OT at CofC and 71-67 to Elon last week, losing a 20 point and 15 point lead in the two games. NU has lost 4 straight games, all by 7 points or less, including 2 in OT. They are 4-6 in CAA play.

6’6” Sr. Guard David Walker scored a team-high 25 points vs. Elon. It was his sixth straight game in double digits and his league-leading 10th game with 20 or more points.

6’8” Sr. Forward Quincy Ford has missed the past 3 games due to injury. He is questionable for Thursday night. He has scored double digits in 19 of 20 games and is among the CAA’s top six in scoring and rebounding.

6’10” Freshman Center Jeremy Miller scored a team-high 17 points with 9 rebounds and 2 blocked shots at CofC and added 9 points vs. Elon.

6’5” Sr. Guard Zach Stahl just missed a double-double at CofC with 8 points and 12 rebounds. It was his 4th game with 10+ boards.

6’3” Junior Guard T.J. Williams scored 14 points at CofC and 12 vs. Elon. He has five double-digit efforts in the last six games.

NU made 11 3-pointers vs. Elon, which was its 12th game with 10 or more treys.




Delaware


The Blue Hens dropped games to the Tribe (94-79) and Towson (101-97 in OT) last week. They have lost 13 straight (2nd longest in school history), with a game at Elon on Thursday, before coming to the ‘Burg on Saturday. They are 0-10 in CAA play.

6’2” So. Guard Kory Holden had quite a week, scoring a career-best 33 points at TU and had a game-high 29 points vs. W&M. He has nine 20+-point efforts and has reached double figures in 16 of his last 17 games. Holden set a UD record by going 15-of-15 at the FT line vs. Towson.

6’7” Sr. Forward Marvin King-Davis posted his 11th double-double at Towson with 11 points and 13 rebounds. He’s averaging 16.4 ppg and 11.5 rpg in his past seven games.

6’1” So. Guard Anthony Mosley scored a career-high 28 points at Towson and has 9 double-digit efforts in the past 11 games. He’s averaging 13.9 ppg in CAA play.

6’6” Jr. Forward Devonne Pinkard is averaging 9.0 ppg over the last four games.

6’4” Jr. Guard Cazmon Hayes hit a career-high 5-of-9 threes and scored 21 points vs. the Tribe.

UD made a season-high 14 three-pointers vs. W&M and was 9-of-14 from 3 at TU.




Idle Observations: A couple rematches for the good guys this week.
The Huskies are always a tough test, because they play a game very similar to the Tribe’s. If Q. Ford misses the game, that will certainly help, but the D must defend the three more consistently to insure a win in the old (and chilly) Hockey arena. (TIDBIT: Matthews is the oldest multi-purpose athletic building still in use in the world.) It was the original home of the Boston Bruins and also used by the Boston Celtics.

The Blue Hens are reeling, having a tough time getting their footing in the midst of a 13 game losing streak. The Tribe needs a quick start to not allow them to stick around where the ever-dangerous Kory Holden can do his magic. Once again, (sounds like a common thread) the Tribe must do a good job of guarding the three point line. If they make 14 of them again on Saturday, Tribe fans might not like the result. Also, need another energetic crowd on Saturday. The crowd on Sunday brought back memories about how loud the Hall used to be “back in the day” against teams like ODU, UR and VCU. It was great!




One last word about the importance of defense: You play offense like it’s your vacation (enjoy it, it’s fun), you play defense like it’s your job (earn your pay).




Till next week…

Great write-up...Thanks, Billymac!