CAA News & Notes 1/31
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CAA News & Notes with a salute to Omar Prewitt.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK:
Omar Prewitt • William & Mary
Sr., G/F, 6-7, 195 - Mount Sterling, Ky./Montgomery Co.
Prewitt filled the stat sheet in the Tribe’s 2-0 week, averaging 18.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists. The senior wing scored a season-high 28 points on 12-of-17 FG shooting and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds as W&M knocked off first-place UNCW, 96-78, on Saturday. He also had nine points, a career-high eight assists and no turnovers in an 82-58 victory over Delaware. For the week, Prewitt shot 59.3% from the floor.
Tyler Seibring • Elon
So., F, 6-8, 225 - Normal, Ill./Normal Community
Seibring again picked as a Player of the Week after averaging 19.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists in a pair of Elon road victories. The sophomore forward shot 53.6% from the floor for the week.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK:
Grant Riller • College of Charleston
Fr., G, 6-3, 185 - Ocoee, Fla./Ocoee
Riller receives his third Rookie of the Week honor after contributing 27.5 points and 4.5 steals as Charleston split two road games last week. The freshman guard poured in 55 points and shot 58.6% from the floor, including 6-of-11 from three, and was 15-for-15 at the free throw line, for the week.
League Standings: Despite picking up their first conference loss, UNCW continues atop the CAA Standings, with a 9-1 record. Charleston is second, a game back at 8-2. The bottleneck is now at spots 3-6, as Elon, Northeastern and the Tribe all sit at 6-4, with Towson another game back, at 5-5. The bottleneck will be opened a bit soon, as W&M host the Huskies on Thursday night.
League Stats: UNCW continues to be the top scoring team in the CAA, at 86.0 ppg, with the Tribe second at 82.3 ppg. The College of Charleston continues to be the stingiest team, giving up only 61.7 ppg, with Towson next, at only 67.6 ppg. The Cougars are the best Free Throw shooters in the league, averaging 74% from the line, as a team. The Tribe is the top shooting team in the conference, at 48.5% per game, with UNCW second at 47.8% from the floor. Towson is the beast of the boards, out rebounding opponents by 7.5 boards per game.
LATEST RPI REPORT: UNCW is ranked #33 in the latest RPI rankings released by rpiratings.com. The Seahawks (20-3) have captured 17 of their last 19 games, with the only losses coming on the road at Clemson and William & Mary. College of Charleston (17-6) is #79 in the RPI and has won 14 of its last 17 contests. Towson (13-10) is at #95 in the RPI and has won five of its past six games. W&M, after Monday’s victory, is now up to #102. Only nine other conferences (American, ACC, Atlantic 10, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Mountain West, Pac 12 and SEC) have three teams in the top 95 of the RPI.
The CAA is ranked #11 among the nation’s 32 Division I leagues.
BIG SCORING JUMPS: Northeastern guard T.J. Williams and Hofstra guard Justin Wright-Foreman are two of the nation’s most improved scorers this season according to STATS LLC. Williams leads the nation with a jump of 14.7 ppg, going from 6.8 ppg last season to a league-best 21.5 ppg this year. Wright-Foreman ranks third with an improvement of 13.8 ppg, going from 1.6 ppg last season to 15.4 ppg in 2016-17. That is the kind of improvement Coaches dream about over the summer months.
Tribe DISA & DATA
• Daniel Dixon scored 27 points vs. UNCW and a team-high 32 points with 6 rebounds vs. Drexel. He’s reached double digits in 14 straight games and has eight 20+ point efforts. He’s averaging 23.2 ppg over his last 10 contests.
• Omar Prewitt tallied a season-high 28 points with 7 rebounds vs. UNCW and had 24 points and 7 boards vs. Drexel. He’s scored double digits in 7 of his last 9 games.
• Jack Whitman averaged 11.6 points, 5 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in the latest three wins. He was 14-of-15 from the floor for the week and is shooting 66.4% for the season.
• Point guard David Cohn posted his 2nd double-double with 10 points and 10 assists vs UNCW and didn’t commit a turnover. He added 8 points, 6 assists and a steal versus the Dragons.
• W&M shot 56.9% from the floor vs. UD, 55.7% against UNCW and 63.2% against Drexel. W&M has topped the 50% mark in 7 of its last 9 games.
• W&M blocked 11 shots against UD, 8 vs. UNCW and 8 vs Drexel. The Tribe tops the CAA with 5.0 bpg. (Unheard of since the David Cully days)
Northeastern Notes:
• Last week the Huskies lost their first home game to Elon (51-49), but rebounded for a 69-62 victory over Towson that ended a four-game slide.
• 6’3” Sr. Guard T.J. Williams averaged 17.5 ppg last week, including 23 points vs. TU. He’s tallied double digits in all 22 games with 14 20+-point efforts. He tops the CAA in scoring, ranks 2nd in assists and is 6th in FG%.
• Williams, who averages a team leading 21.5 ppg, is the first NU player since Reggie Lewis in 1986-87 to reach the 20-point mark 14 times in his first 22 games.
• 6’’8” Sr. Forward Alex Murphy posted his first double-double (11 pts/team-high 10 reb) vs. Elon and scored 16 points with 6 rebounds vs. TU. He’s 11th in the CAA in scoring at 14.4 ppg, 5th in FG% and 16th in rebounding (5.7 rpg).
• 6’4” Jr. Guard Devon Begley had 10 points, 5 rebounds and 4 steals vs. Towson. He’s averaging 12.0 ppg over his last 6 games and leads the CAA in steals with 1.8 spg, while scoring 9.5 ppg.
• 6’’10” So. Forward Jeremy Miller He’s averaging 9.5 ppg and 5.1 rebounds per game
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• NU is shooting 39.7% from three in CAA play and 38% for the season. The Huskies are averaging 10.2 treys per game in CAA action.
FINALLY: Tribe needs to close out the four game homestand strong against the Huskies, who don't play as well on the road (5-7) as they do at home (7-1).
The defense will need to defend against the barrage of threes, while keeping Murphy and Miller off the offensive boards. The team we all thought would be here all year, has shown up over this homestand. Let's hope the understanding of what this team needs to do to win continues through Thursday night and into the upcoming big road trip.
Go Tribe!
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