The Notre Dame College Falcons (16-9 12-7 MEC) look to get the season split with the West Virginia State Yellow Jackets (17-8 11-8 MEC) on Saturday. Tip time is set for 4 PM at the Walker Convocation Center. You can catch all the action on the Mountain East Conference Digital Network at MountainEast.TV
"Obviously we'd love to get this one back, "NDC head coach Mark Richmond said when describing the 88-82 loss to the Yellow Jackets in the first meeting on 1.11. "We didn't play our best game the first time we played them. We are looking forward to the opportunity to play if not the most talented, one of the most talented teams in our league. We will need a great effort against a really good deep team to give ourselves a chance in this one."
NDC is coming off arguably the teams biggest win of the season as they knocked off Charleston 77-64 on Wednesday night. Tyland Crawford led the Falcons with 18, DeAirius Barker added 15, Obinna Ugwuakazi tallied 13 and grabbed 16 rebounds, while Jaedon Willis netted 12.
Richmond talked about his philosophy about momentum going into this one:
"A lot of people would say that (carrying momentum into this one) but every game is it's own battle. It solves a lot of problems when you win. Each team presents different matchups. We will have to be well prepared and ready to compete for 40 minutes."
In that first meeting with the Yellow Jackets, a 88-82 NDC loss Willis poured in 28, Barker netted 15, and Crawford scored 11.
NDC comes into Saturday averaging an MEC sixth best 82.3 points per game. They have been solid on defense, as they are second in the conference giving up 75.2 points per night, and are the top team in the conference in both opponent field goal percentage (42.3 percent) and opponent 3-point percentage (29 percent.)
Richmond talked defense:
"You have to give our guys credit as they have done a nice job of taking on a defensive mentality. We have played some really, really good defense in spurt this season but we will need this for 40 minutes on Saturday."
The Falcons are 11th in the conference in field goal percentage (44.3 percent) and second in free throw percentage in the MEC (77.2 percent.) They shoot 37.2 percent from the 3-point line which is fourth in the league as well. On the glass NDC gets 0.1 (38.3-38.2) rebounds per game which is eighth in the conference. The Falcons are second in turnover margin (13.4-14.6) turnovers per night.
Richmond talked about that:
"We can't throw the ball to them. A lot of times the best defense for them is offense."
Willis leads the season box score as he has all season long putting up 21.9 points per game. That is good for second in the MEC and 16th in the country. His 548 total points are good for 18th in the country. From the 3-point line the Baltimore native shoots 41.4 percent which is third in the MEC and the senior is fourth in the MEC making 2.9 3-pointer's per contest. Willis shoots at a 90.6 percent clip from the free throw line which is also second best in the MEC. His 154 free throws made are fifth in the country and his 170 free throws attempted are 15th in all of Division II. He shoots 42.6 percent from the field and his 32.7 minutes played are eighth in the MEC. Barker puts up 12.1 points per game. The Cincinnati native is tied for 10th in the conference dishing out 3.3 assists per night and he leads the team in steals (1.3 per contest.) Both Barker and Willis are coming off games on Wednesday in which they played all 40 minutes. Ugwuakazi leads the team in both rebounds (5.6) and blocks (0.5 per game.) He coming off of career highs in rebounds (16) and blocks (3) on Wednesday.
The Yellow Jackets are coming off a 92-82 loss to Alderson Broaddus on the road on Wednesday. Samier Kinsler poured in 33 points, Noah Jordan had 12, and Malik Whitaker notched 10. In the first meeting, a six point win over NDC Anthony Pittman had 17 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists. Taeveon Horton tallied 16, Bunny Brown added 12, Jordan had 11, and Kinsler scored 10. As a team WVSU is third in the MEC and ninth in the country scoring 88.9 points per game. They allow 81.9 points per contest which is seventh in the MEC. They are tied for fourth in field goal percentage (46.3 percent.) They hold the opposition to 44.3 percent shooting (sixth in the MEC.) The Yellow Jackets shoot 37.4 percent from the 3-point line which is third in the MEC. They are the second best team at guarding the 3-point line, trailing only NDC as they hold the opposition (30.8 percent from the 3-point line.) They are near the bottom of the conference in free throw percentage (68.8 percent) and rebounding (-1.3, 39.2-40.5) boards per night.
Kinsler leads WVSU in scoring at 16.9 points per game, he is joined in double figures by Whitaker (14.3 per night,) Pittman (11.6 per contest,) Jordan (11.6 per game,) and Horton (10.6 per night.) Whitaker and Kinsler leads the team in steals at 1.5 per game. and 1.4 per night respectively.Pittman (7.8) and Whitaker (7.5) are the top two rebounders on the squad. Pittman also leads the conference in blocked shots (1.7 per game.) Horton is fifth in the MEC and leads the team dishing out 4.4 assists per night.
In the first meeting with the Falcons Pittman had 17 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists. Horton tallied 16, Bunky Brown had 12, Noah Jordan had 11, and Kinsler had 10.
Richmond talked about finishing positions tomorrow:
"We need to get stops when we have them in the half court and end possessions with rebounds."
Then Richmond talked about the challenge of playing on Senior Day at WVSU:
"They don't have a ton of seniors. I think they have a grad student or two. They have a few older guys. It is a big moment for anyone who goes through it. It is a culmination of a hard 4-5 year stretch. We look forward to playing and competing in a pivotal February game on the road. "
Wills gave the final thoughts:
"We beat Charleston on Wednesday and going into this week I had not beaten Charleston or West Virginia State since I have been here. It is a big week for us to back into contention for the MEC Tournament. Saturday's game is a big game and we know what we need to do. We let one slip away here against them the first time, we can't let that happen again."
Other MEC Games Saturday:
Frostburg State @ Wheeling
Fairmont State @ West Liberty
Glenville State @ West Virginia Wesleyan
Concord @ Davis & Elkins
Alderson Broaddus @ Charleston
MEC Standings:
West Liberty 17-2 (22-3)
Fairmont State 15-4 (20-5)
Charleston 14-5 (17-8)
NDC 12-7 (16-9)
West Virginia State 11-8 (17-8)
Concord 10-9 (14-11)
Glenville State 10-9 (14-11)
Davis & Elkins 9-10 (15-10)
Alderson Broaddus 7-12 (9-15)
Frostburg State 4-15 (8-17)
Wheeling 3-16 (5-20)
West Virginia Wesleyan 2-17 (2-22)
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