Fresh off a pair of home wins last week the Notre Dame College Falcons will hit the road Wednesday as they battle the West Virginia State Yellow Jackets at the Walker Convocation Center. The game is slated to tip at 7:30 PM and you can catch all the action on NotreDameFalcons.com
Coach Tim Koenig set up the matchup:
" West Virginia State is a really good team. They can score. We have to do everything we can to make it hard on the scorers they have." Koenig said."
The two teams met earlier in the season- with the Falcons picking up a 95-84 win at Murphy Gymnasium back on December 5th. In that contest both Larenz Thurman and Will Vorhees had double-doubles. Thurman had 23 points and 10 assists in the game- while Vorhees netted 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Four other NDC players scored in double figures in the first meeting- as Drew Scarberry knocked down four 3-pointer's on his way to 14 points- while Bruce Hodges added 11- Isaiah Sanders- and- Angelo Cugini also tallied double figures in that contest with 10. NDC shot 49 percent in the contest that day- including 47 percent (15-32) from the 3-point line-and- 86 percent (18-21) at the free throw line. The Falcons won the rebounding battle 34-32 in that particular contest- while they had 15 assists- and- eight turnovers as a team.
" The first meeting we out-scored them. We got a few timely stops as well. The game will dictate what happens as always for us- especially on the defensive end. Whether they press or what they do." Koenig said."
The last time out NDC (13-5 9-3 MEC) was a 100-72 winner over Urbana on Saturday. Behind the hot shooting of Thurman who scored 23 of his 31 points in the first half- Vorhees added 28 points and 11 rebounds in becoming the first player in MEC history to score 2,000 points and grab 1,000 rebounds in his career. Halil Parks and Drew Scarberry each tallied 11 points in the victory as well. As a team NDC shot 55 percent as a team- and- 47 percent from the 3-point line in the Saturday victory.
Individually NDC is led by Vorhees who comes into the week averaging 25.2 points and 10.9 rebounds per contest. Thurman is scoring 18.6 points a night- while he is dishing out a team leading 4.7 assists per contest. Thurman is shooting 46 percent at the 3-point line. Halil Parks is also averaging in double figures putting up 10.8 points per game. As a team the Falcons are scoring a conference seventh best 85.8 points per game- while defensively they are allowing a league third best 77.9 points per night. NDC is coming off a monster game on the boards Saturday and have a 39.7-35.8 rebounding advantage on the glass. As a team they also are averaging 3.6 blocks per contest.
West Virginia State (9-9 6-6 MEC) is coming off a 92-80 loss to Charleston on Saturday. Pat Johnson-Agwu scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the defeat. He was one of three Yellow Jackets in double figures in the contest- Gus Stone netted 18- while Earnest Jenkins had 11 points in the contest. West Virginia State shot 42 percent from the field- 38 percent from the 3-point line (6-16-) and- 80 percent (20-25) from the free throw line. They had seven assists and nine turnovers in the game.
In the first meeting between State and NDC Johnson-Agwu scored 31 points and grabbed nine rebounds- while Abram added 21 in the 95-84 defeat. They shot 51 percent in that game- 50 percent from the 3-point line (11-22-) and- 71 percent (17-24) from the free throw line. WVSU had eight assists and 12 turnovers in that one.
Johnson-Agwu paces the season box score at 23 points per game- 7.1 rebounds per game- and- 33 percent from the 3-point line. Johnson-Agwu is shooting 50 percent from the 3-point line in conference play. Gus Stone is the teams second leading scorer at 16.2 points per game- Abram nets 12.4 points per game- Jenkins- and- Jeremiah Moore average 10.6 points per game- and- 10.1 points per game respectively. The Yellow Jackets are seventh in the conference in scoring at 86.8 points a game- while defensively they are allowing a league ninth best 86.8 points per contest. The Yellow Jackets have struggled on the boards where they have been out-rebounded 39.4-36.7 as a team. The Yellow Jackets have averaged 8.2 steals per game as a team.
Koenig talked about the Yellow Jackets scorers:
"Johnson-Agwu is one of the best players in the league. He is really good around the rim. He has been making shots which makes him even more dangerous. Jenkins is also really tough to guard. He has had some 30+ point games in his career against us. Stone did not play in the first meeting against us- and- is a really good player. Abram can really score as well. We made some adjustments after the first half against him in the first meeting. Mainly to put Bruce (Hodges) on him to hold him in check."
Koenig talked about the offensive standpoint for NDC:
" If they come out and press us the ball will be in Will and Larenz's hands a lot. If they play zone it will be more motion on the offensive end. We just have to take what they give us. This will be a really tough game for us- especially on the road."
Other MEC Games Wednesday:
Wheeling Jesuit @ Fairmont State
Glenville State @ Concord
West Virginia Wesleyan @ Virginia Wise
West Liberty @ Shepherd
Urbana @ Charleston
MEC Standings:
West Liberty 11-1 (15-2)
Fairmont State 11-1 (14-4)
NDC 9-3 (13-5)
Concord 8-4 (13-5)
Charleston 7-5 (12-6)
Shepherd 6-6 (10-8)
West Virginia State 6-6 (9-9)
West Virginia Wesleyan 5-7 (8-10)
Urbana 3-9 (5-11)
Virginia Wise 3-9 (5-12)
Glenville State 2-10 (7-11)
Wheeling Jesuit 1-11 (2-16)
Commentaires