|
W&M Basketball Travels to No. 4 North Carolina Sunday
12/31/04 10:57PM
- William and Mary's men's basketball team will travel to face No. 4 North Carolina Sunday at 1:00 PM ... The game will be televised live regionally via the Raycom/JP Sports Network (see below for specific station information) ... The Tribe enters the game with a record of 4-5, while the Tar Heels come in at 11-1.
Complete media notes (PDF, 316 KB)
Live Audio | Live Stats
Top Storylines
William and Mary’s men’s basketball team will face its second top 10 team in a span of three games, as the Tribe travels to face No. 4 North Carolina Sunday at 1:00 PM for the College’s final non-conference game of the regular season ... The contest will be televised live by Raycom/JP Sports ... Steve Martin (play-by-play) and Gil McGregor (color) will call the action.
TV Information for W&M-UNC Game
Sunday’s William and Mary-North Carolina game can be seen on the following stations:
Virginia
Williamsburg/Norfolk, WTVZ (WB)
Richmond, WUPV (UPN)
Roanoke/Lynchburg, WBVA (WB)
Charlottesville, WVIR (NBC)
Maryland
Baltimore, WNUV (WB)
Salisbury, UPN-21 (UPN)
Hagerstown, WHAG (NBC)
North Carolina
Charlotte, WWWB (WB)
Greensboro/Winston-Salem, WUPN (UPN)
Greenville, WCTI (ABC)
Wilmington, WWAY (ABC)
South Carolina
Greenville/Spartanburg, WASV (UPN)
Myrtle Beach/Florence, WWMB (UPN)
Charleston, WMMP (UPN)
The Tribe emerged victorious in its last outing, a 60-51 home win over Hampton ... The 60 points was the fewest scored by W&M in a win since defeating Towson, 59-52 on Feb. 12, 2003 ... The 51 points scored by Hampton was the fewest given up by a W&M team since a 54-51 win over George Mason on Feb. 18, 2002 ... Junior forward Hawley Smith led W&M with 13 points in the game, followed by senior guard Nick D’Antoni with 12 points ... 2004 Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Year Corey Cofield had seven points and a game-high 10 rebounds in the contest.
This will be the 20th meeting between W&M and the Tar Heels, and the first since then No. 1 UNC defeated the Tribe, 64-40, in Chapel Hill on Jan. 4, 1982 ... W&M’s last win over the Tar Heels was also the College’s last win over a ranked team, as the Tribe defeated No. 2 UNC, 78-75, in Williamsburg on Dec. 7, 1977 ... The game will also be a return home for W&M head coach Tony Shaver, who played under Dean Smith and graduated from North Carolina in 1976 ... Shaver grew up in High Point, NC.
Smith leads the Tribe in scoring with an average of 11.4 points per game ... Freshman guard Edwin Ofori Attah is second on the team with 10.7 points per game, and Cofield is third with 10.3 ppg ... Along with Smith and Ofori Attah, four of W&M’s top five scorers are in their first year wearing the Green and Gold, along with rookies Laimis Kisielius (7.1 ppg) and Nathan Mann (7.0 ppg).
Carolina Connections
W&M head coach Tony Shaver played basketball for Dean Smith and graduated from North Carolina in 1976 ... Tribe junior guard Taylor Mokris grew up in Charlotte, where he attended Providence Day School ... W&M rookie guard Edwin Ofori Attah was born in Berlin, Germany, but attended Statesville Christian in Davidson, NC as a high school senior ... Ofori Attah set the North Carolina single-game high school scoring record with 71 points against Hickory Grove Christian ... Current Tar Heel women’s tennis coach Brian Kalbas is in his second season at UNC, following a successful 11-year career at W&M (1993-2003), when he led the College to nine conference titles and 10 NCAA Tournament appearances and was named National Coach of the Year in 1998.
Tribe Makes First Trip to Dean Dome
This game will be the first time W&M has ever played in the Dean Smith Center ... The Tribe played the first game in the history of Carmichael Auditorium, losing to the Tar Heels, 82-68, on Dec. 4, 1965 ... Coincidentally, UNC played in the first ever game at W&M Hall, the Tribe’s current home court, defeating the Green and Gold, 101-72, on Dec. 5, 1971.
W&M’s Last Ranked Win Came vs. UNC
Arguably the biggest basketball victory in W&M history was its 78-75 win over No. 2 UNC on Dec. 7, 1977 in Williamsburg, the last time the Tribe defeated a nationally-ranked opponent ... Leading W&M that night toward one of the biggest upsets in the history of Virginia men’s basketball, was team captain John Kratzer ... Unable to play his senior year as he fought his battle with cancer, “Kraze” sat on the bench that day and played a big role in the historic victory ... Kratzer died on May 18, 1978 and in 1979 was named the first ever recipient of the United States Basketball Writers Association “Most Courageous Award.”
Ofori Attah Named CAA Rookie of the Week
Tribe guard Edwin Ofori Attah was named the Colonial Athletic Association’s Rookie of the Week on Dec. 6 ... In two games, Ofori Attah came off the bench to average 17.5 points and shoot .583 from the floor ... He scored a game-high 17 points to go with six rebounds in a win over Longwood ... He followed that up three days later with a game-high 18 points, along with four rebounds, against Old Dominion in the Tribe’s first conference game of the season.
Tough Transfer
W&M junior forward Hawley Smith is the most recent in a long line of significant transfers to the College from other Division I programs ... Per NCAA regulations, Smith sat out last season, following two seasons at Temple University ... One of two players to have started every game this season, he leads the team with 11.4 points per game and a .542 field goal percentage, and is second with 5.7 rebounds per game ... W&M has had at least one Division I transfer on the active roster all but one year since the start of the 1995-96 campaign, all of whom have been significant contributors with starting experience ... The trend began with the arrival of Bobby Fitzgibbons (Wake Forest), David Grabuloff (Florida State) and Sam Steen (Loyola [MD]) in 1995-96 and continued with two-time first team All-CAA selection Adam Hess (Eastern Michigan), who graduated last season ... Currently sitting out this year is guard Adam Payton (Vanderbilt), who will be eligible to play for W&M next year.
Cofield Named CAA Player of the Week
Sophomore forward Corey Cofield received the first Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Week award for the 2004-05 season on Nov. 22 ... A preseason second team all-league selection, Cofield averaged 22.0 points and 8.0 rebounds in the first two games of the season, leading the Tribe to the W&M Tip-Off Classic championship ... It is the first player of the week honor for Cofield, the 2004 CAA Rookie of the Year, who was picked as the league’s rookie of the week three times last season ... Cofield was also voted as the 2004 W&M Tip-Off Classic Most Valuable Player ... He is third on the team with 10.3 ppg and leads W&M with 6.8 rebounds per game.
D’Antoni Passes Pride
After Thursday’s game against Hampton, senior guard Nick D’Antoni passed 1990 W&M graduate and Major League Baseball player Curtis Pride for sole possession of 10th place on the College’s all-time assist list with 289 ... The nephew of current Phoenix Suns head coach Mike D’Antoni, Nick is averaging 3.32 assists per game in his career, the fourth-best mark in school history ... Ranked 13th in the CAA with 2.67 assists per game, his career 1.47 assist-to-turnover ratio is third-best in W&M history ... Last season, he totalled 159 assists, second-most in school history and just nine away from tying the school record of 168 set by Scott Coval in 1985.
Tough Competition
W&M plays two of the nation’s best teams in the non-conference portion of the schedule with games at Kentucky (Dec. 22) and North Carolina (Jan. 2) ... Two of the most storied programs in college basketball history, UK (1876-577-1, .765) and UNC (1827-677, .730) entered the 2004-05 campaign ranked first and second, respectively, in Division I history for most wins and highest winning percentage ... The Tribe joins Indiana and Tennessee as the only teams in the nation to face both Carolina and Kentucky this regular season, and will be the only team to play them both on the road ... It will be the first time since the 1995-96 campaign that W&M will face two nationally-ranked teams in the same season ... That year, W&M lost to No. 15 Virginia (87-58) and No. 22 Virginia Tech (71-66).
Winning with Defense
Despite head coach Tony Shaver’s preference for a fast-paced, high-offense style of play, the Tribe proved it could also win a defensive struggle, grinding out a 60-51 win over Hampton on Thursday ... The Pirates’ 18 field goals, .333 field goal percentage and 51 points are all season lows for a W&M opponent this season ... The 51 points allowed was the Tribe’s best defensive effort since a 54-51 win over George Mason on Feb. 18, 2002 ... The last time W&M won a game in which it scored 60 or less points was a 59-52 win at Towson on Feb. 12, 2003.
Long Layoff . . .
Between games at Old Dominion (Dec. 4) and at UNC Greensboro (Dec. 20) W&M went 15 days without playing, the longest stretch of days without a game in the CAA ... The layoff was due to the College’s policy of not allowing regular season athletic events during the two-week final exam period ... The Tribe’s last game before the break was Dec. 4 at Old Dominion ... The next-longest stretch of days without a game in the CAA was George Mason’s 13-day layoff between games on Dec. 8 and Dec. 22.
30-Point Win Over Longwood
W&M’s 90-60 victory over Longwood was the College’s first win of 30 or more points since defeating Washington College by 53, 92-39, in Williamsburg on Nov. 20 to open the 1999-2000 season ... The last time W&M earned a 30-point win over a countable Division I opponent was a 32-point, 101-69 win over Elon on Dec. 22, 1998 at the Stanford Invitational ... That game was also the last time that the Green and Gold scored 100 points against any opponent.
High-Scoring Tribe
Under head coach Tony Shaver’s fast-paced style of play, the Tribe has scored 80 or more points in 10 of his 37 games at W&M, including three of the Tribe’s wins this season ... This is the second straight season that the College has opened with two games in the 80s ... The last time that happened, before Shaver came to W&M last season, was the start of the 1980-81 campaign, with an 85-64 win over Pace (Nov. 29) and an 84-56 win over Christopher Newport ... The Tribe scored 80 or more points seven times last season, the first time a W&M team had done that since the 1995-96 campaign, when the Green and Gold had 80 or more points in nine games ... With an average of 71.7 points per game last season, the Tribe averaged more than 70 points a game for the first time since scoring at a 74.0 ppg clip in 1995-96.
Really High Scoring
The Tribe’s 90-60 win over Longwood was the third time in Tony Shaver’s short W&M tenure that the College has scored at least 90 points in a game ... Before Shaver came to Williamsburg, the last time the Tribe scored 90 points was a 92-81 win over Virginia Commonwealth on Jan. 12, 2002.
2004 Grad Adam Hess Breaks Czech Scoring Record
2004 W&M graduate Adam Hess broke the Czech Republic’s NBL (top professional division) single-game scoring record with 55 points on Dec. 22 against BK Usti nad Labem ... Hess plays for CEZ Basketball Nymburk, currently 12-0 in the NBL ... He was named the NBL Round 12 MVP after the game, in which he went 22-34 from the field and 8-15 from the three-point line ... The previous NBL record was 49 points set last year ... Hess was a first team Academic All-American last season and a two-time first team All-CAA pick at W&M.
Starting Lineups
Head coach Tony Shaver has used five different starting lineups this season ... In the most recent game, a win over Hampton, the Tribe started three guards, seniors Nick D’Antoni and Reid Markham and junior Taylor Mokris, and two forwards, junior Hawley Smith and sophomore Corey Cofield ... With Mokris earning his first start of the season in the game, 10 of the 14 players on the roster have started at least one game ... Cofield has now started 30 consecutive contests ... He and Smith are the only two players to have started every game this season ... Shaver used seven different starting lineups in 28 games last season.
Road Woes
Beginning with the 1998-99 season, W&M has had a tough time winning on the road ... Since then, the Tribe has a record of 14-69 (.169) on its opponents’ home court, including a 7-45 (.135) record against CAA foes ... W&M’s record since then at home is 48-33 (.593) ... This season the Tribe is 0-4 on the road.
W&M Wins Tip-Off Classic
The Tribe opened the season by winning the inaugural W&M Tip-Off Classic with victories over Hartford and Radford ... It is the Tribe’s fifth regular season tournament title in school history ... The last time the College won a regular season tournament was in the 1981-82 season, as the Green and Gold defeated Auburn and Davidson to take the 1981 Iron Duke Classic ... W&M is now 39-69 (.361) all-time in regular season tournament games.
W&M Opens CAA Play Early
The Tribe opened its 20th season in the Colonial Athletic Association on Dec. 4 at Old Dominion ... W&M was a charter member of the CAA, which officially started with the 1985-86 season ... This is the second straight year and the fifth time in the last seven seasons that the Tribe has opened conference play in December ... W&M has a record of 8-12 in its first CAA game of the season, including winning five of its last eight league openers.
ACC Returns to W&M Hall
The Tribe’s game against Virginia Tech on Nov. 28 was the first time that an Atlantic Coast Conference team had played in Williamsburg in almost eight years ... The last time was Dec. 4, 1996, when W&M fell to No. 25 Virginia, 75-64 ... The Tribe’s last win over an ACC team was Dec. 5, 1984, when W&M defeated Virginia, 54-53, in Williamsburg.
Season Openers
After the season-opening 84-71 win over Hartford, W&M is 53-47 (.530) all-time in the first game of the year, and has won six of its last nine season-opening games ... Last season, Tony Shaver became the 12th head coach to win his first game at the College, as the Tribe defeated Liberty, 91-64, on November 23 ... This is the third straight year and the fifth time in the last six seasons that the Tribe has started the year in W&M Hall.
Home Openers
The Tribe is now 42-18 (.700) in home openers since the 1945-46 season ... W&M has won five of its last six and seven of the last nine home openers ... The last time before this year that the Green and Gold opened the season with two straight home games was just two seasons ago, when W&M began the 2002-03 campaign with season-opening losses against Fordham (76-79, Nov. 22) and Radford (63-64, Nov. 24).
No Place Like Home
W&M will play 14 home games this season, the most since also playing 14 at home in 2002-03 ... The Tribe also had 14 home games in 1995-96 ... The last time W&M had more than 14 home games was in the 1991-92 season, when the Green and Gold played 15 times inside W&M Hall.
Happy Birthday
Senior guard Nick D’Antoni celebrated his 23rd birthday on Dec. 4, when the Tribe opened the CAA portion of its schedule at Old Dominion ... The only other member of the team to celebrate a birthday on the day of a regular season game is junior center Nate Loehrke, who turned 22 years old on Nov. 20, when the Tribe defeated Radford to claim the W&M Tip-Off Classic Title ... Junior forward Hawley Smith will celebrate his 22nd birthday on March 4, the same day as the first round of the 2005 CAA Tournament.
Corey Cofield Voted to Preseason All-CAA Second Team
In a vote of the league’s media at CAA Media Day on Oct. 27, sophomore forward Corey Cofield was picked to the all-conference second team ... The 2004 CAA Rookie of the Year and third team all-league pick at the end of last season, Cofield is the Tribe’s top-returning scorer and rebounder, averaging 13.2 points and 6.6 rebounds as a freshman ... Cofield also led the team with six double-doubles in his first year of collegiate basketball.
Back-to-Back Games
This is the second straight season, and the third time in the last four years, that the Tribe has opened the season with games on consecutive days ... It is the first time in almost 50 years that the College has opened a season with back-to-back home games on consecutive days ... W&M began the 1956-57 season with home wins over The Citadel (87-74) on Nov. 30 and Hampden-Sydney (98-81) on Dec. 1 ... Last season, the Tribe opened the year with a 91-64 win over Liberty on Nov. 23 before falling on the road to Radford, 89-86, on Nov. 24 ... The Tribe opened at the Red Raider Classic in 2001-02, with a 75-55 loss to Texas Tech on Nov. 16 and a 76-55 defeat at the hands of Northern Iowa on Nov. 17.
Tribe Hosts First Regular Season Tournament
This season’s inaugural W&M Tip-Off Classic was the first regular season tournament ever to be hosted by the College and was the first men’s basketball tournament of any kind to be played at W&M Hall since the Tribe hosted the ECAC South Tournament in 1985 ... W&M also played home quarterfinal games in the 1975, 1976 and 1977 Southern Conference and the 1980 and 1981 ECAC South tournaments ... W&M Hall was the location of NCAA Tournament first round games in 1972 and 1973, although W&M did not play in either of those games.
W&M Prolific From Line vs. Hartford
The Tribe was 32-41 (.780) from the free throw line in the season-opener against Hartford (11/19) ... That was the first time that the Green and Gold had made 30 or more free throws, or attempted at least 40 foul shots, since going 34-43 from the charity stripe against James Madison on Jan. 24, 2001 ... The most free throws the Tribe attempted in a game all last season was 34 against Delaware on Feb. 11.
Tribe Picked Eighth in CAA Preseason Media Poll
W&M was predicted to finish eighth in the league in a poll of the CAA’s media outlets last month ... Old Dominion was picked to finish first in the conference, receiving 13 of 24 first-place votes ... Last season the Tribe ended the season tied for eighth in the CAA, after being picked ninth in the preseason media poll.
Georgia State and Northeastern to Join CAA in 2005-06
The Colonial Athletic Association will become a 12-team league next season, as Georgia State and Northeastern will leave the Atlantic Sun and America East conferences, respectively ... The expansion will give the CAA a geographic footprint that extends from Boston to Atlanta ... The league will also have a presence in six of the top nine media markets (#1 New York, #4 Philadelphia, #6 Boston, #8 Washington, DC and #9 Atlanta) ... Delaware, Drexel, Hofstra and Towson all left the America East to become members of the CAA for the 2001-02 campaign.
Against the Top 25
Sunday’s game against No. 4 North Carolina will be W&M’s 84th meeting with a team nationally ranked by the Associated Press ... The Tribe has a record of 7-76 (.084) against ranked opponents, with its last victory coming at home on Dec. 7, 1977 against No. 2 North Carolina (78-75) ... W&M’s last game against a ranked opponent was last week’s 92-47 loss at No. 8 Kentucky on Dec. 22 ... The Tribe’s last game against a top five team was a 97-61 loss on Dec. 30, 1991 at No. 1 Duke, the eventual national champion that season.
W&M vs. North Carolina Notes
This will be the 20th game in the series between William and Mary and North Carolina, and the first meeting between the two teams since then No. 1 UNC defeated the Tribe, 64-40 in Chapel Hill on Jan. 4, 1982 ... The College’s last win over the Tar Heels was arguably the biggest win in school history, as the Tribe upset No. 2 UNC, 78-75, in Williamsburg on Dec. 7, 1977 ... It remains the highest-ranked team that the Tribe has ever defeated ... W&M played the first-ever game in the Tar Heel’s previous facility, Carmichael Auditorium, losing 82-68 on Dec. 4, 1965 ... UNC played the Green and Gold in the first game at W&M Hall, defeating the Tribe, 101-72, on Dec. 5, 1970 ... The series between the two teams began with a 35-21 UNC win in Chapel Hill on Jan. 12, 1912.
W&M vs. the Atlantic Coast Conference
Sunday’s game will be the 357th meeting all-time, and the second meeting this season, between W&M and a current member of the Atlantic Coast Conference ... The Tribe is 103-253 (.289) all-time against ACC teams ... The last time W&M faced an ACC team was earlier this year, an 80-63 home loss to Virginia Tech on Nov. 28 ... The last time W&M played two teams from the ACC in one season was in the 1991-92 campaign with games against Virginia and Duke ... W&M’s last win against the ACC was Dec. 5, 1984, with a 54-53 victory over Virginia in Williamsburg ... Since then, the Tribe has lost 24 consecutive games against the conference.
|
