Tribe Hosts Old Dominion in League Clash

W&M and ODU will meet at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 23, and the game will be televised locally on WSKY4.

01/22/10 4:00PM

Williamsburg - In a clash between two of the top teams in the CAA, the William and Mary men’s basketball team will host first-place Old Dominion on Saturday, Jan. 23, at Kaplan Arena. Tip-off for the contest is slated for 7 p.m. and will be televised locally in the Hampton Roads area on WSKY4.

The Tribe saw its national-best seven-game road winning streak come to a close at VCU, 81-59, on Wednesday. Senior Danny Sumner scored a season-high 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting for the Green and Gold, while junior Marcus Kitts, who returned after a one-game injury hiatus, tallied his first collegiate double-double with a career-high 16 points and game-high 11 rebounds. Old Dominion won for the sixth straight time and its ninth in the last 10 games, using a strong second half performance to dispose of Delaware, 68-49, on Wednesday. Junior Ben Finney led the Monarchs with 17 points, while fellow classmate Darius James scored 15 in the win.

W&M fans can also catch the action over the Tribe Radio Network with Jay Colley, Bill McDonald and Charlie Woollum on the call. The broadcast, as well as live stats, will be available at TribeAthletics.com. The W&M live video feed can also be found at TribeAthletics.com for $8.

For complete W&M men's basketball notes, click HERE.

Tribe News and Notes
- After his 20-point outburst at VCU, senior wing Danny Sumner is just nine points shy of becoming the 32nd player in W&M history to score 1,000 career points. He will join fellow classmate David Schneider, who joined the illustrious list earlier this season.

- W&M ranks among national top 10 in three categories. The Tribe is fifth in 3-pointers made (9.4), sixth in turnovers (10.7) and ninth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.4).

- For the seventh straight week, W&M received votes in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today National Top 25 polls. The College was also ranked No. 10 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25.

Scouting Old Dominion
The Monarchs enter the game with the Tribe as one of the hottest teams in the CAA. ODU has won six straight games and nine of its last 10 on the way to the top of the league standings. The Monarchs are 15-5 overall on the year and sit in a first-place tie with Northeastern and George Mason at 7-1 in league action. This past week, ODU received votes in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today National Rankings.

Old Dominion is the top defensive team in the CAA and ranks among the national leaders as well. The Monarchs lead the CAA and rank fourth nationally in points allowed as opponent only score 55.5 points per game against ODU. They also lead the CAA in defensive field goal percentage, rebounding margin and assists (16.0), while ranking second in 3-point field goal defense, steals (8.5) and rebounding (39.2). ODU ranks eighth nationally in 3-point field goal defense (27.8 percent), 12th in rebounding margin (+7.5) and 31st in field goal percentage defense (39.2). The Monarchs are also fourth in the CAA in points per game at nearly 68 per game and field goal percentage at 44.3.

ODU has one of the most balanced teams in the CAA as seven players average 6.5 points per game or better with only one in double digits. Senior forward Gerald Lee tops the Monarchs and ranks 10th in the CAA at 14.2 points per game. He also ranks fifth in the CAA in field goal percentage at 52.9. Junior Ben Finney ranks second on the team in scoring (9.2) and rebounding (5.6). He also ranks 16th in the CAA in rebounding. Frank Hassell leads the Monarchs in rebounding, while ranking 11th in the league at 6.1 per game and chips in 7.8 points per game. Sophomore guard Kent Bazemore turns in a balanced stat line for ODU at 7.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.9 steals per game. He ranks third in the CAA in steals and assist-to-turnover ratio.

70 Points the Mark
A large part of the Tribe’s success this season has been its ability to score points. W&M ranks second in the CAA at 73.7 points per game, which is the team’s highest scoring average since 1996. The Green and Gold is 11-1 this season when scoring 70 or more points in a game. Over the last three seasons, the College’s owns a 25-4 ledger when scoring 70-plus points in a game.

Countdown to 1,000
After his season-best 20-point outburst at VCU, senior wing Danny Sumner is just nine points shy of becoming the 32nd member of the 1,000-point club at W&M. He is looking to join teammate and classmate David Schneider in the 1,000-point club at W&M as Schneider became the 31st member at Harvard earlier this season.

Schneider and Sumner are trying to become the fourth set of teammates and second under Tribe head coach Tony Shaver to score their 1,000th career point in the same season. In 2008, Nathan Mann and Laimis Kisielius became the first set of teammates that spent all four years of the W&M careers together to reach the 1,000-point mark in the same season. Matt Courage and John Lowenhaupt both scored their 1,000th career points in 1977, while Matt Verkey and Carl Parker reached the mark in 1996. Kisielius and Mann were the first to do it in the same season after spending their entire careers together. Two other duos, Bev Vaughan and Jeff Cohen (1958-61) as well as Kevin Richardson and Keith Cieplicki (1982-85), played their entire careers together, but scored their 1,000th career points in separate seasons.

Chairman of the Boards
Junior forward Marcus Kitts has been a vital part of the Tribe’s success, giving W&M a scoring and rebounding threat in the low post. After narrowly missing his first collegiate double-double in the Tribe’s wins over Wake Forest and Longwood, he tallied his first double dip with a career-high 16 points and a game-high 11 rebounds at VCU on Jan. 20.

Earlier in the year, he just missed double doubles as he scored nine points and pulled down 10 rebounds in the upset of the Demon Deacons, before following that with a nine-point, 13-rebound effort against Longwood. It marked the first time since 2005 that a Tribe player has pulled down double-digit rebounds in back-to-back games.

Currently, Kitts ranks ninth in the CAA at 6.2 rebounds per game. He also ranks seventh in the CAA in offensive rebounds per game (2.8). According to KenPom.com (as of Jan. 17), Kitts ranks fifth in the CAA and 52nd nationally in offensive rebounding percentage (14.3 percent). Offensive rebounding percentage is a measure of the possible rebounds that are gathered by the offense.

Rebounding Disadvantage
Defensive and offensive rebounding, or lack there of, have been a key stat in determining the Tribe’s success this season. The Tribe is 10-1 this season when it outrebounds its opponents on the defensive glass compared to a 4-3 ledger when its foes hold the advantage. Comparatively, W&M is also 10-1 when it is outrebounded by its opponents on the offensive glass, and just 3-3 when holding the advantage on the offensive boards.

Free Throw Importance
The Tribe’s ability to get to the free throw line is paramount to its success in 2009-10. W&M is 14-1 when attempting more than 10 free throws this season, compared to 0-3 when its attempts fewer than 10 free throws in a contest. The College averages 22.4 free throw attempts and 17.3 makes in victories compared to just 14 attempts and 10.5 makes per loss.

Best Starts in School History
Following its win over Hofstra, the Tribe improved to 14-3 overall and 6-1 in CAA play, matching the best overall and best CAA start in program history. In the 25-year history of the CAA, W&M started 6-1 for only the second time, equaling the record held by the 1997-98 squad that went on to finish 13-3 and tie for the best record in the league. The 14-3 start equaled the Tribe’s best start through 17 games in school history. The Green and Gold also started 14-3 during the 1948-49 team when it started the year 15-3 before finishing 24-10. The 24 wins in 1948-49 are the W&M school record.