This week: Notre Dame College men's basketball plays two teams who were picked to finish first and third, respectively, in the Mountain East Conference preseason poll. They take on Wheeling Jesuit University, at home, on November 29 at 7:30 p.m. and then will travel to play West Liberty University on December 2 at 4 p.m.

Records: The Falcons currently sit at 3-3 on the year and are 1-1 in the MEC. WJU is 5-0, overall, and 2-0 in the MEC while WLU is also 5-0 (2-0 MEC).

Coaches Corner: Tim Koenig enters his fifth season at the helm of the Falcons and holds a 67-60 overall record. He has an MEC record of 42-48. Danny Sancomb is in his 11th season as head coach of Wheeling Jesuit and holds a record of 195-109. Ben Howlett is in his first season as head coach at West Liberty and has a record of 5-0, 2-0 MEC. Howlett spent six years as the top assistant coach for WLU.

Rankings: In the latest NABC Division II Coaches Poll, the Cardinals are currently ninth in the country and the Hilltoppers are ranked seventh.

Series History: The Falcons have a 2-7 record against Wheeling Jesuit in a series that started in the 2013-14 season. In the previous matchup, the Cardinals beat the Falcons 84-69 last February. Against West Liberty, the Falcons are 1-8 since the 2013-14 season. In their last matchup, the Falcons lost 93-76 to the Hilltoppers in January of 2017.

Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame split their two games last week. Against the University of Virginia's College at Wise on November 20, the Falcons lost 102-101 in double-overtime. Will Vorhees had 25 points, 16 rebounds, five assists and three blocks in his first start of the season. He grabbed eight offensive rebounds, as well. Kyauta Taylor, who averages 24.2 points-per-game, had 20 points and six rebounds, Drew Scarberry added 15 points and Halil Parks added 10 points, six rebounds and four assists. The Falcons shot 39-percent from the field, including 45-percent in the second half. On November 22, NDC beat Penn State Greater Allegheny by a score of 93-87. The Falcons broke the program record for most threes made in a game (21) and most threes attempted in a game (49). Taylor led the team with 33 points and connected on eight three pointers. Levi Frankland scored all 21 of his points in the second half and he scored or assisted on 30 points in that half. Scarberry had 16 points and Ja'Sean Lewis grabbed 11 rebounds. The Falcons shot 45-percent in the game and 43-percent from three.  Lewis is now tied for seventh in NCAA Division II in total rebounds (76) and is fifth in rebounds-per-game (12.7). NDC is outrebounding teams by nearly seven boards-per-game.

Noting the Cardinals: For the third consecutive season, Wheeling Jesuit has won their first five games. In Wheeling Jesuit's only contest last week, the Cardinals defeated Glenville State College, at home, by a score of 89-65. On November 20, Haywood Highsmith led the team with 26 points, including 18 in the first half, and grabbed 12 rebounds in 31 minutes. Highsmith is tied for second in the country with five double-doubles this season and he averages 21.4 points-per-game and 12.8 rebounds-per-game. Preston Boswell, who averages 18.8 points-per-contest, had 21 points while Jeremiah Wilson added 13 points in the game. WJU shot 45-percent from the field but went just 8-for-31 (26-percent) from three point range. This season, Wheeling Jesuit has four players who are shooting better than 46-percent from the field and have taken more than 25 shots. The Cardinals defense averages nine steals-per-game. 

Noting the Hilltoppers: West Liberty is winning their games this season by an average of 41.4 points, which includes a 76 point victory over Cheyney University of Pennsylvania on November 10. On November 20, WLU beat West Virginia Wesleyan College 111-81. The Hilltoppers had a 25 point lead at halftime on 61-percent shooting and three players scored in double-digits in the first half. At the end of the game, Evan French had scored 21 points off of the bench and went 7-for-10 from three point range. French leads the team in shooting percentage at 59-percent from the field and 57-percent from three. Eric Meininger, who averages 11.6 points-per-game, scored 16 points and had six assists and Dan Monteroso scored 12 points. Three West Liberty players also tallied 10 points. One of the players who scored 10 points was Dalton Bolon who leads the team by averaging 17.6 points-per-game and six rebounds-per-game. WLU had a total of 58 bench points against WVWC. The Hilltoppers are first in Division II in scoring offense with 122 points-per-game and tied for first in total three point field goals made with 95. They also lead the nation in turnovers forced with 151 opponent turnovers and are also first with 89 steals.