This week: Notre Dame College men's basketball will play Shepherd University, in Shepherdstown, W.Va. on February 1 at 7:30 p.m. They will also travel to play Fairmont State University on February 3 at 4 p.m.

Records: The Falcons currently hold a 5-15 overall record and are 3-11 in the Mountain East Conference.  Shepherd comes into this week with an overall record of 12-8 and 8-6 in the conference. Fairmont State is 15-5 and 11-3 in the MEC.

Coaches Corner: Tim Koenig is currently in his fifth season at the helm of the Falcons and holds an overall record of 69-72 and has an MEC record of 44-58. Justin Namolik is in his 9th year as the head coach at Shepherd and holds a record of 144-126. Joe Mazzulla is in his first season as the head coach at Fairmont.

Rankings: FSU received two votes in the NABC Coaches Poll on January 30. They are also tied for fifth in the Atlantic Region Poll.

Series History: The Falcons hold an all-time record of 3-7 against Shepherd since the 2013-14 season. Notre Dame lost to the Rams, 94-91 on January 11. NDC is 1-10 against Fairmont since 2013-14 and fell 107-78 against the Fighting Falcons on January 13.

Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame lost to West Virginia State University by a score of 98-86 on January 24. Halil Parks scored 26 points and went 13-of-14 from the free throw line. Kyauta Taylor scored 21 points, eight rebounds and four steals while Oliver Megins added 13 points, nine rebounds and four assists. The Falcons shot 43-percent in the game and went 80-percent at the free throw line. Against the University of Charleston on January 27, the Falcons lost 100-62. Levi Frankland returned from an injury and scored 17 points off the bench and went 6-for-12 from the floor while Taylor recorded 16 points. NDC shot just 34-percent in the game.

NDC is fourth in the conference, scoring 84 points-per-game and they are shooting three pointers at 38-percent, which ranks third. The Falcons dish the ball around, ranking second in the MEC with 16.2 assists-per-game. Nationally, Notre Dame ranks sixth in NCAA Division II by knocking down 12.4 three pointers per game and they are seventh in the country with 247 three pointers made. Kyauta Taylor currently is fourth in the conference in scoring at 19.6 points-per-game and he has the best free throw percentage at 88-percent while also recording 2.1 steals-per-game which ranks third. Angelo Cugini grabs 7.9 rebounds-per-game which ranks him fourth in the MEC. Taylor is third in the MEC with 3.05 three pointers made-per-game while Drew Scarberry is fourth at 2.95.

Noting the Rams: In Shepherd's 115-78 loss to No. 1 West Liberty on January 24, Thomas Lang scored 17 points and shot 50-percent, overall. Winton Burgess (17 points, 10 rebounds) and AJ Carr (14, 11) both had a double-double. Shepherd trailed by 28 points at halftime and finished the contest by shooting 41-percent, overall, and 7-for-29 from long range. SU then upset No. 19 Wheeling Jesuit University 99-88 on January 28 and six players scored in double-digits. Lang added 23 points, six assists as he shot 5-for-7 from the floor and 10-for-10 at the free throw line. Carr recorded another double-double with 12 points and 10 boards. SU outscored Wheeling Jesuit in both halves and the Cardinals never led.

Shepherd only allows 76.2 points-per-game, which is second lowest in the Mountain East Conference and they hold teams to 45-percent shooting. The Rams are also second in the MEC in free throw percentage at 76-percent. AJ Carr is third in the conference in rebounding-per-game at 8.7. Thomas Lang shoots the ball at 44-percent behind the three point line, good for fifth in the conference. Winston Burgess is fifth in the conference with 2.9 offensive rebounds-per-game and Carr is third in defensive rebounds-per-game at 6.95. Carr is also tied for 18th in the nation as he has recorded 10 double-doubles this season.

Noting the Fighting Falcons: On January 24, No. 19 Wheeling Jesuit beat Fairmont State 88-82. Jason Jolly led the team with 24 points, 12 in each half, before fouling out while Andrew Emrick was efficient as he scored 11 points and went 4-for-8 from the field. Fairmont State scored 48 points in the second half, despite only holding a 35-percent field goal percentage in the half. On January 28, they upset No. 1 West Liberty with a 98-97 score. FSU shot 49-percent, including 44-percent from three point range. Fairmont State outscored West Liberty by 10 points, 56-46, in the first half. FSU received 24 points and five boards from Vonte Montgomery and 16 points and five assists from Jolly. Cole Von Handorf shot 70-percent including, 4-of-5 from behind the three point line, and finished with 18 points. The Fighting Falcons held WLU to 22-percent shooting from three point range, in the second half. West Liberty's only lead came with 2:29 to go in the second half.

Fairmont State is third in the MEC in scoring offense, averaging 87.8 points-per-game and are second in field goal percentage at 48-percent. Caleb Davis is fourth in the MEC, grabbing 5.4 defensive rebounds-per-game. Jason Jolly is third in the conference with a 2.31 assist-to-turnover ratio. Jolly is second in the MEC in free throw percentage, shooting 84-percent and he is also fifth in assists at 4.1 per game. Fairmont State is 16th in Division II with an assist/turnover ratio of 1.48 and they only turn the ball over 10 times-per-game which ranks 10th in the country.