This week: For the second consecutive week, Notre Dame College men's basketball will play one game. On Nov. 23, the Falcons welcome No. 14 West Liberty University to the Murphy Gymnasium.
Records: Notre Dame has a 3-0 (1-0 MEC) record after defeating Wheeling University in the final seconds of regulation last Saturday, and have put together the program's best start to a season since the 2016-17 campaign. West Liberty is 4-0 with a 1-0 Mountain East Conference record.
Coaches Corner: Mark Richmond is in his third season as the head coach of the Falcons. He has an overall record of 20-29 and has gone 16-23 in conference play. Ben Howlett now has an overall record of 103-18 in his fifth season. He has an MEC record of 73-10.
Rankings: West Liberty was ranked No. 14 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Preseason Coaches' Poll.
Series History: Notre Dame is 3-16 all-time against West Liberty. The last time Notre Dame defeated the Hilltoppers was the MEC Championship game in March 2019.
Noting the Falcons: After scoring over 90 points in the first two games of the season, the Falcons won a low scoring contest on Saturday. The Falcons scored 33 points in the first half, a season-low for any stanza this season, but still led by two after 20 minutes of play. As he has in every game this season,
Jaedon Willis paced the Falcons in scoring with 24 points. He is now averaging 24.3 points this season, on 46-percent shooting, and four assists per game. The Falcons also had three other players with 10 points (
Tyland Crawford,
John Godinez,
Michael Kirkland). Five players are averaging double-digit scoring, including Kirkland, who is putting in 10.7 points off the bench, while shooting 77-percent from the field.
Willis' scoring average of 24.5 per game is second in the Mountain East Conference. He is also tied for second with a 42.3-percent shooting percentage and ranks second with 3.7 threes per game. Willis is also fourth in the MEC with an assist-to-turnover ratio of three.
Michael Sampson is averaging 7.7 rebounds per game, which ranks 6th in the conference. The Falcons are averaging 87.7 points per game, which ranks third in the MEC. They are 10th in the country with a three-point percentage of 45.5-percent.
Noting the Hilltoppers: West Liberty has scored at least 100 points in three of their four games this year. They are at the top in NCAA Division II with 101.8 points per game. Last week, the Hilltoppers defeated Pitt-Johnstown 95-83 and opened MEC play with a 100-70 victory over Alderson Broaddus. Pat Robinson has led the team in scoring in every game except the win over AB. He is averaging 22.3 points, on 53-percent shooting, and 4.75 assists per game. Robinson was named MEC Men's Player of the Week for his performance during the first week of the season, totaling 52 points over two games in the Atlantic Region Crossover.
West Liberty was picked to finish first in the MEC Preseason Poll. Along with their offensive numbers, WLU has a plus-nine turnover margin per game, is second in the conference with 41.5 rebounds per game and first with 14.8 offensive rebounds per game. They have two players in the top 10 in scoring in the MEC. Robinson ranks third (22.3) and Bryce Butler is ninth (17). Butler ranks fifth with 7.8 rebounds per contest and is fifth with an average of six defensive boards. Robinson averages 4.8 assists per contest, which puts him third in the MEC and steals the ball three times per game, which is tied for second.
