This Week: Notre Dame College men's basketball faces two tough Mountain East Conference opponents this week, as they start with a road game against West Virginia State University on Jan. 12, at 7:30 p.m., and then come home to face the University of Charleston on Jan. 15, with a 4 p.m. tipoff.

Spectator Reminder: No spectators will be allowed to enter Murphy Gymnasium on Saturday.

Records: Notre Dame has an overall record of 9-5 and a conference record of 6-2. West Virginia State enters with a 9-5 record and a 4-3 mark in the MEC. Charleston has a 10-2 record and they have gone 6-1 in conference play.

Coaches Corner: Mark Richmond is in his third season as the head coach of the Falcons. He has an overall record of 26-34 and has gone 21-25 in conference play. Bryan Poore is in his 23rd season at the helm of the WVSU program and has a 360-289 record. Dwaine Osborne enters his ninth season on the sideline for the Golden Eagles and has led the program to a 158-82 record.

Rankings: Charleston is receiving votes in the latest National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II Top 25 Poll.
 
Series History: Since the 2013-14 season, Notre Dame has put together a 10-8 record versus W.Va. State. Against Charleston, the Falcons have an all-time record of 3-12.

Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame has already surpassed last season's win total and has matched its number of wins from the 2019-20 campaign, which was the last full-length season. They are looking to secure a double-digit win season for the first time since 2018-19. Last week, the Falcons improved to 5-1 on the home court, beating Frostburg State by a score of 94-86 on Wednesday. NDC put up 58 points in the first half of the game, the most in any half this season. Jaedon Willis led the team with 21 points and Michael Sampson added 18 points and nine boards. NDC had 33 points off their bench, with Daylin Lee (12 points, six rebounds) and DeAirius Barker (10 points, six assists) leading the way.

Jaedon Willis now ranks fourth in the MEC, and 22nd in NCAA Division II, with 21.3 points per game. He is 12th in the country in total points with 298. Willis leads the conference with 3.3 three pointers made per game, on average, and ranks fifth by shooting 38-percent from beyond the three-point arc. Michael Sampson is fourth in the MEC, bringing down 8.2 rebounds per game, 6.1 defensive rebounds per game, 115 total boards, 30 offensive rebounds and 85 defensive rebounds. He also ranks tied for fifth in total steals (27).

Notre Dame is currently fourth in the MEC in field goal percentage (47-percent) and second in three-point percentage (39.4-percent). The Falcons rank 22nd in Division II in three-point shooting. They take care of the ball, ranking second in the MEC in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.39), third in turnover margin (1.50) and third in assists (16.36).

Noting the Yellow Jackets: Prior to the holiday break, West Virginia State went to Hawai'i for two games and won both, including an 87-69 upset of No. 11 Embry-Riddle University. The Yellow Jackets defeated West Virginia Wesleyan, 85-71, on Jan. 8. In that game, they had five players score in double-digits, including Jeremiah Moore's 12 points to go along with 10 rebounds. Ernest Jenkins led the team in scoring, off the bench, with 17. WVSU shot 53-percent in the game. The Yellow Jackets play three games this week, and started with an 81-72 win against Davis & Elkins on Monday. In that contest, the teams were tied at 39 at halftime, before W.Va. State outscored the Senators 42-33 in the second half. Jeremiah Moore led the team with 30 points and 14 boards and Glen Abram added 15 points. The Yellow shot just 27 percent (6-for-22) from three-point range, but held Davis & Elkins to 13-percent shooting (2-for-15) from long range.

Glen Abram ranks 10th in the conference with 17.9 points per game. He makes 2.9 threes per game, ranking second behind Jaedon Willis. Anthony Pittman does a little bit of everything for the team. He ranks third in the MEC with 8.4 rebounds per game, 118 total rebounds, 6.9 defensive rebounds per game and 96 defensive rebounds. He makes free throws at 83.9-percent, has blocked 18 shots and is tied for the conference lead, and ranks ninth in Division II, with 35 steals. Pittman's 73 free throw makes are seventh most in the country. Jeremiah Moore is first in the MEC with 52 offensive rebounds and 3.7 per game. He is second in the conference in field goal percentage at 61.2-percent.

West Virginia State is in the bottom half of the league in offense, scoring just under 79 points per game. But their defense has been impressive, ranking third in the MEC by allowing just 77.1 points per game and holding teams to 44.8-percent shooting. They make free throws at a 73.8-percent clip, good for third. The Yellow Jackets also are third in offensive rebounds per game (12.1) and lead the conference with 4.29 blocked shots per contest. Their 60 blocked shots this season, lead the rest of the conference by 17.

Noting the Golden Eagles: Charleston got to work quickly after the holidays, defeating Wheeling, 92-79, on Jan. 2. The Golden Eagles had five players score in double-digits, with Keith Williams scoring 29 points while shooting 10-for-12 from the field. Tyler Eberhart added 10 points and 13 rebounds off the bench. UC shot the ball at 59-percent. They also beat West Virginia Wesleyan, 89-74, on Jan. 5. In that win, Charleston shot 53-percent from the floor and all five of the starters scored at least 10 points, with Keith Williams leading the way with 23. In total, six players scored in double-digits. Charleston has had two consecutive games postponed, including the matchup scheduled for Jan. 12, against Alderson Broaddus University.

The Golden Eagles have seven players who are averaging over eight points per game. Eddie Colbert III leads the team with 14.9 points per game and is at the top of the conference with a 47.8 three-point percentage. He is second in the MEC, shooting 88.1-percent from the free throw line. He also leads the team with 6.6 rebounds per game and 79 total rebounds. Jeremiah Keene has 45 total assists and leads the team with 3.75 assists per game.

This season, Charleston leads the conference by allowing just 73.1 points per game. They are also at the top of the league in field goal percentage (53.8-percent), three-point percentage (39.6-percent) and rebounding margin (+10.2). UC ranks in the top five in the conference holding teams to a 44-percent field goal percentage (2nd), grabbing 28.1 defensive rebounds per game (2nd), scoring 85.4 points per game (4th), a 73.2-percent free throw percentage (4th), 37.1 rebounds per game (5th) and 15.08 assists per game (4th). The team also leads the country in field goal percentage and rank 6th in rebounding margin.