This Week: Notre Dame College men's basketball takes on Wheeling University and Alderson Broaddus University this week. The Falcons are at home to battle WU on Jan. 19 at 7:30 p.m. and they will travel to AB on Jan. 22 for a 4 p.m. start.

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

Records: Notre Dame has an overall record of 9-7 and they hold a 6-4 MEC mark. Wheeling is 5-11 this season and they have gone 4-6 in the MEC. Alderson Broaddus enters the week at 7-6 (4-5 MEC).

Coaches Corner: Mark Richmond is in his third season as the head coach of the Falcons. He has an overall record of 26-36 and has gone 21-27 in conference play. Chris Richardson is now in his second season with Wheeling and has a record of 11-23 (9-17 MEC). Stephen Dye is also in his third season at the helm of AB with a 22-36 mark.

Rankings: None of the teams are receiving votes in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II Top 25 Poll.
 
Series History: Since the 2013-14 season, NDC has gone 8-10 against Wheeling. The Falcons have won six of the last seven games against the Cardinals. AB joined the conference last season and the two teams split the first season series.
 
Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame ran into tough competition last week as they traveled to West Virginia State on Wednesday and then welcomed Charleston to Murphy Gymnasium last Saturday. Jaedon Willis still led the way, averaging 20.5 points per game and shot the ball at 50-percent. Tyland Crawford recorded his first double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds. In his first career start, DeAirius Barker shot 5-for-10 from the field for 11 points, along with six rebounds and four assists against Charleston.

Jaedon Willis ranks fourth in the conference, and 21st in NCAA Division II, with 21.2 points per contest. He also ranks third in the MEC with a three-point percentage of 37.8-percent and leads the conference by making 3.2 threes per game. In the national ranks, Willis is 10th in total points (339), 17th in three pointers made (51) and 22nd in field goals made (113). Michael Sampson is now fifth in the MEC with an average of 8.3 rebounds. He also hauls in six defensive rebounds per game and 2.3 offensive rebounds. Sampson ranks sixth in the MEC with 1.8 steals per game.

Notre Dame is fourth in the Mountain East Conference on defense, allowing 79.3 points per game. Alderson Broaddus and NDC have had similar offensive numbers. AB is scoring 79.5 points per contest and NDC puts up 79.4 points. The Falcons rank second in the conference by averaging a 38.2-percent three-point percentage each night. They average 11.7 turnovers per game, which is lowest in the conference, as well as holding a plus-1.31 turnover margin and a 1.32 assist-to-turnover margin, ranking third in the MEC in both. NDC is also third in the MEC with 15.38 assists per game.
 
Noting the Cardinals: Wheeling split their two games last week, losing to Fairmont State 95-84 before beating Frostburg State by a score of 97-80. The Cardinals had multiple players step up on offense. Against Fairmont, both Andrew Taylor and Tre Massey scored 19 points, while John Korte and Jordan Reid each added 13. Korte also had nine rebounds and six assists. In the win over Frostburg, Jarett Haines made 10 shots, including four 3-pointers, for 27 points. Jay Gentry knocked down five threes and totaled 21 points. All five starters scored in double-digits.

The Cardinals have two players in the top 8 in scoring in the MEC. Jarrett Haines is seventh with 18.5 points per game and Jordan Reid is eighth with 18 points. Reid holds a free throw percentage of 81.7-percent this season, which is fifth best in the Mountain East Conference. Haines is tied at the top of the MEC, and 11th in the country, with 38 total steals.

Wheeling makes free throws at a 78.1-percent clip, leading the MEC and ranking 17th in D2.

Noting the Battlers: Alderson Broaddus played one game last week and fell to West Virginia State, 81-68. AB trailed by just four points, 33-29, at halftime, but the Battlers allowed 48 second half points. Eman Eman led AB in scoring with 18 points. Jalen Collins and Vincent Smalls each had double-doubles. Collins finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds while Smalls added 11 points and 10 rebounds.

KJ Walker is AB's top scorer at 16 per game, and ranks 14th in the MEC. He is fourth in the conference with a field goal percentage of 58.1-percent. Walker is fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2) and tied for fourth in assists per game (4.4). John Grayson brings down seven rebounds per night, 10th best in the MEC. He leads the conference by blocking 1.7 shots per game.

Alderson Broaddus is third in the MEC with a 47.8-percent field goal percentage. They do a solid job on defending the perimeter as they lead the MEC, and rank 16th in the country, by holding teams to a 28.9 three-point shooting percentage. However, they rank last in three-point shooting (28.8-percent).