This Week: Notre Dame College men's basketball is the No. 5 seed in the Mountain East Conference Tournament and will play No. 4 seed Fairmont State University on March 4, at 8:30 p.m. The entire MEC Tournament takes place at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, W.Va.

Tournament Central: To get more information on the MEC Tournament, click here.

Tickets: To buy tickets, click here.

Looking Around the Tournament: The first round matchups on Wednesday evening feature No. 7 Alderson Broaddus vs. No. 10 Davis & Elkins, at 6 p.m., and No. 8 Glenville State vs. No. 9 Wheeling, at 8:30 p.m. If NDC defeats Fairmont State on Friday, they will play on March 5, at 6 p.m., and face the winner of the No. 1 West Liberty vs. No. 8/No. 9 matchup. On the other side of the bracket, No. 2 West Virginia State plays the winner of the No. 7 vs. No. 10 game on March 4, at 12 p.m. And No. 3 Charleston battles No. 6 Concord on March 4, at 2:30 p.m.

Records: Notre Dame has an overall record of 15-13 and they hold a 12-10 MEC mark. No. 23 Fairmont State is 22-6, with a 16-6 MEC record.

Coaches Corner: Mark Richmond is in his third season as the head coach of the Falcons. He has an overall record of 32-42 and has gone 27-33 in conference play. Tim Koenig is in his third season at Fairmont State and has a record of 60-18 (44-16 MEC).

Rankings: Fairmont State is ranked No. 23 in the latest National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II Top 25 Poll. In the regional rankings, FSU is No. 3 in the Atlantic Region.
 
Series History: NDC is 6-15 all-time against conference rival Fairmont State since 2013-14. However, Notre Dame has won five out of the last eight matchups against FSU, including an 85-67 win the last time these two teams matched up in the MEC Tournament, back in 2019. In fact, Notre Dame is 2-1 against Fairmont State all-time in the MEC Tournament.

Noting the NDC Falcons: Notre Dame fell twice in their final week of the regular season. Against No. 2 ranked West Liberty, the Falcons had balanced scoring with Michael Sampson and Daylin Lee both scoring 18, while Jaedon Willis and Tyland Crawford had 16, each. The Falcons also out-rebounded WLU 36-35, with 10 players pulling down at least one rebound. West Liberty shot the ball well, going 40-for-67 (59.7-percent) from the field. Against Alderson Broaddus, on Feb. 26, Jaedon Willis led the team with 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting, but the Falcons lost 79-65.

Jaedon Willis was named All-MEC First Team after a great regular season. Willis is currently tied for seventh in NDC history for most free throws made (123) in a season and is tenth in scoring average (20.8). He is third in the conference in total points (581) and three-point percentage (38.9), second in threes made per game (3) and sixth in free throw percentage (.831). Throughout NCAA Division II, Willis ranks 11th in the country in total points, 22nd in points per game and 24th in free throws made. In the two games against Fairmont State this season, Willis averaged 21 points.

Michael Sampson is fifth in the conference in total rebounds (225) and defensive rebounds (159) and ranks fourth with 66 offensive boards. Sampson has accumulated 54 steals, which is third best in the MEC. He ranks sixth in rebounds per game (8) and fifth in steals per game (1.9).

As a team, the NDC Falcons are fourth on the defensive side, allowing just 79.4 points per game to their opponents and fifth in opponent field goal percentage at 46.6-percent. The Falcons have a plus-0.5 turnover margin, which is fourth in the conference.

Noting the FSU Falcons: Fairmont State went 2-1 in their final week of the regular season. They defeated West Virginia Wesleyan 93-78 on Wednesday, lost to Frostburg State on Saturday and beat non-conference foe Carlow 101-68 on Sunday. Fairmont State took care of business against W.Va. Wesleyan, shooting 57-percent from the field in the game and all five of their starters scored in double-digits. Zyon Dobbs led the way with 21 points and seven assists. Fairmont led Frostburg State 47-32 at halftime and then were outscored by the Bobcats 48-28 in the second half as Frostburg shot 58-percent from the field in the final 20 minutes. Dobbs had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Fairmont State.

The FSU Falcons had three players named to the All-MEC Teams. Isaiah Sanders was named to the First Team, while Zyon Dobbs and Cole VonHandorf are both on the Second Team. All three players scored in double-digits in both games against Notre Dame. Isaiah Sanders averaged 22 points in those two games.

Isaiah Sanders is fourth in the conference, scoring 20.7 points per game and is second in the MEC at the free throw line, shooting 88.4-percent. He is 12th in the country in total points, with 579. Cole VanHandorf is fifth in the conference with a field goal percentage of 54.6-percent. Behind the three-point line, Briggs Parris is shooting 41-percent, second in the conference, and making 2.8 shots per game, third in the conference.

Fairmont State ranks third in the MEC, and 10th in the country, scoring 87.8 points per game and they shoot the ball at 48.6-percent from the field, which is third in the league. The FSU Falcons are second on the other end, allowing just 77.8 points per contest. They are best in the conference by holding teams to a 43.5-percent shooting percentage from the field and rank third by holding teams to a 32.8-percent three point percentage. They shoot free throws at 75.2-percent, which ranks third in the MEC. Fairmont State leads the league with 28.4 defensive rebounds per contest and rank second with 38 rebounds per game. They are second in the MEC with a plus-2.25 turnover margin.