This Week: Notre Dame College men's basketball travels to Buckhannon, W.Va. to battle West Virginia Wesleyan College, on Feb. 1, at 7:30 p.m. Notre Dame will then come back home to play Davis & Elkins College, on Feb. 4, at 4 p.m.
 
Records: NDC is currently riding a five-game win streak and now holds an overall record of 13-7, while going 9-5 in Mountain East Conference play. West Virginia Wesleyan enters the week with a record of 2-16, overall, and 2-12 in conference play. Davis & Elkins holds an 11-9 mark, while going 5-9 against the MEC.

Coaches Corner: Mark Richmond enters his fourth season as the head coach of the Falcons. He has an overall record of 45-50 and his teams have gone 36-40 against the rest of the MEC. Derek Sloan is in his second season as head coach at W.Va. Wesleyan, with a record of 4-42 (3-33 MEC). Daniel Mondragon has been on the sideline at D&E for four seasons and has a record of 31-61 (21-51 MEC).

Rankings: None of these teams are ranked in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II Top 25 Poll.

Series History: Notre Dame has an all-time record of 11-8 against WVWC, since the 2012-13 season. The Falcons are undefeated against D&E since their first meeting in the 2010-11 campaign, putting together a 7-0 record. The Falcons have defeated both of these teams once this season, taking down Davis & Elkins, 74-63, on Dec. 7 and beating W.Va. Wesleyan, 91-47, on Dec. 10.
 
Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame has put together its second five-game winning streak of the season, but the Falcons are looking for their first six-game win streak of the 2022-23 season. Last week, NDC defeated Concord by a score of 84-75, to split the season series with the Mountain Lions. Notre Dame defeated Glenville State, 97-93, over the weekend, and then took down Penn State Fayette, 116-60, on Monday.

NDC had four players score in double-digits against Concord, including a 29-point performance by Jaedon Willis. He scored 22 in the second half. DeAirius Barker added 20 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists and Obinna Ugwuakazi had 12 points and 12 boards. The Glenville State-NDC game had 23 lead changed and 14 ties. Willis scored 31 points, two away from his season-high, and Barker scored 19 points with five assists.

Against Penn State Fayette, Notre Dame scored a season-high 68 points in the second half. The team's 116 points is third most in program history, they broke the program record with 35 assists and made 16 three-pointers, which is fifth-most in program history. Jamarr Talbert Jr. set career-highs with eight made 3-pointers, which is third most in program history, and 24 points. Kaleb Torrence also set career-highs with four 3-pointers and 22 points.
 
Jaedon Willis was named MEC Player of the Week after averaging 30 points per game, including an average of 21 points in the second half, last week. He also went 22-for-23 at the free throw line. This season, he is second in the conference by scoring 22 points per game, second in free throw percentage, at 88.9-percent, third in three-point percentage, at 42-percent, and fourth in three-pointers made per game, with 2.9. Willis is third across the NCAA Division II with 128 free throws made, 13th in points per game and 17th with 440 total points. DeAirius Barker has cracked the top ten in assists per game in the MEC, by pushing his average to 3.5 per contest.
 
On the defensive side of the floor, NDC leads the conference in opponent field goal percentage, at 41.5-percent, and opponent three-point percentage, at 28.3-percent. Notre Dame is second in points allowed, with 75.9 per game. The team ranks third in the country in opponent three-point percentage. Notre Dame has been solid on the offensive side, as well. The Falcons lead the MEC in free throw percentage (76.9-percent), they rank third in three-point percentage (37.9-percent) and fifth with 84.6 points per game. The team has started the share the ball consistently, and now rank fifth in the conference in assists per game (15.1). Notre Dame brings down 39.6 rebounds per game, which is fifth in the conference.

Noting the Bobcats: West Virginia Wesleyan is on a three-game losing streak. They struggled last week, scoring no more 55 points in either game. The Bobcats trailed Wheeling by four points, 36-32, at halftime, but would allow 46 second half points and lost 82-55. Darius Green led the team with 14 points and Tyler Slone added 10 points and eight rebounds. Against No. 22 ranked West Liberty, WVWC had a really tough time, allowing 54 points in each half and losing 108-53. Three players scored in double-digits for Wesleyan, including a 13-point, 10-rebound effort by Green.
 
Darius Green is tied for eighth in the conference by scoring 17.2 points per game. He is also 12th in the conference with an average of 6.6 rebounds. Three Bobcats are in the top ten in the MEC steals. Darius Green (2.3) is second, Tyler Slone (1.8) is sixth and Anthony Craven Jr. (1.5) ranks 10th.
 
WVWC is allowing 87.3 points per game, but scoring an average of 61.3 points. As a team, the Bobcats bring down 31.6 rebounds per contest. The Bobcats rank third in the MEC by collecting 8.7 steals per game.
 
Noting the Senators: After losing four in a row, Davis & Elkins has won two of its last three games. D&E began last week with a 104-69 loss against West Liberty. In that game, WLU shot 71-percent from the floor and outscored D&E 65-35 in the second half. Breland Walton led the Senators with 15 points off the bench and Clarens Pierre had nine rebounds. Davis & Elkins actually outrebounded West Liberty, 41-31. Over the weekend, the Senators scored 48 first half points and took down Wheeling, 90-81. Four players scored in double-digits, as Walton led the way, again, with 25 points. Sam Rolle IV totaled 17 points and eight assists.
 
Sam Rolle IV leads the Senators and ranks fifth in the conference by averaging 18.5 points. Clarens Pierre hauls in 6.5 rebounds per game, leading the Senators and ranking 13th in the conference. He leads the MEC with 1.8 blocked shots per game. Rolle leads the conference with 5.8 assists per game and 2.4 steals per contest. In NCAA Division II, he ranks seventh in steals per game and 13th in assists per game.
 
Davis & Elkins scores 77.7 points per game, and rank fifth in the conference in free throw percentage at 71.7-percent. The team ranks in the top five in the conference in defense, allowing 79.1 points, and they rank third in the MEC by holding opponents to a 32.3 three-point percentage.