This Week: Notre Dame College men's basketball hosts the University of Charleston, on Feb. 15, at 7:30 p.m. The Falcons will travel to Institute, W.Va. for a 4 p.m. tipoff against West Virginia State University, on Feb. 18.

Records: Notre Dame has matched last season's win total and currently sits at 15-9 (11-7 MEC). Charleston holds a record of 17-7, while going 14-4 in conference play. West Virginia State is also 17-7 with an MEC mark of 11-7.
 
MEC Standings: Entering this week, Charleston is tied for second in the Mountain East Conference. W.Va. State and NDC are tied for fourth place, one game ahead of Glenville State.

Coaches Corner: Mark Richmond enters his fourth season as the head coach of the Falcons. He has an overall record of 47-52 and his teams have gone 38-42 against the MEC. Dwaine Osborne has been in Charleston for 10 seasons and has put together a record of 189-94. Bryan Poore is now in his 24th campaign on the sideline at W.Va. State. He is 393-299 with the Yellow Jackets.

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

Series History: NDC played West Virginia State and Charleston in back-to-back games in the middle of January. The Falcons dropped both contests, and currently hold a 3-15 mark all-time against UC, while going 10-11 versus WVSU since the 2013-14 season.

Noting the NDC Falcons: Last week, men's basketball fell to Fairmont State, 88-69, and then beat Frostburg State, 87-70. Against Fairmont State, Jaedon Willis led the way for NDC, scoring 21 points, on 6-of-13 shooting, and went 7-for-7 at the free throw line. DeAirius Barker scored 14 points and stole the ball five times. NDC had 11 steals in the game and 27 points off turnovers. In the Frostburg State win, Willis scored 27 points, including 22 in the second half. In the final 20 minutes, he shot 6-for-11 from the field, 4-for-5 from three and six-for-six at the free throw line. DeAirius Barker finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds. As a team, NDC shot 60-percent from the floor in the second half and scored 56 points. With that home win, NDC has a 9-3 record in the Murphy Gymnasium, the third most home win of any team in the MEC.
 
Jaedon Willis is in second place in the MEC in scoring with 22.3 points per game. He sits just 0.3 points behind West Liberty's Bryce Butler. Willis is also second in free throw percentage (90.5-percent), third in three-point percentage (42-percent) and tied for second in three-point field goals made per game (3). He ranks third in NCAA Division II with 153 free throws made, 12th in points per game and 15th in total points (536). DeAirius Barker is tied for ninth in the MEC in assists, with 3.3 per game.
 
Notre Dame leads the Mountain East Conference in field goal percentage defense, holding teams to 42.3-percent shooting, and three-point percentage defense, at 29.6-percent. The team is second in the conference in total defense, by allowing 75.7 points per game. Notre Dame is also third in the conference in turnover margin, with an average of plus-1. The Falcons are fourth in defensive rebounds per game (27.5) and fifth in total rebounds per game (38.5). Notre Dame shoots free throws at 77.4-percent, which is second in the conference, while knocking down threes at a rate of 36.9-percent, which is fourth highest. The Falcons are sixth in the country with 17.2 threes made per game.

Noting the Golden Eagles: Charleston took care of business, on the road last Wednesday, against West Virginia Wesleyan, winning 84-53. UC held the Bobcats to 53 points on 36-percent shooting. The Golden Eagles have won nine road games this season, the most of any team in the conference. Shunta Wilson and Eddie Colbert III each had 14 points and, at least, five rebounds off the bench. UC scored at least 40 points in each half and shot 54-percent from the field. Charleston then put up a season-high 105 points against Davis & Elkins, in a 105-66 victory. Six players scored in double-digits for UC in that game and Colbert led the way with 25 points and 10 rebounds, in 24 minutes off the bench. Tyler Eberhart also had a solid game, with 18 points and eight rebounds. The team scored at least 52 points in each half and totaled 46 points in the paint.
 
The Golden Eagles have five players averaging at least nine points per game, but Eddie Colbert III leads the team with 14.2 per game. Tyler Eberhart is ninth in the conference with seven rebounds per game and Colbert ranks 10th with 6.8 boards each game. Eberhart ranks third in the MEC, and 21st in Division II, with a field goal percentage of 60.1-percent. Jeremiah Keene ranks ninth in the conference with 3.3 assists per game and an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.6.
 
As a team, Charleston is at the top of the MEC in defense, allowing just 72.8 points per game. They also rank in the top five in both opponent field goal percentage (42.9) and opponent three-point percentage (29.6). UC is fourth in the conference in rebounding margin, at plus-1.9 and they are fifth in blocked shots, with 3.17 per game. Despite averaging just 81.5 points per game, the Golden Eagles are second in the MEC, and 12th in the country, with a field goal percentage of 50.1-percent. They accumulate 15.88 assists per game, which ranks fourth in the MEC, and have an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.26.

Noting the Yellow Jackets: West Virginia State is coming off of a 1-1 week, losing to Davis & Elkins, 91-82, before beating West Virginia Wesleyan, 84-61. In the loss to D&E, WVSU was trailing 35-29 in the first half and then allowed 56 second half points. Four of the five starters scored in double-digits, as Malik Whitaker led the way with 21 points. West Virginia State was outrebounded 47-30 by Davis & Elkins. The Yellow Jackets shot the ball at 41-percent from the field, while the Senators made 52-percent of their shots. Miguel Martinez went off for West Virginia State, against W.Va. Wesleyan. He scored 21 points, on 9-of-11 shooting, in just 19 minutes of action. Whitaker had a double-double, with 10 points and 10 boards. The Yellow Jackets shot 56-percent from the field.
 
Samier Kinsler leads the Yellow Jackets in scoring, and ranks 11th in the MEC, with 16.2 points per game. Two players (Anthony Pittman – 8 rebounds per game, Malik Whitaker – 7.6 r.p.g.) are in the top five in rebounding average. Whitaker leads the conference, and is 11th in Division II, in free throw percentage (91.7-percent) and ranks sixth in the MEC in field goal percentage (50.5-percent). Kinsler is second in the MEC in three-point percentage, at 42.2-percent, fourth in three-pointers made per game (3) and seventh in free throw percentage (82.2-percent). Dwaine Jones is fifth in the MEC in assists, averaging 4.4 per game, and Anthony Pittman is tied for ninth, with 3.3 assists each contest. Pittman also leads the league with 1.8 blocks.
 
The Yellow Jackets are third in the conference with 89.2 points per game, which is ninth best in the country. They rank third in the MEC, and 10th in D2, in three-point shooting, at 37.2-percent. WVSU is fifth in the conference in field goal percentage, at 46.4-percent. They bring down 39.7 total rebounds per game (fourth in MEC), 11.9 offensive rebounds (fourth) and 27.8 defensive rebounds (third). WVSU ranks second in blocked shots (4.42), fourth in steals (8.25) and fifth in assists (15.38). The team's assist-to-turnover ratio is 1.1.