This Week: Notre Dame College men's basketball plays its final home game on Feb. 22, against No. 8 West Liberty University, with a start time of 7:30 p.m. The Falcons wrap up the regular season with a trip to Alderson Broaddus University, on Feb. 25. Tipoff for that contest is scheduled for 4 p.m.

Records: Notre Dame already has more total wins this year, than they did last season, putting together a record of 16-10 (12-8 MEC). West Liberty enters the final week of the season with a 23-3 mark, including an 18-2 record in Mountain East Conference play. Alderson Broaddus sits at 9-16 (7-13 MEC).
 
MEC Standings: West Liberty sits atop the MEC, and they clinched the conference regular season championship last week. Notre Dame is tied for fourth place, with West Virginia State, and has a one-game lead on Glenville State. Alderson Broaddus just clinched a spot in the tournament and occupies ninth place in the standings.

Coaches Corner: Mark Richmond is in his fourth season as the head coach of the Falcons. He has an overall record of 48-53 and his teams have gone 39-43 against the MEC. Ben Howlett has now been on the sideline at West Liberty for six seasons and he has a record of 151-24. Stephen Dye is in his fourth season with AB, holding a record of 38-62.

Rankings: West Liberty is No. 8 in the latest National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II Top 25 Poll. Last week, in the first regional rankings released by the NCAA, West Liberty was one of the 10 teams listed from the Atlantic Region.

Series History: Notre Dame is 3-18 all-time against WLU since the 2013-14 season. NDC fell to the Hilltoppers on Nov. 22. The Falcons have a 2-3 mark against Alderson Broaddus since the 2020-21 campaign. NDC is going for the season sweep after beating AB on Jan. 21.

Noting the Falcons: Last week, Notre Dame defeated Charleston, who was second in the conference standings, by a score of 77-64. Tyland Crawford led the Falcons with 18 points, along with eight rebounds. DeAirius Barker shot 60-percent from the field, scoring 15 points, with four assists and three steals. In just 29 minutes, Obinna Ugwuakazi totaled 13 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks. He had nine points and 11 rebounds in the second half. Jaedon Willis added 12 points and four assists. In the second half, NDC shot 48-percent from the field and 55-percent from three. West Virginia State defeated Notre Dame, 86-78, on Saturday. Tyland Crawford shot 8-for-11 from the field, leading the team with 18 points, along with seven rebounds. Obinna Ugwuakazi went 6-for-10 from the field, scoring 17 points and bringing down 16 rebounds. He had 10 points and 10 boards in the second half. DeAirius Barker posted 11 points and five rebounds, while Daylin Lee had 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
 
Willis is currently second in the MEC in scoring at 21.5 points per game. He is also top four in free throw percentage (90.2-percent), three-point percentage (40.6-percent) and three-point field goals per game (2.8). Willis is fifth in the country in free throws made, with 157, 14th in free throw percentage and 18th in both points per game and total points (560). DeAirius Barker is ninth in the conference in assists per game (3.2).
 
On defense, Notre Dame ranks second in the conference in opponent points per game, at 75.2. The Falcons lead the MEC in opponent field goal percentage (42.3-percent) and opponent three-point percentage (29-percent). The team also ranks eighth in the country in opponent three-point percentage. Offensively, the Falcons score 82.3 points per game and shoot the three very well. They rank fourth in the conference with a three-point percentage of 37.2-percent and make nine shots from long range each game, which is fifth best in the MEC. At the free throw line, the Falcons are second with a mark of 77.2-percent. On the glass, the Falcons are fifth in the conference in both rebounds per game (38.3) and defensive rebounds per game (27.3). The team is now second in turnover margin, at plus-1.24.

Noting the Hilltoppers: West Liberty took care of business against Frostburg State last week, scoring over 100 points for the 13th time this season, in a 106-90 victory. The Hilltoppers scored 56 points in the first half, on 51-percent shooting, and 50 points in the second half. Bryce Butler connected on eight shots and scored 22 points. Steve Cannady made three 3-pointers and finished with 14 points, while Finley Woodward added 14 points in 14 minutes off the bench. Frostburg turned the ball over 26 times, leading to 36 WLU points off turnovers. The Hilltoppers had to go to overtime, on Saturday, to run their win streak to eight games. Against Fairmont State, West Liberty led 59-55 at halftime, but the game was tied at 103 at the end of regulation. WLU went on to win 119-113 in OT. Five players scored in double-digits for WLU, including a 30-point, 8-rebound game from Christian Montague and a 27-point, 6-assist effort from Bryce Butler. Alek West also added 17 points off the bench.
 
Bryce Butler is leading the conference, and is eighth in the country, with a scoring average of 22.8 points per game. He also ranks third in the conference in field goal percentage (59.8-percent), seventh in rebounds per game (7.1), sixth in assist/turnover ratio (1.9) and eighth in assists per game (3.7). He ranks second in D2 with 242 field goals made and 10th in total points, with 592. Zach Rasile (2.3 three pointers made per game) and Christian Montague (2.1) are fifth and eighth, respectively, in the conference in threes made per contest. Christian Montague is sixth in the league in assists per game (3.8), while Steve Cannady (3), Alek West (2.8) and Montague (2.8) all rank in the top three in the MEC in assist/turnover ratio. Cannady also ranks in the top ten with 1.6 steals per game.
 
West Liberty leads the conference in points per game (101.1), scoring margin (plus-18.5 points per game), three pointers made per game (12.8), turnover margin (plus-8.04), assist/turnover ratio (1.97), assists per game (23) and steals per game (10.8). They also rank second in the MEC in three-point percentage (38.2-percent), third in offensive rebounds per game (12.5), fourth in free throw percentage (73.8-percent) and sixth in rebounds per game (37.1). In NCAA Division II rankings, the Hilltoppers are first in the country in assists average, assist/turnover ratio and three pointers made per game. The team is second in scoring offense, third in scoring margin, third in turnover margin and fourth in steals per game.

Noting the Battlers: Alderson Broaddus finished off its most impressive win of the year last week, by taking down West Virginia State, 92-82. The Battlers were down by eight at halftime, 42-34, but outscored WVSU 58-40 in the second half. In that second half, the team shot 64-percent from the field and 56-percent from three. Jalen Knott made 11 shots and posted 28 points and eight rebounds. Coryon Rice had 20 points and six assists, while Sirr Hughes added 14 points off the bench. AB outrebounded the Yellow Jackets, 40-28. In the second game of the week, Charleston shot 63-percent for the game and beat AB, 99-70. The Battlers scored just 35 points in each half. Jalen Collins went 6-for-11 from the field and totaled 13 points to lead Alderson Broaddus, while Coryon Rice added 12 points.
 
Jon King leads the team and ranks 22nd in the MEC by scoring an average of 12.6 points per game. He also ranks sixth in the league by stealing the ball 1.7 times per game and ranks ninth by shooting free throws at 80.4-percent. Coryon Rice is in the top ten of the MEC by making 1.9 threes per game, dishing out 3.2 assists per game and recording 1.5 steals per game.
 
AB scores 76 points per game, while allowing an average of 83.2 points. The Battlers lead the MEC in lowest opponent rebounding per game, as teams bring down an average of 34 per game. They are fifth in the conference with a three-point percentage of 36.3-percent and seventh in assists per game, at 13.4.