This Week: Notre Dame College men's basketball has a road matchup against Fairmont State University, on Feb. 8, at 7:30 p.m. The NDC Falcons then come home to celebrate Senior Day, on Feb. 11 at 4 p.m., against Frostburg State University.

Records: After going 2-1 last week, NDC holds an overall record of 14-8, with a 10-6 mark in Mountain East Conference play. Fairmont State currently sits at 17-5, overall, with a 12-4 MEC record. Frostburg State has gone 7-15 this season and 3-13 against the MEC.

Coaches Corner: Mark Richmond enters his fourth season as the head coach of the Falcons. He has an overall record of 46-51 and his teams have gone 37-41 against the MEC. Tim Koenig is now in his fourth season on the sideline with Fairmont State and holds a record of 78-25 (56-20 MEC). Sean Brown, Sr. is in his fifth season as the coach of Frostburg State. He has a record of 29-65, overall, and 20-56 in the MEC.

Rankings: Fairmont State is receiving a vote in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II Top 25 Poll.

Series History: NDC is 6-17 against Fairmont State since the 2013-14 season, after falling by a score of 88-79, on Jan. 7. Notre Dame has won four consecutive games against Frostburg State, and now hold an all-time record of 5-2 against the Bobcats.

Noting the NDC Falcons: Notre Dame played three games last week. The Falcons scored 68 second half points and defeated Penn State Fayette by a score of 116-60. Jamarr Talbert Jr. led the way with 24 points and he made eight threes, which ranks second in the program history for a single-game, and Kaleb Torrence also hit a career-high 22 points in that game. The Falcons only scored 19 points in the first half against West Virginia Wesleyan, on Wednesday, but dropped 50 in the second half to defeat the WVWC Bobcats, 69-63. Jaedon Willis scored 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds. NDC struggled on the offensive end against Davis & Elkins, in a 78-63 loss, snapping a six-game win streak. Jaedon Willis led the team with 27 points on 41-percent shooting.
 
Jaedon Willis is second in the conference in scoring at 22.2 points per game and second with a free throw percentage of 89.7-percent. He ranks fourth in the MEC by shooting the three at 41.1-percent and making three 3-pointers per game. In NCAA Division II, Willis is third in total free throws made (139), 12th in points per game and 15th in total points (488). DeAirius Barker now ranks ninth in the MEC with 3.4 assists per game, after five straight games of four, or more, assists.
 
As a team on the defensive side, the Falcons rank second in the MEC in opponent scoring, at 75.4 points per game, they are first in opponent field goal percentage, at 41.6-percent, and first in opponent three-point percentage, at 28.2-percent. In terms of opponent three-point percentage, Notre Dame also ranks third in the country. On the offensive side, NDC leads the conference in free throw percentage, at 77.8-percent, ranks fifth in the MEC by scoring 82.9 points per game, third in three-point percentage, at 37.2-percent, and fifth in three-pointers made per game, at 9.1. The team ranks fifth in the MEC in rebounds per game, with an average of 38.9.

Noting the FSU Falcons: Fairmont State lost to Glenville State last Wednesday, snapping an eight-game win streak. That game was decided in overtime, with the Pioneers winning 85-84, and the contest was separated by no more than seven points, throughout. FSU had three players (Isaiah Sanders, Zyon Dobbs, George Mangas) score in double-digits, with Sanders leading the way at 23 points. The Falcons came back home and defeated Concord by a score of 92-86. Fairmont State shot 54-percent in the second half to hold off the Mountain Lions, despite getting outrebounded 49-31. FSU had 47 bench points, but Sanders still led the team with 20 points.
 
Isaiah Sanders is the fifth leading scorer in the conference with 18.6 points each game, while George Mangas ranks 14th (14.7). Two players rank in the top ten in field goal percentage with Mangas (59.4) in fourth and Isaiah Sanders (47.6) in ninth. Sanders is also leads the MEC in three-point percentage (45-percent), three pointers made per game (3.3) and is third in free throw percentage (88.5-percent), while also recording 2.2 steals per game, which ranks third. Teammate Parris Briggs is second in three-point shooting, at 43.2-percent from long range, knocking down 2.6 per game. Zyon Dobbs takes care of the ball by dishing out 5.1 assists per game, third in the MEC, while posting an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.2. Fonz Hale is sixth in assist average, at four per game. Seth Younkin blocks 1.1 shots per contest, which is fifth best in the conference.
 
Fairmont State has had a potent offense this season. They are second in the MEC in both points per game (93.2) and average scoring margin (plus-13.8). The Falcons lead the conference in field goal percentage (50.1-percent) and three-point percentage (39.7-percent), while ranking second in three-pointers made per game (11) and free throw percentage (77.1-percent). In NCAA D2 rankings, Fairmont State is third in scoring offense and seventh in three pointers made per game. The FSU Falcons are second in the conference and fifth in the country, in assists per game (19.3). They also rank in the top three in turnover margin (plus-1.36) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.34). On the defensive side, FSU is fifth in the league by allowing just 79.4 points per game and third in opponent field goal percentage, at 42.6-percent. The Falcons bring down 40.3 rebounds per game, and lead the conference with 28.6 defensive rebounds per game. The team is second in steals per game (9.8) and third in blocked shots per game (4.1).

Noting the Bobcats: After starting the season 1-12 in conference play, Frostburg State has picked up a couple signature wins. On Jan. 28, they defeated No. 24 West Virginia State, 78-73, on the road. Last Saturday, they upset Glenville State by a score of 88-83. Last week, the Bobcats went 1-1, losing to Concord before beating GSU. FSU was held to just 31-percent shooting and 60 points against Concord, as Jason Murphy led the Bobcats with 19 points and 10 rebounds. In a complete turn on the offensive end, Frostburg shot 52-percent against Glenville State and got 51 points off the bench. Vincent Smalls totaled 12 points and 10 rebounds, off the bench.
 
Frostburg has three players in the top 15 of the MEC in scoring, with Tairell Fletcher leading the way in seventh, scoring 17.5 per game. He is joined by Jason Murphy (15.8) and Agyei Edwards (14.7). Murphy is also third in the conference with a field goal percentage of 60.6-percent and ranks 10th in the conference in rebounds per game, with nine. He blocks 1.6 shots per game, which is second-best in the MEC. Edwards is fourth in the league with an 87-percent free throw percentage and fifth in steals per game (2). Fletcher is also in the top ten, shooting free throws at 81.4-percent.
 
Frostburg State scores 77 points per game, shoots 43.6-percent from the field, 28.6-percent from three and 67-percent from the free throw line, ranking in the bottom three in all of those categories. The team allows 85.6 points per game. Frostburg State is now sixth in the MEC by hauling in 37.3 rebounds each night.