This Week: Notre Dame College men's basketball starts an extended road trip and will not play another game at home this month. This week, they will head to Wheeling University, on Jan. 24, for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff. On Jan. 27, the Falcons will be in Salem, W.Va. to take on Salem University, with a start time of 4 p.m.

Records: Following a 1-1 week, NDC has a record of 7-8, overall, going 3-7 in Mountain East Conference play. Wheeling is holding a record of 5-10, while going 2-7 in the MEC. Salem is currently 5-11. Although they are not members of the conference, SU has a record of 3-9 against MEC opponents.

Coaches Corner: Mark Richmond is in year five with the Falcons and has a coaching record of 56-64 (42-50 MEC), while Chris Richardson is in year number four at Wheeling, and has a record of 27-65 (19-50 MEC). Vincent Thibodeau is in his first year on the sideline at Salem.

Rankings: None of these teams are receiving votes in the latest National Association of Basketball Coaches Division II top 25 poll.

Series History: In a close series, Notre Dame has a record of 12-10 all-time against Wheeling. After the MEC formed in 2013, WU defeated NDC in nine of the first 11 contests between the two teams. However, since the 2018-19 season began, Notre Dame has won 10 of the last 11. NDC played the Cardinals in the first conference matchup of this season, on Nov. 18, and the Falcons walked away with a 79-66 victory. Notre Dame has not played Salem since Jan. 5, 2020 and holds an all-time mark of 3-2 against the Tigers.

Noting the Falcons: Last week, Notre Dame picked up a much-needed win (108-78) over Frostburg State. In a complete team victory, seven players scored in double-digits. NDC was led by Trent Williams who scored a season-high 20 points on 70-percent shooting with six made 3-pointers. Gbolahan Adio added 15 points and a career-high seven assists. Over the weekend, NDC fell to Fairmont State by a score of 79-63.

Notre Dame is scoring 82.5 points per game and ranks third in the MEC with a field goal percentage of 45.7-percent. They are also fourth in the conference in assists per game, at 15.5. On the defensive side, NDC ranks in the top three in both blocks per game (4.7) and steals per contest (8.3). Over the past eight games, since December 9, NDC has shot over 50-percent from the field in five of those contests and has gone 5-0 when hitting that mark. After shooting 44-percent from three-point range in the loss to Fairmont, NDC has now shot at least 42-percent from long range in five games this season, going 4-1.

Devin Haid leads the team, and is tied for 13th in the conference, with 13.7 points per game. The other Falcons who are averaging double-digit points include Andre Harris (12.7), RJ Ogom (12.5) and Gbolahan Adio (11). Haid is second in the MEC, behind his teammate RJ Ogom (93.2-percent), with a free throw percentage of 91.7 and he is seventh in the MEC in both blocked shots (1.1) and steals per game (1.6). Andre Harris is sixth in the conference with 6.4 rebounds per game and Davin Zeigler leads the team in both assists per game (3.7) and steals per game (2.1).

In the national rankings, NDC is 17th in blocks per game and 23rd in fastbreak points per game (16). Haid ranks ninth in NCAA Division II in free throw percentage.

Noting the Cardinals: Last week, Wheeling lost a heartbreaker to Glenville State, 77-76. The Pioneers hit a three with 12 seconds left to win. Marcus Johnson played 34 minutes off the bench, scoring 28 points and grabbing seven rebounds. Sean Ealy added 14 points off the bench. The Cardinals then lost another close one, 94-88, against Concord at home. Johnson was back in the starting lineup and had 28 points and 11 rebounds.

As a team, Wheeling is fifth in the MEC in scoring with 83.2 points per game. The Cardinals are top five in both three-point percentage (35.8-percent) and three pointers made per game (8.7). They are second in the conference with a free throw percentage of 75.7-percent and rank fifth in offensive rebounds per game (12.5). WU does allow an average of 85.1 points, which is in the bottom three of the conference and allow teams to shoot 47.4-percent from the field, which is also bottom three in the MEC. However, the Cardinals do block shots well, ranking fourth with 4.1 blocks per game.

WU's Marcus Johnson leads the conference in points per game (22.6), rebounds per game (7.9), ranks third in field goal percentage (48.6), fourth in free throw percentage (88.2), fourth in three pointers made per game (2.5) and eighth in assists per game (3.3). He is currently eighth among all NCAA Division II players in points per game. Sean Ealy ranks 13th in the MEC with 13.7 points per contest and second in field goal percentage (53.6). Kevin Coleman ranks 11th in rebounds per game (5.9) and third in blocks per game (1.5).

Noting the Tigers: Salem traveled to Fairmont State last Wednesday and scored just 47 points in a 72-47 loss, after trailing 38-21 at halftime. Khemanni Davis had 19 points and nine rebounds. Salem had a completely different game against Frostburg State, leading 47-26 at halftime before beating the Bobcats, 85-70. Four Tigers scored in double-digits. Ian Hardy had 21 points and Ashraf Tchadouwa added 14 points and 16 rebounds.

Salem is averaging only 69.3 points per game, scoring 70 points, or less, in 11 games this season. On the defensive end, the Tigers allow 80.6 points per game and allow teams to shoot 43-percent from the field and 33.7-percent from three. SU does rebound the ball well, averaging 39.9 boards per game, with a margin of plus-2.6 over its opponents.

Salem has just nine players who have played at least 10 games. Ian Hardy (12.8) and Jack Garrison IV (12.6) are near the top of the team in scoring, while Ashraf Tchadouwa averages 11.6 points and 10.4 rebounds. Tchadouwa is also shooting 59-percent from the field. Brandon Francois leads the team with 3.1 assists per game.

In D2 rankings, Ashraf Tchadouwa is second in the country in offensive rebounds per game (4.7), 11th in total rebounds (174), 12th in rebounds per game (10.2) and 16th in double-doubles (7). Brandon Francois is 18th in Division II with 37 total steals.