Men’s basketball heads to Wheeling and then hosts Alderson Broaddus this weekend - Notre Dame College Athletics (2024)

Lianna Holub

Men's Basketball 1/18/2023 1:08:00 PM

This Week: Notre Dame College men's basketball stays on the road to face Wheeling University, on Jan. 18, with a 7:30 p.m. start time. The Falcons are back home on Jan. 21, when they battle Alderson Broaddus, at 4 p.m.

Records: NDC has an overall record of 8-7, while going 5-5 in Mountain East Conference play. Wheeling has an overall record of 3-13, while going 1-9 in the MEC. Alderson Broaddus enters the week at 4-10 (3-7 MEC).

Coaches Corner: Mark Richmond enters his fourth season as the head coach of the Falcons. He has an overall record of 40-50 and has gone 32-40 against the MEC. Chris Richardson is now in his third season on the sideline with Wheeling. He has a record of 19-45, overall, and 14-34 against MEC opponents. Stephen Dye is also in his fourth season with AB. In his time coaching the Battlers, he has a 33-56 mark.

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

Series History: NDC defeated Wheeling in their first meeting of the 2022-23 season, on Nov. 19, by a score of 91-71, and now hold a 10-10 all-time record against the Cardinals. In just four games against Alderson Broaddus, the Falcons are 1-3, since the 2020-21 season.

Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame is looking to get back on track after a tough three-game stretch. Last Wednesday, the Falcons nearly pulled off the upset of No. 17 West Virginia State. NDC and WVSU were tied at 38 at halftime, and Notre Dame held an eight-point lead, early in the second half, but the Yellow Jackets came away with an 88-82 victory. Four players scored in double-digits for the Falcons, as Jaedon Willis led the way with 28 and Andre Harris posted an impressive 16-point, 17-rebound statline. Notre Dame struggled against Charleston over the weekend, falling 87-67, on the road. Willis, again, led the way with 22 points.

Jaedon Willis is second in the conference in scoring at 20.9 points per game, while also ranking in the top-4 in free throw percentage (87.7), three-point percentage (41.1) and three-pointers made per game (2.6). Andre Harris leads the Falcons, and ranks sixth in the MEC with 7.1 rebounds per game. Daylin Lee ranks eighth in the conference by shooting free throws at 79.1-percent.

Notre Dame is averaging 82.1 points per game, which is top-5 in the MEC. At the free throw line, NDC shoots 73.6-percent, which is second in the MEC and the team is fourth in three-point percentage (36.7-percent). They bring down 39.1 rebounds each game, which ranks fifth. The Falcons' defense has still been stellar, leading the conference in field goal percentage (41.9-percent) and opponent three-point percentage (29.2-percent) and ranking second in opponent points-per-game (76.5). The team is 12th in the country in three-point percentage defense.

Noting the Cardinals: Wheeling secured its first conference win of the season, last Saturday. They were able to take down Frostburg State by a score of 83-78, after shooting 50-percent in the first half and outscoring FSU, 44-37, in the opening 20 minutes. John Korte (27 points, 16 rebounds) and Marcus Johnson (22 points, nine rebounds) each scored over 20 points. The team totaled 39 rebounds. Earlier last week, the Cardinals fell to Fairmont State, 106-85. Korte made ten shots and went off for 30 points.

John Korte ranks third in the conference with 18.6 points per game, while Marcus Johnson is tenth at 16.3. Korte is also top ten in rebounding, at 6.8 per game and shoots the ball at 54-percent from the field. Marcus Johnson steals the ball 1.7 times per game, which is ninth in the conference.

Wheeling averages just 76.4 points per game, which is 10th in the conference, while giving up 81.1. The team shoots 44.8-percent from the field and brings down 34.1 rebounds each game.

Noting the Battlers: Alderson Broaddus lost to Charleston 69-55, last Wednesday, and then played a close game against No. 17 West Virginia State, ultimately falling by a score of 82-79. Against Charleston, the Battlers shot just 39-percent from the field and 29-percent from three and their highest scorer was Jon King, with nine points. They looked much better on the road, against WVSU. AB led 41-37 at halftime, led by 12 points, 74-62, with 7:04 to go in the game and still were ahead 76-74 with 3:24 on the clock.

Zach Simpkins has been leading the Battlers with 13.4 points per contest, but Jalen Knott has averaged 18 points in just four games since coming back to the floor. Coryon Rice is fifth in the league with 2.1 steals per game.

AB is near the bottom of the conference in scoring, by putting up just 73.2 points on average. The team shoots 45-percent from the floor, but opponents are shooting the ball at a 50.6-percent clip, against the Battlers. They are at the bottom of the league in rebounding by averaging just 31.8. The Battlers have done well behind the three-point line. They are shooting 36.2-percent from long range, ranking fifth in the MEC, while holding opponents to 32.6-percent shooting from three, which is fourth-best in the MEC.