On Thursday, the (8-11 SU, 7-9-1 ATS) William & Mary Tribe and (10-9 SU, 9-9 ATS) Delaware Blue Hens will face off in Colonial Athletic Association hoops action. The Tribe, 3-3 in conference play, lost 82-54 at Charleston on Monday. The Blue Hens, 2-4 in CAA competition, lost 59-58 at Northeastern in their last game. Delaware's leading scorer, guard Jameer Nelson Jr., has missed the past four games due to a knee injury and is questionable for Thursday's game.
Delaware was victorious in both meetings with William & Mary last season. The Blue Hens are 27-17 all-time versus the Tribe.
Tip-off from Bob Carpenter Center in Newark, DE, is at 7:00 p.m. ET. Delaware is a seven-point spread favorite, and the game total is 135 points.
William Mary is fighting to keep its head above water in CAA play, splitting its first six conference games. A road win at Delaware would go a long way, especially with upcoming home games against two of the teams above the Tribe in the standings, NC A&T and Stony Brook.
The Tribe need to play well against Delaware after losing by 28 in their last game to the Cougars. William & Mary trailed 42-24 at halftime and never recovered despite shooting a higher field goal percentage than Charleston. The difference was each team's three-point shooting, as W&M went 0-for-12 and C of C shot 16-for-45. William & Mary was also careless with the ball, turning it over 18 times. The Cougars outrebounded the Tribe 46-36 with 19 offensive rebounds.
RECAP | No. 18 Charleston jumps on Tribe early in CAA win | by @DaveJohnsonWM
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— William & Mary Tribe Men's Basketball (@WMTribeMBB) January 17, 2023
The Tribe average 68.3 points on 43.4 percent shooting, including 35.0 percent from three-point range. Their schedule-adjusted offensive efficiency rating is 261st in D-1, per KenPom. The Tribe convert 67.1 percent of their free throw attempts and average 35.1 rebounds (+0.2 rebounding margin).
Senior guard Anders Nelson paces William & Mary in scoring, averaging 11.4 points with a 45.8 field goal percentage, including 42.0 percent from three. The Tribe also count on solid play from junior forward Ben Wight (10.6 PPG, 4.8 RPG, and 53.6 FG%), sophomore guard Gabe Dorsey (10.2 PPG), and junior forward Noah Collier (9.2 PPG and 8.6 RPG).
William & Mary gives up 69.1 points per game on 44.9 percent shooting, including 33.6 percent from distance. It's 294th in schedule-adjusted defensive efficiency and 251st in assist-per-turnover ratio (0.89).