I already did this, didn’t I? Scroll down for info on players, and all, I’ll focus on the last few games.

JMU looked to have regained its swagger after a 19 point win against UNCW immediately after their game at the hall, but since then they have lost 4 straight conference games and everything seems to be falling apart for Dean Keener’s Dukes. They are coming off a lose at Towson, and will be without 2 guard Joe  Posey who got in a shouting match with a teammate during a timeout. Nothing is going right for a team that looked to have turned it around this year.

Pomeroy has JMU winning this game by 4 points, but I really don’t see it. They are in a complete downward spiral, and haven’t beaten W&M in years. This game will be close the whole way, but the Tribe will be looking to get back in the win column and wins by 3.

W&M-72
JMU-69

It’s fun to say that.

It was of the close variety again Wednesday night, with a 1 point OT thriller at Drexel. The Tribes 6th straight win sets the stage for the biggest game of the season.

ODU comes to the Kap tomorrow, and this game has a large impact on the future of this program. It will validate the win streak. It will keep the non-regular students that are coming to the game coming back. It will give the fans and team even more confidence.

I’m not going to preview, because we know who they are. The Tribe took down this team by 9 at the Ted, and is better than the 4-4 Monarchs. The stage is set for them, and the only remaining question is whether they will step up or back down.

It would be incredible to have a big win, but I don’t see it. Another close game, and behind a roaring student section, the Tribe pulls away late for a 5-point win.

W&M - 71
ODU - 66

Go to the game. If you live within 2 hours of the Tribe you have no excuse. Bring all your friends, neighbors, everybody. This is going to be fun.

Can’t stop.

This team just does not lose. This is getting pretty fun, and the Fightin’ Indians have a chance to get to 6-2 in the CAA with a win over a down Drexel team tomorrow. But no game at the DAC is easy, and this should be a fun one.

The Dragons are currently sitting at 9-10 overall, with wins over powerhouses Robert Morris and Loyola MD. They are 2-5 in conference with wins against UNC-Dub and GSU, and losses against everybody else. Their RPI  is solid for how they’ve played, at 210, but their Pomeroy rating is 259. He predicts them to finish at 12-18 and only gives them a 41% chance of winning Wednesday night.

Frank Elegar is the biggest(in many ways) guy coming back to the team from last year’s team, and he has done a solid job of carrying the load. The big center is averaging 15.7 points per game with 8.2 boards per. He has 35 blocks on the year and 19 steals, but an absurd 48 turnovers(to 19 assists). He is shooting 56% from the field and 67% from the stripe.

Tramayne Hawthorne has also played solid ball this year. Double zero is averaging 10.3 points per game and 2 boards per. His assist-turnover ratio is very encouraging, at 67-37. He is the team leader with 34 steals and 134 3 point attempts.

Drexel definitely has the pieces to pull an upset with Hawthorne, Elegar, Randy OVeneke, and Scott Rogers, but they have been sliding since the beginning of the year and I just don’t see them stopping a smokin’ hot Tribe team. It will be close like always, but the Tribe will pull out the W….like always.

WM: 62
DU: 59

Because the Tribe is on a roll(weak).

That is 4 straight conference wins, and another close one. This team just does not lose. It is finally fun to watch Tribe basketball.

Towson visits the Hall on Saturday, and the Tribe needs to take care of business. The Tigers are 6-9 on the year, but absolutely terrible on the road at 1-6 plus 0-2 in the conference. Pomeroy is predicting they win 10 games this year, and says they only have a 17% chance of winning at the Kap.

Junior Hairston, a C of C transfer has been the Tigers top scorer on the season with 13.9 points per game. He is averaging a double-double with 11.9 boards per, and has 28 blocks along with a shooting percentage at 50. He can do pretty much everything, and looks like a guy Laimis should guard.

Rodney Spruill is their second best scorer with 12.3 points per game, however he will not be playing tomorrow due to academic issues. This may be the nail in the Tigers coffin, as they aren’t great scorers as it is.

If the Tribe has a lock in conference play this year, Towson is it. They are without one of their top players, playing at the Hall, against a surging Tribe team. The game will be close, but I don’t see Towson winning. At all.

W&M-72
TU-57

What a great win. GSU was smoking and up by 16 in the second half, yet the Tribe comes all the way back for a last minute winner. This team just does not give up, and I’m starting to believe they are going to do something special this year.

But NU is up next and that is all we are going to think about. The Huskies are 2-3 in the CAA and 6-9 overall. Ken Pomeroy has them at 160 with 158 in the RPI, yet gives the Tribe a small advantage for this game. Their conference wins have been against Drexel and GSU, with losses against GMU, Towson, and JMU.

Sophomore Matt Jannings returns, and I don’t say this about a lot of players, but this guy is awesome. Not all that big, doesn’t look like a basketball player at all, yet he is averaging 16 points per game and is shooting 47% from the field. He is also 80% from the charity stripe, and is averaging 3.1 rebounds per game. His only fault is he has a negative assist/turnover ratio - about 3/4.

Sophomore Nkem Ojougboh has also been putting up stellar numbers this season. The 6-9 center is averaging 11.1 points per game to got along with a very strong 7.7 boards a match. He is shooting 45% from the field and 67% from the stripe, but has a pretty high 43 fouls on the year.

NU is a solid team, but they are really struggling right now. These 2 teams are heading in exact opposite directions at this point, and it would take a heck of a game from NU to win. I see the Tribe keeping the winning streak moving.

W&M-70
NU-58

What a great game. Total team effort. Schneider, Darnell, Stratt, Mann, seemed as if everybody had a big play. That was a huge game to win, probably bigger than ODU when it comes to team confidence.

Georgia State looms, with a 2 PM Saturday tip-off. The Tribe is looking to get revenge on a GSU team that knocked them out of the CAA tourney last year on a desperation 3. The Panthers have been playing better ball, but still sit at 4-10 and 1-3 in the CAA. They have played a tough in conference schedule, with ODU, VCU, GMU, and NU, but pulled off a shocking upset of Mason in their own gym.

Ken Pomeroy currently has the Panther pegged as #258 in the nation. He says they have the 241st strongest schedule in the country, and projects them to win 9 games, 6 in the CAA. They are 293rd in his RPI.

Leonard Mendez returns to Atlanta and is the Panther’s top leading scorer this season. He is averaging 16.9 points per game, and shooting 47% from the field. He is averaging 3.3 rebounds per game, and can hit the three(as we saw last year) sitting at 37% from beyond the arc.

Rashad Chase is also have a strong year for GSU. He is nearly averaging a double double on the season, with 9.3 points per game to go along with 9.1 rebounds per. The downside is that his assist/turnover ratio is almost 1/3, and he isn’t all that great from the field.

This game will go down to the wire, and will really test both of these teams. Both squads have been in pressure situations more than enough this year to know how to handle it, but GSU is coming off a few rough games while the Tribe is seemingly on top of the world. I expect the Tribe to win this with a little wiggle room.

WM-72
GSU-64

GO TRIBE!

What a great game!

David Schneider had the best performance from a W&M player in years. Heck, I can’t remember a better one.

Hope is rejuvinated, and we still have a great shot at improving this year. A win vs. JMU tonight would be huge - but not absolutely necessary. This should be a fun game for Tribe fans.

The Dukes came out of nowhere his year and have gotten off to a very nice start, with wins over VCU, Siena, and Northeastern along with a close game at Seton Hall. St. Joe’s transfer Abdulai Jalloh, a former A-10 rookie of the year candidate, has certainly helped by averaging 15.2 points per game on the year. JuCo  transfer Terrance Carter has also been very strong this year, sitting at 15.3 points per game along with 8.1 rebounds per. JuWann James and Pierre Curtis are also averaging double digits in scoring.

This game is pretty much a toss-up - JMU has been stronger on the year, but is coming off a loss at Hofstra, while the Tribe has been very bad on the season but just beat ODU. I think JMU is coming back down to earth and that will continue tonight.

TRIBE: 75
JMU: 72

Another loss in a “must-win” game. The Refs didn’t help, but in all honesty Peter Stein was the only guy that showed up. Was that his coming out party? I surely hope so.

The guard play was absolutely terrible. Mann was okay, but Schneider was 0/7, Sumner was 1/something, and nobody else had a solid game. They’ll need to play much much better to keep it within 20 points tomorrow.

ODU has gotten off to a rough start by their standards, currently at 7-7. They are 2-0 in the CAA with wins over GSU and Hofstra, plus a very strong win against VT earlier, but have lost 3 of their last 4 games, none of which against elite opponents. They seem to be a very inconsistent team, almost as if the hoop is a fraction of an inch too high in some of their games.

Sophomore Gerald Lee showed flashes of greatness last year, and he has followed it up with a very strong season thus far. He is leading the team with 12.2 points per game, and a team best 6.2 rebounds per. He has also shot for a high percentage, near 60% from the field. Peter Stein will need to come to play tomorrow for the Tribe to compete.

Point guard Brandon Johnson has also been superb this year, sitting at 8.9 points per game. He plays very strong defense, and has an out of this world 41 steals. He can do it all, as he also has 5.1 rebounds a games and 4.9 assists.

It is always tough to win in the Ted, especially for a Tribe team that has struggled on the road. Mann and Schneider will have to be near perfect for the Tribe to have a chance, and I just don’t see it happening. ODU wins big.

ODU - 75
W&M - 66

First complete win of the year. A spectacular win from the team. Everybody pitched in. Sumner with 13, Darnell with 12, Mann with 12, Kisielius with 10, Stein with 8, Schneider with 6. No Stratton or Smith, and we still beat a not terrible team, by 21.

Danny Sumner is a flat out monster. 13 points in 19 minutes. He will be an All-CAA player in 2 years, and is showing the potential we all knew he had when he came in. He and David are the first half MVPs.

Alex Smith is out for the year and being redshirted. This is a bigger loss for us than any one game this year. The only good news is it sets up a ridiculous 2010 senior class - Danny Sumner, David Schneider, Sean McCurdy, and Alex Smith. If the Tribe is ever going to challenge for the CAA title, that is the year.

Delaware is the type of CAA game we need to win this year. They are 1-0 in CAA play with a win over weak Towson, but also loses to Central Connecticut and Ohio. They have 3 average players, and are very bad past those 3 guys.

2 of those guys are big men, in Marc Egerson and Herb Courtney. Courtney leads the team in scoring with 13.8 points per game, as well as 5.5 rebounds. He is the best player on the team and had some preseason all-CAA chatter. Egerson is a Georgetown transfer who has only seen action in 4 games this year, all of which he started in. He is averaging 13.3 points per game and 5.5 rebounds, but has a TERRIBLE assist to turnover ratio at 5-19. Stein’s and Kisielius’ interior defense will be key.

Sophomore point guard Brian Johnson is the 3rd strong player on their team. He was on the CAA Freshman team last year, and is following it up with 10 points a game. His assist to turnover ratio is better than 2 to 1, and he is pulling down 3.2 boards per game - pretty good for a little guy. He is shooting over 55% from 3 this year, and could be a key zone buster tomorrow night.

The Tribe defense will need to force turnovers and dominate tomorrow night in order to win, as that is Delawares achilles heel. The Hens have been outscored by almost 50 points this year, so this is definitely a game W&M should win. But the Tribe hasn’t beaten a team as good as UDel yet this year, and until they do, I am picking against them.

UDel - 68
W&M - 64