Friday, Nov. 22, William and Mary men’s basketball (3-6, 0-0 CAA) lost to North Carolina State (5-2, 0-0 ACC) 84-61 at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C., kicking off a North Carolina road trip.
The Green and Gold came into Friday’s contest against the Wolfpack with a 3-3 record and something to prove against one of the most prolific programs in college basketball over the last two years. The Tribe stormed out of the gates with a seven-point scoring run, and senior guard Gabe Dorsey put William and Mary on the board with a corner 3-pointer. However, the Wolfpack would ice the Tribe’s hot start with back-to-back 15-0 and 8-0 runs, only broken up by eight William and Mary points. With less than five minutes remaining in the first half, NC State was up 20 points, 35-15. While the Tribe showed some life in the remaining time, it retreated to the locker room staring down a 19-point halftime deficit, with the Wolfpack leading 43-24.
William and Mary hit the ground running once again in the second half, coming within 13 points of the Wolfpack’s lead less than four minutes into play. However, the Tribe failed to maintain this gained ground and the Wolfpack quickly responded with another run, holding the Tribe scoreless for almost three minutes and reclaiming its 20-point cushion with just over 14 minutes left. The tug of war continued from here into the last few minutes of the game, as the Green and Gold offense showed real fight and reclaimed the momentum from NC State. Meanwhile, senior forward Noah Collier scored seven unanswered points amidst a 10-2 Tribe scoring run, highlighted by an electric 3-point play with roughly five minutes remaining.
As the clock wound down, though, NC State took advantage of sloppy William and Mary play and put the nail in the coffin with a 16-2 scoring run. The Wolfpack cruised to 84 points, while the Tribe finished with 61. Overall, the Wolfpack shot an impressive 48.4% from the floor to the Tribe’s 37.3%, taking advantage of 21 Tribe turnovers to convert 29 extra points.
In a postgame interview, William and Mary head coach Brian Earl identified unforced errors and the team’s consistently high turnover numbers as major obstacles in the way of success.
“[There’s] just a lot to work on,” Earl said. “Obviously, 21 turnovers, I didn’t think many of them were forced, it was just us sort of making the wrong decision. And we looked a little scared, and that’s new, so we have to try to improve on some of those things quickly as we go into another game in two days.”
Although the Tribe found its groove by the beginning of the second half, Earl emphasized the need to avoid errors when playing strong teams such as NC State.
“I think we started playing the way we want to play, but when you go to play NC State on the road, you have to do that the whole game, and so we sort of figured some things out, and then it just fell apart again,” Earl said. “We just need to figure out how — in those moments when it gets tense — to not be the team that throws it to the wrong team, and we’re still working on that.”
Earl credited Collier’s impressive 25-point performance to the Tribe’s stronger second half showing.
“He fights hard and plays out there,” Earl said. “He’s got a warrior mentality, and I think he did a lot to help us.”
Sunday, Nov. 30, William and Mary headed west, losing 79-76 to Appalachian State (4-2, 0-0 SBC).
The Tribe started hot just as it did Friday, with a strong early six-point scoring run. The Mountaineers quickly came roaring back with two spurts of unanswered 3-pointers, leaving them with a 15-point lead with under five minutes remaining in the half. The Tribe responded with three unanswered baskets, which included consecutive threes from freshman guard Ryan Jackson, Jr. and graduate student forward Malachi Ndur. Still, the Tribe couldn’t match Appalachian State’s white-hot 56% first half shooting from three-point range and again found itself behind the eight ball at halftime. The Mountaineers took the lead at 42-30.
However, the second half showcased the Tribe’s penchant for late comebacks. The half started poorly for the Green and Gold, as Appalachian State continued to pour it on from deep, making four of its first five 3-point attempts of the period. With only 12:35 on the clock, the Mountaineers had a 19-point lead. It was at this point that the Tribe found a spark. Collier took control of the floor, kicking off a Tribe run with a scoring drive to the basket, an offensive rebound and dish to freshman guard Isaiah Mbeng in the paint and a laser to graduate student forward Keller Boothby on the cut for a layup. With just over 10 minutes left, the Tribe had sliced the deficit to nine points.
The William and Mary offense retained this momentum heading into the final minutes of the game and went seven for its last nine over the last five-and-a-half minutes. With about two minutes left, junior guard Kyle Pulliam scored on a fastbreak layup to whittle the Mountaineers’ lead down to just two points at 71-69. However, the Mountaineers quickly answered in the form of a 3-point play from senior guard Myles Tate. Tate again came up big for Appalachian State, converting on a hasty step-back mid range shot and putting the Mountaineers up at 76-73. William and Mary failed to answer on its next possession but quickly forced a Mountaineer turnover on the other side of the ball. Then, with 19.5 seconds left on the clock, Collier bore down in the post and used a double spin move to score, drawing a foul in the process. He converted his free throw to complete the 3-point play and finally tie the game at 76.
Appalachian State inbounded the ball and advanced hastily downcourt, looking for a game-winning bucket as the clock wound down. With just five seconds left, Tate had the ball at the top of the key, threatening to shoot and come up clutch a third time for the Mountaineers. The Tribe rushed to answer the threat, with two defenders moving to double-team Tate. This left junior guard Dior Conners open on the left wing, and Tate quickly dished him the ball. Conners drained the game-winning three with just 0.2 seconds left on the clock, as the home fans roared and the Mountaineers stormed the court. The spoiled Tribe comeback was William and Mary’s second loss at the buzzer in the last two weeks, after the team fell to Winthrop in similar fashion on Nov. 15.
Talking after the game, Earl took responsibility for the Tribe’s last-second defensive mishap and the ensuing Mountaineers game winner. He highlighted the team’s strong second-half showing and expressed optimism that the Tribe’s new fast-and-loose playstyle will pay dividends going forward.
“The last shot was all on me,” Earl said. “I made a call to try and double that kid, and [it was] just trying to be a hero by the coach a little bit. I thought once we overcame a little bit, our guys played hard, and when we play hard and loose and believe in it, we have some moments.”
Collier starred again in Sunday’s showing, leading the team with 19 points and eight rebounds. Ndur was another standout, notching 13 points while going six-for-six from the free throw line. Meanwhile, Pulliam recorded 12 points of his own coming off the bench.
Earl highlighted consistent shooting numbers from the field as an offensive strength and key to the team’s success.
“We’re getting open shots, and we have been missing them in stretches, and then they start going in, and we have by design a lot of shooters out there,” Earl said. “So when they don’t go in, it can look weak at times, and I thought it was just how we play that those shots started going in in the second half, and lucky for them, they had a lead. But I was hoping for a few more minutes on the clock at the end.”
William and Mary’s struggles continued on Monday, Dec. 2, losing to Old Dominion (3-6, 0-0 Sun Belt) 88-83.
The Green and Gold will look to right the ship when it hosts Virginia Lynchburg (0-9) on Dec. 4 at Kaplan Arena in Williamsburg, Va.
