Men's Basketball November 4, 2019

High Point to Host William & Mary in Season Opener

Men's Basketball November 4, 2019

High Point to Host William & Mary in Season Opener

GAME INFO
Tuesday, Nov. 5 -- vs. William and Mary (Millis Center), 7 p.m.
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The High Point University men's basketball team tips off its season by hosting William & Mary on Tuesday (Nov. 5) in the regular-season home opener. The contest will be the final home opener at Mills Center as we celebrate Hall of Fame head coach Tubby Smith with our "Tubby Tuesday" promotion. The first 300 students will receive a Coach Smith bobble head and the first 600 fans in attendance will receive a Coach Tubby Smith shirt.

Matchup History

The Panthers lead the all-time series over Tribe 5-4. William & Mary and HPU are becoming familiar with one another, as this will be the sixth meeting between the two teams in seven seasons.
The Tribe and the Panthers last met a season ago as William & Mary won 79-69 in Williamsburg. The Panthers last hosted the Tribe in 2017 when HPU won 100-66 in front of a capacity crowd at the Millis Center

Panther Notes

The Panthers are 67-25 all-time in season openers and 11-9 in the Division I era. This is the third season in a row that HPU has started their season against William & Mary.
The Panthers were picked to finish eighth out eleven teams in the Big South Preseason Poll. Radford just edged out Gardner Webb in the poll, the Highlanders were picked to finish first.
Coach Tubby Smith is entering his 28th season as a head coach and second at his alma mater.
High Point got to see game action last week, defeating Averett 79-68 in an exhibition matchup. Freshmen Eric Coleman Jr. and Bryant Randleman led the Panthers offensively, scoring 14 and 12 points respectively.
Veterans Curtis Holland III and Jamal Wright also scored in double figures, scoring 11 and 10 points respectively.
The Panthers shot an impressive .564 from the field against Averett and .333 from three-point range.
In the exhibition, everyone was able to chip in offensively, with the Panthers bench scoring 25 points, including seven points each from Cliff Thomas Jr. and Denny Slay II.
High Point's backcourt played well defensively in the exhibition, with Slay and John-Michael Wright both recording three steals.

Across the Bench

William & Mary is led by new head coach Dane Fischer, who had previously been serving as an assistant coach at George Mason..
The Tribe welcomes six newcomers to their lineup to go with the nine returning players from a season ago, two of which were starters.
Senior center Nathan Knight leads the group of returners for the Tribe. As one of five Finalists for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award last season, Knight averaged 21.0 points per game while grabbing 8.6 rebounds per contest. The big man also averaged 2.26 blocks per game, good enough for 21st best in the nation.
Joining Knight in the frontcourt this season is 7 footer, Andy Van Vliet, who sat out last year after transferring from Wisconsin. Van Vliet is the tallest active player in the CAA conference.
Junior guard Luke Loewe is William & Mary's second returning starter from a year ago. Last season, Loewe scored 3.9 points per game while recording 1.8 assists per game in 31 contests.

Up Next: High Point will travel to Spartanburg, S.C. to play Wofford in their first road game of the season on Saturday. Tipoff at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium is scheduled for 7 p.m.

This men's basketball preview is brought to you by Omega Sports.

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