In its 2021–22 season opener on the road at Wake Forest (1-0), William and Mary (0-1) struggled to keep control of the ball, committing 21 costly turnovers, as it fell to the Demon Deacons 77-59 Wednesday night at Lawrence Joel Memorial Coliseum.
“To me, the biggest issue in the first half obviously was the turnovers because we were turning it over every way you could,” Tribe head coach Dane Fischer said after the game. “We were throwing it away when we were just trying to make a simple reversal pass. We were throwing it away when we were trying to drive in there and kick to a guy. And we were turning it over when we had an advantage and had a four-on-three look or something like that.”
The Tribe committed 14 turnovers in the first half and shot 24.1 percent (7-of-29) from the floor as William and Mary faced a striking, 28-point deficit to start the game. At halftime, the score was 46-18 for the host Demon Deacons, with about 3,710 local fans in attendance.
However, the Green and Gold soon stabilized and rallied quickly after halftime, outscoring Wake Forest 41-31 in the second half and shooting a much-improved 53.6 percent (15-of-28) from the floor and 71.4 percent (5-of-7) from three. The Tribe also kept much better control off the ball, losing only seven possessions to turnovers in the final 20 minutes of regulation.
“It was certainly a tale of two halves for our team,” Fischer said. “So that was a message to our team … We focused a lot on playing hard all the time. I thought we played fairly hard tonight.”
Despite a tough loss against an infrequent opponent it hadn’t played since 2012, the Tribe saw major contributions from sophomore center Ben Wight, who scored a career-record, team-high 18 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor and 7-of-8 shooting from the line. Wight, who started for the Tribe, also managed to grab five rebounds during 25 minutes of solid play.
“Ben has been one of our better players since the summer,” Fischer said. “He plays with such a high motor. He gives you everything he’s got on both ends of the floor. … For him to produce like this tonight battling those guys was great to see.”
Freshman guard Tyler Rice appeared in his first William and Mary game and quickly established himself as the starting point guard for the Tribe’s young offense, managing to keep relatively good control of the ball, dishing out nine assists and committing only two turnovers.
“Tyler Rice was fantastic in the second half, facilitating the offense for us,” Fischer said. “He had a confidence and a swagger that I love seeing from him.”
Rice played a team-high 33 minutes and shot 3-of-10 from the floor, including 2-of-6 from three. Though limited in his scoring, his shot looked good from behind the arc. Rice finished with eight points in his Tribe debut.
With Rice’s abilities as a playmaker, Fischer explained, “He is a really tough kid to cover in ball screens because he can really see the floor, he’s got great pace, he can shoot threes … He really gave us some good lift offensively.”
Brandon Carroll, William and Mary’s newly acquired graduate transfer from Florida Southern, started alongside sophomore guard Yuri Covington and reigning Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Year Connor Kochera to round out the Tribe’s starting five for the season opener.
In 19 minutes of play, Carroll put up seven points on 3-of-7 shooting and blocked a layup by Wake Forest guard Cameron Hildreth with about 12 minutes remaining in the second half.
With senior center Mekhel Harvey out for the first semester because of an unspecified university policy violation, Carroll will look to fill the role of a presence who can block shots and play good defense above the rim for the Tribe’s younger, less physically dominant roster.
Kochera scored eight points on 3-of-9 shooting and struggled to finish at the rim in the face of Wake Forest’s stifling, physical defense. The preseason All-CAA Second Team sophomore played 25 minutes in his 15th career start for the Tribe.
Covington committed five turnovers in 15 minutes of play, forcing Fischer to sit him for most of the second half. Covington’s minutes were shared among the Green and Gold bench, which combined for 16 points by freshman guard Julian Lewis, senior forward Quinn Blair and freshman forward Langdon Hatton.
Hatton finished the game with six points on 3-of-5 shooting and grabbed five rebounds in just 15 minutes of play. Lewis had five points but four fouls. And Blair, who briefly left the court with an ankle injury, returned with nine minutes remaining and rejoined William and Mary’s rotation.
For its next contest and first home game of the season, William and Mary hosts American this Friday, Nov. 12, at Kaplan Arena. The sharp, 48-hour turnaround has Fischer already preparing his team for the Tribe’s home opener against the Eagles.
“It’s going to be a quick turnaround,” Fischer said. “We’re going to need guys to be ready, really focused in tomorrow and then get ourselves ready to go for our home opener, which we’re certainly really excited for.”
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