The first game back inside Kaplan Arena with fans was a wonderful sight to see, but unfortunately, the matchup itself was a frustrating affair, featuring poor shooting in the clutch, defensive lapses and a concerning injury to one of the Tribe’s most important players. Here are four things you need to know about William and Mary (0-2) and its 74-62 loss to the American Eagles (2-0):
3-point woes
The Tribe was not a good shooting team last season, that is for certain. Two games does not a season make, but there are some signs that it may not have been a fluke.
After a good showing in the second half of the Wake Forest game (5-of-7 from behind the arc), the Tribe regressed, hitting just 17.3 percent of their threes tonight. Many of those were good looks, too. Down six points with less than three minutes to play, William and Mary missed open three-pointers on four straight possessions, each of which would have cut the deficit to a single possession.
Combined, Brandon Carroll and Yuri Covington went 0-for-8 from downtown tonight. Both are at their best when the threat of hitting from deep is there, so the Tribe better hope those two can get it together shooting-wise sooner rather than later.
Kochera’s breakout
Preseason All-CAA selection Connor Kochera had a quiet start to his season in Winston-Salem, N.C., Wednesday night, finishing with just eight points. The first half looked much the same, with Kochera struggling to get anything going. He was not nearly as aggressive as this team needs him to be, putting up just two shots before halftime.
But in the second half, Kochera finally looked like the Rookie of the Year we saw last season. Head coach Dane Fischer and the Tribe made it a point of emphasis to put the ball in Kochera’s hands going to the basket, and the sophomore from Illinois heard the message loud and clear. He had 10 points in the frame, leading the way for the Tribe alongside Ben Wight, who added 12. William and Mary needs Kochera to look much more like he did in the second half tonight than in the first this season.
Freshman mistakes
The turnover bug hit the Tribe again tonight, as William and Mary gave it away 16 times in total during regulation. Nine of those turnovers came in the second half and oftentimes during key possessions. Freshmen Tyler Rice, Julian Lewis and Langdon Hatton combined for nine turnovers. While frustrating, these are growing pains that happen to first-year players as they figure it out, and sometimes they just need to play through them.
What the Tribe can’t have are these “freshmen mistakes” coming from veterans. Kochera notched five giveaways tonight, which is just too many. There were also too many communication breakdowns on defense — not enough help defense, backdoor cuts coming open, open shooters on the perimeter. While, again, some of these are to be expected with a young team, it’s happening way too much for William and Mary. I don’t doubt these issues will be corrected, but it needs to be a priority for this team. They don’t have enough talent to overcome this many mistakes against the teams on their schedule.
Quinn Blair’s status
Quinn Blair honestly looked like the best player on the court for the Tribe at times tonight, which makes his injury all the more concerning. Blair went down awkwardly late in the second half and looked to be in severe pain, being helped off the floor and not putting any weight on his right leg. Any time he misses will be a serious blow to William and Mary given the Tribe’s lack of experience. Here’s hoping he’s OK.