William & Mary (2-2) at No. 16 UVa (3-1)

2 p.m., ACC Network

After a lengthy lay off, the Cavaliers will finally return to the hardwood on Tuesday afternoon. The program was on pause after a positive COVID-19 test came back nearly two weeks ago, forcing the cancellation of games against Michigan State and Villanova, and a second postponement of this contest against William & Mary. Virginia will get its opportunity to host the Tribe tomorrow in their first game since holding off an overtime upset bid by Kent State on December 4th.

William & Mary comes to Charlottesville with a 2-2 record having had a COVID-related pause of its own several weeks ago. The Tribe have wins over George Washington and Hampton, both sub-240 in KenPom, with their losses coming against Old Dominion and (in lopsided fashion) against High Point on Saturday.

The Tribe are in their second season under the direction of coach Dane Fischer, who took over when Tony Shaver was dismissed after a long run in charge of the program. In his first year in Williamsburg, Fischer led the Tribe to a successful 21-11 campaign, which ended with a premature loss early in the CAA Tournament to Elon.

They last played the Cavaliers two years ago to the day early in UVa’s title-winning campaign. UVa handled the Tribe 72-40 at home, despite a 22-point effort for former W&M star forward Nathan Knight.

The Tribe enter tomorrow’s matinee ranked 282 in KenPom. That makes William & Mary the lowest-ranked team the Cavaliers have played to date, 22 spots behind St. Francis (PA). The metrics are not kind to the Tribe, where they have a few glaring weaknesses and not a ton of identifiable strengths.

W&M’s efficiency numbers are below par, with the 215th-ranked offense and 330th-ranked defense. On defense, the Tribe have struggled to rebound effectively, ranking 258th nationally in offensive rebounding percentage allowed. Opponents are shooting 33 percent from beyond the arc but don’t take too many 3s. Only one quarter of opponent shots have come from long range in large part because the Tribe have struggled to defend the rim.

On offense, William & Mary’s biggest strength is its outside shooting. The Tribe are shooting 36 percent from 3, which ranks 85th nationally. They haven’t played particularly sound basketball in other phases of the game, however. The Tribe have struggled with turnovers early in the season, giving the ball away on 20.5 percent of possessions. They also have an alarmingly-high block rate on shot attempts, which speaks to a lack of size that should be a big advantage for the Cavaliers in Tuesday’s game.

The Tribe have four players averaging 10+ points per game, three of whom are guards. Senior Luke Loewe is far-and-away the team’s top weapon on offense, averaging 18.3 points per game. An excellent 3-point shooter, Loewe has made half of his tries from outside the arc this yea, after averaging better than 43 percent from deep as a junior. He is the veteran in the backcourt but is joined by a pair of promising freshmen who have started the season strong. Yuri Covington and Conner Kochera are second and third on the team in scoring, respectively. Covington’s 12.8 points per game is second to Loewe in scoring and the Pennsylvania native has been consistent to start the campaign. He has been in double-figures in each game this season and his 16-point effort against GW proved pivotal in a one-point overtime win. Kochera, meanwhile, is averaging 10.7 points per contest in just three games played. His big performance was a 19-point effort in the close loss at ODU in 35 minutes of game time.

In the frontcourt, William & Mary is hoping to get contributions from players that had smaller roles a year ago. Replacing Knight’s production is no easy feat and the task is left to forwards Quinn Blair and Mehkel Harvey. Blair was one of the first players off the bench last year and is being leaned on more heavily with Knight gone. Blair has had a strong start to the season, averaging 10 points and 7.3 rebounds per contest, and how he fares against UVa’s frontcourt on Tuesday will be something to keep an eye on. Harvey didn’t play a lot last year but is W&M’s top rim protection option. He is playing nearly 24 minutes per game this year, averaging seven points and 5.5 boards per game.

Virginia wasn’t exactly dominant in its first four games and hasn’t played a game in 17 days. It may take the Cavaliers some time to get back into the groove of things after more than a week off before practice resumed over the weekend. William & Mary isn’t going to roll over tomorrow but this is a good opportunity for the Wahoos to come out and get back in the swing of things against an opponent they should be able to beat. UVa should have a significant advantage around the rim and as long as the Tribe don’t have an out-of-body-experience from beyond the arc, the home team should be able to win.

This game should also be a nice tune-up for the recently-scheduled clash on Saturday against No. 1 Gonzaga, which will be a great opportunity for the Hoos to show that they are a better team than what we saw from them before the COVID pause.

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