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Little was expected of William and Mary in the preseason. That’s why a week ago, all alone in first place, the Tribe was the biggest surprise in the Colonial Athletic Association.
But in its last two games, W&M has played exactly how the skeptics expected it to. First it was Towson, which blew out the Tribe by 26 points Saturday. Thursday night, it was Northeastern, which gave an offensive clinic in a 90-70 demolition at Kaplan Arena.
The Huskies shot an absurd 71 percent from the field, the highest figure by a W&M opponent ever in a CAA game. The Huskies went 12-of-19 from the 3-point arc, the kind of success the Tribe had been showing in the first eight weeks of the season.
“Breakdowns all over the place tonight,” William and Mary coach Tony Shaver said. “When someone shoots 71 percent on you, you’re not doing things very well. They can be hot and shoot 50 (percent). But you shoot 71, a lot of it’s our fault.”
Most of it was. The Huskies (12-7, 5-2 CAA) hit a few tough shots, but several were wide open 3s and uncontested layups (or dunks). Point guard Vasa Pusica, a transfer from San Diego, owned the offensive end with 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting, 4-of-6 from the arc. He also had nine assists.
“Incredible,” Shaver said. “An incredible player.”
In its last two games, William and Mary (12-6, 5-2) has been outscored 189-143. Towson and Northeastern shot a combined for 68 percent.
“We’ve got to get better on defense,” forward Justin Pierce said. “Easier said than done, though. We’ve got to put the work in.”
The last time W&M had given up 70-percent shooting was March 8, 1985 against Navy. The Mids had a pretty good player named David Robinson back then.
For the second consecutive game, W&M’s offense also struggled. A sign of that came early. The Tribe missed two layups on its first two possessions.
W&M shot 46 percent. That isn’t bad, but it doesn’t begin to approach the 52-percent clip the Tribe was shooting for the season a week ago. William and Mary matched its season low with five 3-pointers in 17 attempts.
“What made us good during that run was our effort and our chemistry as a team,” guard Connor Burchfield said. “Effort has been inconsistent lately, and the same can be said about our team chemistry.”
With its second consecutive loss at home — it would have been the third if not for a remarkable comeback against James Madison — W&M has dropped from sole possession of first place to a tie with Northeastern and Hofstra. Coming up is a three-game road swing that begins Saturday at Elon.
“It’s a brutal stretch for us,” Shaver said. “Maybe we’ll be better on the road. We certainly haven’t played well here at home in this home stand.”