Storm front

Good morning! Hope you’re prepared for a weekend indoors. There’s plenty of hoops to watch.

Let's get to Thursday’s news.

1. Winter storm upends college hoops slate

Hope you’re ready for snow, sleet, ice and a bunch of basketball games at new times.

A storm is set to blanket much of the country starting Saturday night, from the South through the Midwest and the East Coast. There could be anywhere from 0 to 30 inches of snow across various parts of the country.

As a result, many of the games this weekend have had their tip-off times moved up, with a number set to play at noon. It’s going to create one of the largest noon slates of games in recent memory, but the hope is that the games can get played and the teams can get home safely.

Here’s a compilation of all those games.

Four games were already rescheduled and played yesterday. That included two ASUN and Sun Belt matchups, two conferences whose geography is right in the projected path of the storm. In fact, the ASUN decided that four of those teams (Lipscomb, Stetson, Austin Peay, and FGCU) would play two of each other on back-to-back days, with two more noon league matchups tipping off today.

As of Thursday night, one game has been postponed: Delaware State-NC Central.

NC Central has postponed all basketball games through Monday. We’ll see if any other teams and schools do the same.

2. William & Mary pulls off CAA surprise

There were 14 teams without a loss in their respective conferences entering Thursday, including UNC Wilmington, which led the CAA by two whole games. However, the bulk of those wins came against the bottom of the league.

That might’ve given William & Mary an opening.

It was all Tribe to start, up 30-8 midway through the first half, and up 14 at halftime. Wilmington closed to within a possession late in the game, but couldn’t finish the rally, losing 77-70.

Three players had 15+ points for the Tribe (13-6, 4-3 CAA), including Cade Haskins, making five shots from 3-point range.

UNC Wilmington (17-3, 6-1) did have more rebounds and fewer turnovers overall, but the dismal start to the game proved to be too much to overcome. Coach Takayo Siddle noted postgame that “at some point, that catches up to you”. Five players were in double figures for the Seahawks, including 15 points and 13 rebounds from Patrick Wessler.

They remain in first place in the standings but have road games against Hampton and Towson before a rematch at home against the Tribe.

Other notable CAA results:

Charleston 87, Campbell 83: Jlynn Counter had 23 points and nine assists for the Cougars (12-8, 5-2 CAA), which offset offset DJ Smith’s big 31-point, eight-rebound, and six-assist outing for Campbell (9-11, 3-4).

Towson 72, Elon 59: After starting 0-4 in conference play, Towson (12-9, CAA) has won four straight games, led by Dylan Williamson’s 24 points. It held Elon (12-8, 4-3) to just 22 first-half points.

Stony Brook 95, Northeastern 80: The Wolves (12-9, 4-4 CAA) continued the CAA road warrior trend, getting 31 points and nine assists from guard Erik Pratt.

North Carolina A&T 79, Hofstra 78: Despite 53 first-half points, and a big game from star guard Cruz Davis (30 points), Hofstra (13-7, 4-3 CAA) suffered one of the night’s big upsets. Lewis Walker scored 24 points as the Aggies (8-10, 1-6) won their first league game.

3. Marshall’s record-setting night + more results

Marshall fully embraced the 3-pointer on Thursday.

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