GAME NOTES: The William & Mary Tribe return home for a two-game stint at William & Mary Hall, starting with a non-conference matchup against the Western Illinois Fighting Leathernecks on Tuesday.

Western Illinois picked up its first win of the season after starting the 2014-15 campaign 0-2. The Leathernecks took down Southeastern Louisiana, 60-57, in the team's last outing on Saturday.

William & Mary opened the season with a gigantic contest at then-No. 7 Florida. The Tribe were downed by 23 points, but that loss must have woke then up. They are 3-0 since then, with a 69-65 victory over Rice the most recent of the three.

The two teams met for the first time last season in January, which served as the initial contest. William & Mary picked up the win on the road, 78-67.

It wasn't pretty, but a win was a win for Western Illinois over Southeastern Louisiana. The Fighting Leathernecks shot a dismal 30.4 percent from the floor in the contest, and made only 6-of-21 from 3-point range. But WIU got a 29- point contribution from Garret Covington, as the guard connected on 11-of-15 free-throw attempts and 4-of-9 from 3-point range to just narrowly edge out the Lions. The next highest scorer for Western Illinois in the game was Jabari Sandifer, who chipped in with eight points - half of which came from the charity stripe.

It's a good thing the Leathernecks are giving up just 65.7 ppg this season through three games, because the team is scoring only 65.0 ppg on 36.4 percent shooting. Covington has been a bright spot for the team, entering this contest against William & Mary averaging 17.0 ppg to lead the team. His 4.7 apg mark is also a team best, while both J.C. Fuller and Mohamed Conde bring in team- best 5.7 rpg averages to the clash with the Tribe. Jamie Batish is the team's second-leading scorer at 8.7 ppg.

William & Mary ran to an eight-point lead at the half over Rice in the team's last outing, but the Owls kept cutting into the advantage ever so slightly in the second frame, and ultimately the Tribe came away with a narrow five-point win. It was a strong offensive showing for William & Mary, which shot 53.6 percent from the floor led by Omar Prewitt's 17 points. Marcus Thornton chipped in with 16 points and six assists, while Sean Sheldon added 11 points and six rebounds to the winning effort.

Thornton and Prewitt are the only two Tribe players to average point figures in the double digits this season. Led by Thornton's 14.5 ppg average, the Tribe are netting 67.5 points per contest through four games played. Prewitt contributes 11.8 ppg, and Daniel Dixon is close to breaking the double-figure mark with 9.5 ppg this season. Terry Tarpey comes into the contest against WIU averaging a team-best 8.3 rpg for a team that is pulling down 35.2 rpg so far.

Western Illinois appears on paper to be overmatched in this one, although Covington has done a great job being the go-to scorer this season. The Tribe simply have too much offense, and at home they should be able to hold the Leathernecks to a low scoring total.