All the comings and goings of Atlantic 10 men’s basketball.
Jones, Moore, Lee selected for weekly A-10 awards
NEWPORT NEWS, Va.—The Atlantic 10 has named Saint Joseph’s junior guard Carl Jones and Temple senior guard Ramone Moore Co-Men’s Basketball Players of the Week. Redshirt freshman forward Anthony Lee earned Rookie of the Week honors. Both awards were announced Monday for games played during the week of Dec. 5 – 11.
Jones averaged 21 points in leading the Hawks to a pair of wins. He began the week with a 13-point performance against Boston University, adding five assists and four rebounds. He followed that with a 29-point performance against No. 19/17 Creighton, again dishing out five assists while pulling down five boards. Jones shot 46.7 percent (14-of-30) from the field in the two games, including hitting 9-of-17 (52.9 percent) versus the Blue Jays. He was also nearly perfect from the charity stripe last week, hitting 12-of-13 (92.3 percent).
Moore and Jones nab Big 5 honors
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Ramone Moore of Temple and Carl Jones of Saint Joseph’s were tabbed as Big 5 Men’s Co-Players of the Week while Villanova’s Laura Sweeney collected Big 5 Women’s Player of the Week honors, the Big 5 announced Monday.
Moore averaged 20 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game in a 2-0 week for the Owls. He scored a career-high 32 points in the squad’s Big 5 victory against Villanova including six points in a decisive 10-0 run that gave Temple a double-digit lead late. Against Toledo, Moore scored 8 points but handed out a season-high 7 assists. Jones averaged 21 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals in a 2-0 week for the Hawks. He scored his 1,000th career point in a win over Boston University. Jones netted a game-high 29 points in an upset win over #19/#17 Creighton, scoring 20 of those in the second half and hitting 10-11 foul shots.
A-10 ranked among nation’s best
NEWPORT NEWS, Va.--Atlantic 10 Conference men’s basketball is getting high accolades after a month of non-conference play.
The league is rated seventh in the latest Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) according to RPIRatings.com. The conference is ranked above the Pac-12 and just behind the Big East and the Southeastern Conference.
Five A-10 teams are ranked in the top 50 of the RPI, starting with Xavier, which is 12th. The Musketeers are also ranked No. 8 in the Associated Press Poll and No. 9 in the ESPN/USATODAY Coaches’ Poll, both of which were released Monday.
Saint Joseph’s is 24th in the RPI and receiving votes in the Coaches’ poll and Dayton is 26th in the RPI. Both the Hawks and Flyers defeated ranked teams last week, with SJU knocking off No. 19/17 Creighton and UD scoring a win versus No. 16/15 Alabama.
Galloway’s career high leads La Salle past Army
PHILADELPHIA – Junior Ramon Galloway had a career-high 26 points on blistering 10-for-12 shooting from the field to help the La Salle men’s basketball team defeat Army, 76-64, on Saturday at Tom Gola Arena. The win is the seventh straight at Gola Arena, tying a facility record for consecutive wins.
The Explorers have now won five consecutive games, the longest since a six-game winning streak from January 29 to February 18, 2006.
“I knew he was going to help us a lot in terms of depth, energy and flexibility in the line-up,” head coach Dr. John Giannini said of Galloway. “He does a lot for the team that goes way beyond the stat sheet.”
Galloway was a perfect 8-for-8 from the field during the first half with his only miss of the half coming from the foul line. He would also add a team-high seven rebounds and four assists.
“It feels good,” Galloway said. “I put in a lot of practice with my coach in the morning and he always said that if you put in the work, the results will show. It feels good to have a great game, but I’m just happy for my team.”
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Chris Johnson leads Bonnies over Canisius, 81-62
Outside the Reilly Center, the temperature was frigid and for the start of the game – so was the shooting of the Bonnies. Relying on strong team defense and outstanding bench play, St. Bonaventure pulled away from Canisius for an 81-62 win. Chris Johnson came off the bench to score 19 points and Matthew Wright added 16 points as the Bonnies broke open a close game for a decisive win. Harold Washington paced the Golden Griffins with 19 points.
Bonnies suffer 48-43 setback to No. 24/22 Illinois
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – No. 24/22 Illinois (9-0) overcame a nine-point deficit with 5:22 left to claim a 48-43 victory over St. Bonaventure (3-4) in front of 14,711 fans at Assembly Hall on Wednesday.
The Bonnies held Illinois to just 31.9 percent from the floor and without a field goal for over six minutes of the second half to help turn a 31-29 lead into a 39-30 cushion with 5:22 left. Illinois junior Brandon Paul led the Illini with 17 points and tallied three field goals – two while being fouled – five free throws, an assist and a steal over the final four minutes as Illinois came from behind.
Out-of-Bounds with Eric Mosley
Majerus records 500th victory
ST. LOUIS – Saint Louis University’s 72-62 win today against Illinois-Springfield is the 500th victory of Billiken head coach Rick Majerus’ career. The milestone accompanies his 12 conference regular-season and five conference tournament championships, 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, four Sweet Sixteens, two Elite Eights and one appearance in the national championship game.
Majerus’ career includes 323 victories at Utah, 78 at Saint Louis, 56 at Marquette and 43 at Ball State. In 25 years of coaching, Majerus’ .705 winning percentage is among the top 20 of all active coaches with a minimum of five years as head coach.
Kwamain Mitchell reaches milestone in SLU victory
ST. LOUIS – Saint Louis began the second half with a 13-2 run and cruised to a 62-43 victory over Vermont Wednesday night at Chaifetz Arena.
Kwamain Mitchell hit a 3-pointer with 11:40 remaining in the second half that lifted him above the 1,000-point mark for his career, making him the 25th Billiken to reach the milestone.
In addition, Saint Louis head coach Rick Majerus recorded his 499th career victory.
Mitchell was one of four Billikens to score 10 points, joining Brian Conklin, Dwayne Evans and Cody Ellis. Evans added a game-high 10 rebounds, including four on the offensive glass, for his first double-double of the season and sixth of his career.
Moore’s 32 points push Temple past Villanova, 78-67
PHILADELPHIA – Temple extended its Liacouras Center winning streak to 24 consecutive games with its 78-67 victory over Big 5 rival Villanova on Saturday in front of the 12th sellout in Liacouras Center history. The Owls improve to 6-2 on the year and are now 2-0 in Big 5 play. Senior Ramone Moore paced the Owls with a career-high 32 points. Temple is now on a three-game winning streak while Villanova has lost four of its last five to fall to 5-4 on the year and 2-1 in city-series games.
The classic Big 5 game played at a high intensity level featured 11 lead changes and eight ties. It was not until a 10-0 Temple run ended on a Moore jumper with 6:15 remaining that put the Owls ahead 64-54. That was the separation that both teams had been looking for and it was the Owls that found it, and then held it down the stretch.
Spiders host Iona in Wednesday matinee
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. – Richmond returns home after a five-game road trip to host a tough Iona team on Wednesday in a 3 p.m. matinee in the Robins Center.
The game is being played at 3 p.m. so Iona can get back to New York for exams. The Spiders finish their exams on Tuesday.
The game can be watched live on SpiderTV at RichmondSpiders.com with a subscription fee. Listen to the radio broadcast at RichmondSpiders.com, on ESPN Radio 950AM or on Sirius Satellite Radio Ch. 92.
Williams, Riley spark UMass comeback
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – UMass improved their record to 8-3 in a comeback-win over Siena (3-6) on Friday night at the Mass Mutual Center. Chaz Williams scored 20 points in the second half alone, giving the Minutemen the boost they needed for the victory. UMass will return to the Mullins Center on Saturday to face Quinnipiac.
Dukes tame Nittany Lions, 66-59
PITTSBURGH – Eric Evans scored 15 of his game-high 20 points in the second half as Duquesne shook off a slow start to defeat Penn State 66-59 before a crowd of 7,046 at CONSOL Energy Center.
Jerry Jones added a career-high 14 points off the bench for the Dukes who shot 51.9 percent in the second half in upping their record to 6-4.
Tim Frazier scored 15 for Penn State which dropped its third in a row to fall to 6-5.
Evans had four of Duquesne’s 11 steals. T.J. McConnell added three steals and a game-high eight assists.
Dayton rolls past No. 16/15 Alabama, 74-62
DAYTON, Ohio – Senior Chris Johnson scored a season-high 20 points and senior Josh Parker added a season-high 17 points to lead the University of Dayton in an upset of No. 16/15 Alabama 74-62 Wednesday night at UD Arena in front of a crowd of 13,102.
Junior Kevin Dillard chipped in 14 points, six assists and a career- and game-high eight rebounds for Dayton. Redshirt junior Josh Benson was the fourth Flyer to score in double figures with 11 points.
The Flyers improve to 6-3 overall, while the Tide are now 7-2, losing their second consecutive game after falling 57-55 to Georgetown on Dec. 1.
Prior to defeating the nationally-ranked Tide on Wednesday, the Flyers’ last win against a ranked opponent was No. 14 Xavier, 71-58, on Feb. 11, 2009 at UD Arena. Dayton has now won nine of their last 10 games against BCS opponents and is 15-5 in the last five seasons against BCS foes.
Dayton holds off USC Upstate, 72-68
DAYTON, Ohio – University of Dayton men’s basketball defeated USC Upstate on Sunday afternoon at UD Arena, 72-68.
Five Flyers scored in double-figures, led by sophomore Devin Oliver’s career-high 12 points in 19 minutes of action. Oliver shot 4-of-6 from the field, converted on all four free throw attempts and tallied five rebounds. Eight of Oliver’s points came in the game’s last 10 minutes after it was tied for the last time 51-51.
Senior guard Paul Williams tied a career-high eight rebounds to pace the Flyers on the boards while adding 10 points. Josh Benson and Kevin Dillard both also added 10 points. All of Dillard’s points came in the second half after he played just nine minutes before halftime due to foul trouble.
Dayton’s Archie Miller mature beyond years
The first thing nearly every new head coach says after taking a job is say how he “needs to change the culture.” It’s almost a rite of passage within the coaching carousel.
“These guys had a great culture,” Dayton coach Archie Miller said Thursday afternoon, just hours after his team pulled the upset over a ranked Alabama team.
Does Miller admit he needs to increase the talent in the program? Sure. Add depth on the frontline? Absolutely.
But the culture?
49ers topple Davidson for Hornet’s Nest Crown
With just under 15 minutes to play and the 49ers holding a five-point lead, Charlotte senior Javarris Barnett channeled his inner Leemire Goldwire to carry the 49ers to an 84-61 victory over visiting Davidson in the annual Hornet’s Nest game.
Barnett hit four three-pointers over a span of just over four minutes and by the 10:46 mark, Charlotte (6-2) led by 15, 54-39. Davidson (6-3) would not get back to within single digits the rest of the way.
Scanning the Game Notes
TIS THE SEASON FOR CHARITY
Rhode Island had one of its finest team free throw shooting performances against Virginia Tech. The Rams connected on 21-of-24 from the free throw line vs. the Hokies. It was the best single-game FT% (min. 20 att) since Dec. 29, 2009 at Drexel, when URI was also 21-24 from the foul line. Nikola Malesevic was 8-for-8 from the line, while Mike Powell hit 7-of-8 at the charity stripe.
REACHING THE MARK
Carl Jones went over the 1,000‐point mark for his career when he hit a jumper with :02 to go in the half. He becomes the 48th Hawk to reach the milestone and just the 17th to do so in his junior season. Jones finished with 13 in the game to give him 1,0007 in his career. The last third‐year player to reach the plateau was Ahmad Nivins in 2007‐08.
A LOOK INSIDE THE STATS
Charlott e has a +34 rebounding margin in its 5 wins; a -30 margin in its 2 losses (one of which (Lamar) came with Braswell sidelined with illness). The 49ers have assists on 62% of its fi eld goals (101 of 163) The 49ers held Radford to a season-low 49 points on a season-low 29% shooting. Charlott e shot a season-high 55% in the second half at ECU, scoring 50 second half points (most ever by the 49ers under Major)
From the Dukes clipboard
The Dukes, who led the nation is assists (17.8), steals (9.9) and turnover margin (+6.7) last season are averaging 16.2 assists and 7.8 steals … their turnover margin stands at +7.2 … the Dukes returned 69 percent of their assists and 58.7 percent of their steals from a year ago.
LIVING BY THE THREE
After the first two weeks of the season, GW was 4-1 overall and the leading three-point field goal percentage team in the nation at nearly 49 percent. In losses to Kansas State and VCU in its last two games, GW has shot just 14-of- 46 from behind the arc (30.4%) to fall to a still-solid 41.5 percent on the season, a rate that still ranks second in the Atlantic 10 and 20th in NCAA Division I. The Colonials‘ 64.7 effort from three-point range in the victory over Bowling Green on Nov. 23 was their best since making 10-of-12 triples in a 90-62 win against St. Bonaventure in February 2009. GW also shot 61.2 percent from the field against BGSU, its highest rate since shooting 63.8 percent at Duquesne in January 2009.
FORCING THEIR HANDS
Besides all the steals the 2011-12 Rams have been registering through the fi rst eight games this year, they have also been adept in forcing the opponent to commit turnovers. On the year, Fordham’s opposition has averaged 16.1 turnovers/game, fourth best in the Atlantic 10. Last year, the Rams forced opponents to turn the ball over 10.5 times per game while the highest recent season total was 16.0/game by the 2001-02 squad.
A-10 faring well against power conferences
Xavier is ranked ninth nationally. Saint Louis cracked the Top 25 earlier this season for the first time in 18 years. Two teams have won in-season tournaments — Dayton at the Old Spice Classic and Saint Louis at the 76 Classic in Anaheim, Calif. — and eight A-10 teams have notched victories over foes from the six power conferences.
UD’s Miller encouraging better 3-point selection
After taking a 10-point lead against Alabama last week on back-to-back 3-pointers from Kevin Dillard, Dayton had the ball again in transition, and Paul Williams uncorked another shot from beyond the arc with just over five minutes to go in the game.
When it bounced off the rim and went out of bounds, UD coach Archie Miller was visibly frustrated with his senior guard — even though that’s exactly the type of shot Miller encourages the Flyers to take.
Xavier has the opportunity to teach a familiar lesson
From Sunday’s briefing it appears the process has started. Apologies were expressed. Words recanted. Sure, these admissions were scripted, rehearsed and lacked the temerity of the previous day’s contention. Timing was of the essence. Learning will require a process.
Those outside the locker rooms can haggle whether or not the suspensions equal the infraction. The true test of these judgments will come the next time a similar situation arises.
Holloway’s post-brawl comments inexcusable, more hoop thoughts
During the 40-minute news conference, Holloway said all the right things and handled himself well. His body language matched his words of regret. He also tried to explain what he meant when he used the word gangstas. “I idolize guys like Kevin Garnett and Ray Lewis. I love what they stand for in their sports,” he said. “When I used the term, I tried to clean it up and say we’re not thugs. We’re gangstas as far as having toughness on the court, making big plays, making big shots, playing team defense, and having toughness as a team…. We’re not thugs. We’re not doing things in the street and things like that.”
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Outside of the Xavier/Cincy game, it was a good week for the A-10. Dayton beats Alabama, St. Joes beats Creighton, Temple over Villanova, Duquesne over Penn State and UNC-Charlotte over Davidson. Quality wins by quality teams. Nice to see the A-10 getting the respect it deserves.