All the comings and goings of Atlantic 10 men’s basketball.
Dunphy, Nicholson take top honors
NEWPORT NEWS, Va.—The Atlantic 10 Conference announced Monday that Temple’s Fran Dunphy has been named the 2011-12 Coach of the Year and St. Bonaventure senior forward Andrew Nicholson has been named the league’s Player of the Year. The conference released the awards, along with the All-Conference teams in preparation for the 2012 Atlantic 10 Men’s Basketball Championship, which begins Tuesday.
Saint Joseph’s sophomore forward C.J. Aiken was named the Defensive Player of the Year while Richmond Freshman Kendall Anthony was selected as the Rookie of the Year. Sophomore forward Ronald Roberts of Saint Joseph’s was voted the Sixth Man of the Year and La Salle senior guard Earl Pettis earned the Chris Daniels Most Improved Player Award.
The individual awards, along with the All-Conference Teams, were selected by the Atlantic 10’s 14 head men’s basketball coaches. The All-Academic Team was chosen by a vote of the league’s 14 sports information directors.
Tourney time:
Atlantic 10 Championship Central
First round match-ups
Duquesne (16-14/7-9) at UMass (20-10/9-7)
UMass and Duquesne meet for the 60th time on Tuesday as the Minutemen look to avenge this season’s 80-69 loss to the Dukes at the Palumbo Center. The two teams have met every season but one since 1975 (1993 when Duquesne was in the MCC) and UMass holds a 34-25 series record. The Dukes also won last season’s meeting 81-63 in the Mullins Center, while the Minutemen captured an 84-80 overtime win in Pittsburgh the year before (Feb. 11, 2010). Duquesne won both meetings the previous season: 94-77 on Feb. 25 at the Mullins Center and 91-81 on March 11 in the Atlantic 10 Tournament First Round. UMass has won seven of the last 11 in the series including four games in a row from 2005-08.
Prior to the recent winning stretch, Duquesne won three of four games in 2004 and 2005. Before that, the Minutemen reeled off 16 straight wins. Duquesne beat UMass in the first round of the A-10 Tournament
in 2004, 79-76. UMass is 7-2 against Duquesne at the Mullins Center, suffering its first loss in the last meeting in 2009.
In A-10 Tournament games, UMass and Duquesne have played nine times with the Dukes holding a 5-4 edge after the 2009 victory. It is the most-played team in the A-10 tourney for each school.
Charlotte (13-16/ 5-11) at Saint Joseph’s (19-12/ 9-7)
Saint Joseph’s has lost two of the last three to Charlotte, including the lone meeting here earlier this season…The Hawks scored a 71-70 win in the regular season finale last year in Charlotte, that gave them the final berth in the A-10 Tournament.
Richmond Spiders (16-15/ 7-9) at La Salle Explorers (20-11/9-7)
Fifteen of the 26 meetings between the two schools have been as members of the Atlantic 10…The two teams met in the 2002 A-10 semifinals, with the Spiders taking a 68-60 win at the Spectrum. Richmond’s Derrick Williams scored on a put-back with 5.8 seconds left to propel the Spiders to a 78-76 victory over La Salle on Wednesday night at the Robins Center. Sophomore Tyreek Duren scored 17 points to lead the Explorers, while classmate Sam Mills added 16. Williams was a beast underneath in the final minute, grabbing seven offensive boards and scoring the Spiders final five points. He finished with a career-high 22 points and 11 rebounds.
George Washington Colonials (10-20/ 5-11) at University of Dayton Flyers (19-11/ 9-7)
The No. 6-seed University of Dayton Flyers host the No. 11 seed George Washington Colonials in the first round of the 2012 Atlantic 10 Men’s Basketball Championship. Dayton,19-11 overall and 9-7 in the Atlantic 10, finished the regular season winning five of its last seven. The Flyers are 13-4 at UD Arena this season and averaging 72.8 points per game. Chris Johnson has been incredibly strong the last seven games, averaging 19.4 points, 8.0 rebounds, shooting .434 from three-point range and .852 from the free throw line. Since being inserted into the starting lineup, Devin Oliver is averaging 8.3 points and 8.0 rebounds, which would lead the team. Kevin Dillard continues to perform at a high level on both ends of the floor, leading the team in assists (5.9 apg) and steals (40).
George Washington, 10-20 overall and 5-11 in the A-10, has lost four of its last five. The Colonials are averaging 62.4 points per game, second-lowest in the conference. Tony Taylor leads the GW attack averaging 13.3 points and 4.4 assists per game. David Pellom continues to lead the Atlantic 10 in field goal percentage at .697. GW is 2-11 in true road games this season, where it averages 60.0 points.
George Washington leads the all-time series 15-13, but the Flyers won on Saturday 75-59. Dayton has won the last four meetings at home against GW, including a home A-10 First Round victory two years ago.
Pickin’ Splinters will be court side in Atlantic City
“We’re going out where the sands turning to gold…”
Yes, for the second year in a row Casey and Smitty will be bringing analysis and updates from Boardwalk Hall. Follow along and show us your love by commenting on the game tickers.
“Put on your stockings baby; ’cause the night’s getting cold…”
Atlantic Ten: Tempo Tuesday
Temple wrapped up the regular season title defeating Fordham on the final day of the season. Shortly after the game, Temple coach Fran Dunphy discussed his priority of “shoring up the defense” for the conference tournament. Another reason Temple is so good year in and out. Even with an offense putting up an outstanding efficiency, Dunphy demands, and knows, better defensive consistency is needed. For Atlantic City and games beyond.
Flyers beat GW on Senior Day
DAYTON, Ohio – The University of Dayton men’s basketball team cruised to a 75-59 victory over the George Washington Colonials on senior day at UD Arena. Four Flyers scored in double figures as UD closed the regular season with a 19-11 overall record and 9-7 mark in Atlantic 10 play. GW dropped to 10-20 overall with a 5-11 Atlantic 10 record. The win was the 93rd for UD’s seniors – Chris Johnson, Luke Fabrizius, Josh Parker and Paul Williams – which is the third-most wins of any class.
Senior Chris Johnson led Dayton with 19 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field, including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. Johnson has scored at least 16 points in seven of the last eight games.
Nicholson scores 2000th in loss at La Salle
PHILADELPHIA – Andrew Nicholson scored his 2,000th career point and finished with 18 to go with nine rebounds in St. Bonaventure’s 71-61 loss to La Salle on Saturday.
The Bonnies (17-11, 10-6) secured the No. 4 seed in the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship and will play the winner of the No. 5 Saint Joseph’s/No. 12 Charlotte matchup in the quarterfinals at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, Mar. 9. [Championship bracket]
The senior Mississauga native entered the game just six points shy and reached the milestone – with an assist from Jordan Gathers – while being fouled with 18:19 to play in the second half. He became the fifth player in school history to record 2,000 or more career points, joining Greg Sanders, Earl Belcher, Bob Lanier and Tom Stith.
Bills subdue Musketeers
ST. LOUIS – Saint Louis blitzed Xavier with a 24-3 run to begin the second half, and the Billikens went on to defeat the Musketeers 70-59 Tuesday night in an Atlantic 10 Conference battle at Chaifetz Arena.
The victory assured the Billikens (23-6, 11-4 A-10) of being no lower than the No. 2 seed for the A-10 Championship. SLU, which concludes the regular season Saturday at Duquesne, trails first-place Temple by one-half game. The Bills have won seven of their last eight games.
Martel’s dunks makes Top 10
Richmond finishes off Flyers in regular-season finale
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. – Junior Darien Brothers poured in a game-high 30 points as Richmond dropped Dayton, 82-71, in its regular-season finale on Wednesday at the Robins Center.
It was Richmond’s fourth-straight win over Dayton, including last year’s Atlantic 10 Championship Game. The Spiders have now won five-straight over the Flyers in Richmond and won seven of the last 10 meetings overall.
The Spiders opened the game on a 12-4 run behind six points apiece from Brothers and sophomore Derrick Williams. The Flyers would pull to within one, 27-26, at the 2:02 mark, but the Spiders entered intermission with a six-point lead following back-to-back treys from Brothers and freshman Kendall Anthony.
Duquesne digs deeper than Charlotte
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – Duquesne wanted to run Wednesday night, while Charlotte wanted to slow the tempo down.
Speed won out.
The Dukes pushed the ball up the court and repeatedly burned the 49ers with easy transition baskets to come away with an 88-77 victory, spoiling Charlotte’s regular season home finale at Halton Arena.
Temple defeats Fordham for first outright title in 22 years
BRONX – #23/25 Temple won its first outright Atlantic 10 Championship since 1989-90, defeating host
Fordham, 80-60, Saturday afternoon in front of a sold-out Rose Hill Gym. The Owls won for the 13th time in their last 14 games to finish the regular season 24-6 and 13-3 in conference play. Fordham ends its season 10-19, 3-13.
Juan Fernandez, playing in front of a contingent of 26 family and friends from Argentina, led five double-figure scorers with 19 points. Ramone Moore added 16 points, six assists and a career-high-tying four steals while Khaif Wyatt extended his A10 best double-figure streak to 18 games with 10 points and a game-high seven assists.
Micheal Eric contributed 11 points with Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson adding 10 to round out the Owls’ double-figure scorers.
It marked the 16th time that four or more Temple players scored in double figures on the season and the thrid time five hit the mark.
Temple moves up in the national polls
PHILADELPHIA – The Temple men’s basketball team remained in the national polls this week, moving up two spots in the Associated Press Poll to #21 and one slot in the by ESPN/USA Today poll to #24. The Owls finished the regular season 24-6, winning their first outright A10 regular season title since 1989-90 with a 13-3 league mark.
It is the third straight week that Temple has been nationally ranked and the 24th week over the last three seasons that the Owls have appeared in the Top 25 polls. It is also the third time in program history that the Owls have been in the Top 25 in three consecutive seasons. The other two streaks were five seasons each (1986-87 thru 1990-81; 1997-98 thru 2000-01).
A-10 tournament looks wide open
Temple and Saint Louis may have pulled away from the rest of the pack in the Atlantic 10 regular-season, but Saint Joseph’s coach Phil Martelli sees no clear front-runner and expects upsets galore in the conference tournament this week.
The balance in the league was evident in several games this season. St. Joe’s lost at home to Charlotte, which is the lowest-seeded team. Saint Louis fell at Rhode Island, which failed to qualify for the event and fired its coach.
“I really believe that we’re going to see some unbelievable results. And I don’t think the people who have followed this league are going to be scratching their head,” Martelli said.
Long-distance gamble paid off for UR’s Duinker
The first time Josh Duinker traveled from the Sydney airport near his Australian home to the University of Richmond, he flew to an island in the Pacific Ocean, then to Los Angeles, then to Minneapolis, then to Richmond. It took 30 hours.
That was January 2008. Duinker was 18.
“I never visited any colleges. I’d never been to America before I came here. All I could go on was just word of mouth, really, and look at pictures on the (UR) website,” he said. “You’re just jumping on the plane, and praying that it works out.”
Shot-blocking Garrett will leave gap at UR
There will be a hole in the back end of the University of Richmond’s defense following this season.
Darrius Garrett, the Spiders’ record-holder for blocks in a career (225) and season (101), plays his final home game tonight. UR coach Chris Mooney said stats don’t measure the game-changing defensive impact the 6-foot-9 senior from Atlanta has made.
“You can see guys when they drive in and they kind of start to pump-fake, or get a little jittery because Darrius is in the area,” Mooney said. “That’s something that really, really helps your defense tremendously because it takes them out of the flow and they throw the ball back out, and we’re kind of reset.”
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