All that is good with Atlantic 10 men’s basketball.
Smith, Christon tabbed weekly award winners
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The Atlantic 10 Conference has named Butler senior Andrew Smith its men’s basketball Player of the Week and Xavier freshman Semaj Christon its Rookie of the Week. The awards were announced Monday for games played during the week of Jan. 7-13.
Smith helped Butler begin the conference season with back-to-back roads wins at preseason conference favorite Saint Joseph’s and Dayton. The center recorded his second double-double this season and the sixth of his career with 24 points and 10 rebounds at Saint Joseph’s. A Zionsville, Ind., native, he had 14 points and six rebounds in the final 20 minutes to help Butler secure the road win. Smith then helped the Bulldogs overcome the loss of leading scorer Rotnei Clarke with 13 points, four rebounds, four assists and a blocked shot at Dayton. He had a key 3-point field goal and a pair of free throws in the final 6:20 to help the Bulldogs stave off a Dayton comeback attempt. Butler improved to 10-0 this season when Smith scores in double-figures.
Read more and to see the weekly honor roll…
Xavier trumps GW
CINCINNATI – The men’s basketball team dominated their way to a 71-56 victory over conference foe George Washington Saturday afternoon at Cintas Center. Senior Brad Redford and freshman Semaj Christon each dropped a game-high 21 points.
Butler pulls together for win at Dayton
DAYTON, OHIO — Butler, playing the entire second half without leading scorer Rotnei Clarke, turned in a full team effort and held off Dayton for a 79-73 victory at UD Arena on Saturday. The road win was Butler’s second straight to open Atlantic 10 Conference play, and it lifted the Bulldogs to 14-2 on the season.
VCU enters A10 with a bang
RICHMOND, VA — VCU opened its inaugural Atlantic 10 Conference slate in front of a raucous Siegel Center crowd and sent them home happy with a 74-62 win over Dayton, the 10th straight victory for the Rams. Treveon Graham scored in double-figures for the ninth straight game, leading all scorers with 24 points on 7-of-12 shooting. The Black & Gold harassed Dayton into 26 turnovers en route to 15 more steals, nine of which came in the hands of sophomore Briante Weber.
49ers defeat La Salle in opener
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Led by Pierria Henry’s career-high 20 points and three other players in double figures, the Charlotte 49ers defeated the La Salle Explorers 74-65 in its Atlantic 10 conference opener, Wednesday evening at Halton Arena.
Graham, VCU battle to 11 straight win at Saint Bonaventure
ST. BONAVENTURE, NY — Sophomore Treveon Graham scored 13 of his team-leading 17 points in the second half to help VCU battle its way to its 11th straight victory, 72-65, at St. Bonaventure, the program’s first Atlantic 10 road win. The Rams tightened down their defense late, holding the Bonnies without a point for nearly five minutes late in the second half to secure the victory.
Conger shines; Bonnies show heart in loss
The aggressive nature of the Bonnies caught VCU off guard. Instead of playing tentatively, Bona attacked the famed havoc defense that averages 13 steals a game. And by the first media timeout, it was apparent Bona came to play.
The Reilly Center is exploding after back-to-back threes from Conger and Wright and a turnover by #VCU. #Bonnies lead 11-9
— The Intrepid (@Intrepid_SBU) January 12, 2013
#VCU‘s pressure defense is even more imposing in person. Just suffocating. But I am impressed with the way the #Bonnies are handling it
— Ryan Michael Lazo (@RMLazo13) January 12, 2013
Loe’s career night lifts Bills over UMass
ST. LOUIS – Rob Loe scored a career-high 20 points to lead four Saint Louis players in double figures, and the Billikens outscored Massachusetts 20-8 over the final 9:14 to claim a 70-62 victory Thursday night at Chaifetz Arena in the Atlantic 10 Conference opener for both teams.
Billikens inspired by 9-year old fan
Joshua Brown is neither a powerful booster nor a prized recruit. He’s a 9-year-old from Belleville with a brain tumor who has been adopted by the Billikens. It’s supposed to be the Bills who brighten up his life as Joshua and his family go through an arduous time.
Williams shines as UMass defeats Fordham
BRONX, N.Y. — Chaz Williams scored a game-high 22 points with seven assists and six rebounds in a homecoming for the Brooklyn native as Massachusetts defeated Fordham 77-73 at Rose Hill Gym Sunday.
Fordham tops Duquesne
Bronx, N.Y. – Along with the present-day tunes emanating from the Fordham University men’s basketball locker room tonight, it wouldn’t have been a stretch if the Rams started playing a certain John Denver tune. Because tonight, after playing 12 of their first 15 games away from home, the Rams felt good to be back home again, opening their Atlantic 10 season with an 82-75 win over Duquesne University in the Rose Hill Gym.
Frazier and Fordham aim to shed perceptions
Fordham basketball has the perception of being one of, if not the weakest team in the competitive Atlantic 10 Conference. But slowly, perhaps even at a snail’s pace, this Rams squad is improving.
Branden Frazier is a different player this year. Instead of looking to score with each touch – he’s passing, to the tune of seven assists
— Ryan Michael Lazo (@RMLazo13) January 10, 2013
La Salle bests Richmond
PHILADELPHIA – Up 33-30 at halftime, the La Salle men’s basketball team (11-4, 1-1 A-10) shot 57 percent (13-23) from the field in the second half en route to a 71-59 victory over the visiting Richmond Spiders (11-6, 1-1 A-10) on Saturday afternoon at Tom Gola Arena. Tyrone Garland led all scorers with 17 points (6-14 FG, 0-3 3PT, 5-5 FT) while Tyreek Duren posted a 15 point (5-14 FG, 0-4 3PT, 6-6 FT), seven assist, seven rebound line with only one turnover. The junior stands only two points shy of the 1,000 mark for his career.
See some of college basketball’s most storied teams during the @atlantic10 Tournament at #BarclaysCenter! Get tix now: bit.ly/VhEeqk
— Barclays Center (@barclayscenter) January 9, 2013
Spiders defeat Rhody
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va.– The Richmond men’s basketball team defeated Rhode Island 64-61 with three Spiders scoring double digits in the A-10 home opener.
Musketeers shoot down Owls
CINCINNATI – The Xavier men’s basketball team snapped its four-game losing streak by grabbing the 57-52 win in the conference opener over the Temple Owls at Cintas Center Thursday night. Freshman Semaj Christon led the Musketeers with a game-high 16 points, two steals, and two assists.
Fact that might stun a lot of people: VCU is ranked in the regular season (#24) for the first time since 1984-85.
— Jason MacBain (@JaBain) January 10, 2013
Flyers’ bad day could have been much worse
That’s why the otherwise loud crowd of 13,455 sat in apprehensive silence for close to 10 minutes Saturday asRotnei Clarke, Butler’s star guard, lay motionless beneath the basket and Flyers forward Matt Derenbecker stood just a few yards away watching … and fretting.
Balance, not pace, is the X factor
The slower pace is not having any adverse effect on Chris Mack’s club to date. The conference’s most deliberate paced team, Xavier leads the A-10 in efficiency margin with above average offense and outstanding defense marks, courtesy of shooting 47% from the field (34th in the nation).
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