North East’s strongest basketball conference begins first round of post-season today
By: Joe Manganiello
The Atlantic 10 is projected to have as many as six teams in the Big Dance next week. With Fordham’s victory over George Mason Wednesday, the first round of games is set for the afternoon and evening.
La Salle and St. Bonaventure open the Barclays Center at noon with the No. 8-9 matchup, and the winner moves on to play No. 1 Saint Louis. Neither team is lighting the world on fire – the Explorers are recovering from a five-game losing streak in February, and the Bonnies lost four straight to end the regular season – but both would love a chance to advance and challenge the Billikens, losers of three of their last four.
The Explorers won a tough contest at St. Joseph’s in their last game, grabbing eleven steals and committing just five turnovers of their own. Tyreek Duren was named second-team all-conference after scoring more than 15 points per game this season, along with 3.5 rebounds and assists. Duren makes nearly two three-pointers a night, and shoots 41 percent from the perimeter.
Over the last 10 games, Bonnie’s leading scorer Matthew Wright averaged 19.0 points and 3.2 assists per game. He’s a plus shooter from beyond the arc, shooting 41 percent from three-point range, which has helped him score in double-figures 23 times this season.
Pay attention to the score in this one: La Salle has only lost once in regulation when scoring 70 points or more; St. Bonaventure gives up 70.2 points per contest.
Next up will be No. 5 Dayton against Fordham, which will probably be as lop-sided as it sounds.
The Flyers are 9-1 over their last ten games, and are doing so with elite defense, holding opponents to 62.4 points per game – that’s 335th amongst all offenses this season. Enter the Rams, who are losers of 16 of their last 18, and scoring just 67.4 points a night in conference play. If Jordan Sibert (2.3 3PM, 44 percent) and third-team all-conference selection Devin Oliver (40 percent) can continue their strong shooting from the perimeter, the Flyers have serious post-season potential.
For the Rams to win, they will need one heck of a performance from Jon Severe, but he’s coming off a stinker on Wednesday (12 points on 4 of 16 shooting) – and head coach Tom Pecora elected not to start him. Mandell Thomas is in many ways the most versatile Ram, and will have to give this team production close or equal to his four-game stretch with more than 18 points from earlier in conference play.
The Flyers have a pretty victory over then No. 11 Gonzaga on their resume – a plus for their NCAA hopes, and reason to believe they could do well this March. USA Today projects Dayton as a No. 11 seed, and as long as they take care of business today against Fordham, they figure to be NCAA-bound.
Today’s third game is No. 7 Richmond against No. 10 Duquesne. The Spiders are not the same team without their leading scorer Cedrick Lindsay, who is out for the season due to injury. Richmond is just 4-5 since he went down, and losers of five of their last six games, and they are catching a confident Dukes team.
Duquesne recently upset Saint Louis, and have won 2 of 3. Ovie Soko is a deserving third-team all-conference selection, scoring 18.2 points and adding 7.8 rebounds per game. The Dukes give up too many points, but they are a solid passing team (15.2 assists per game, 37th in country), and Micah Mason is making 2.7 three-pointers per game on blistering 57 percent shooting.
Richmond is far from eliminated just yet. Kendell Anthony has been a stud, particularly in Lindsay’s absence: he is averaging 16 points per game and 2.5 3PM on the season; he has scored over 20 points in six of the nine games without Lindsay. The Spiders nearly beat the Rams of VCU on March 6 with their stingy defense – Richmond has allowed just 65 points per game this year – but gave up eight threes in a 56-50 losing effort.
Both teams would most likely have to run the table in order to make the NCAA tournament, but if Richmond wins multiple games this weekend, it creates a bubble conversation at the very least.
Thursday’s final game is between No. 6 UMass and No. 11 Rhode Island, where first-team all-conference selection Chaz Williams figures to be too much for Rhode Island to contain.
The Minutemen struggled in the middle of conference play, falling out of the national polls, but were second in the A10 in scoring during conference play (73.3 points per game) and are 27th and 24th in the nation respectively in rebounding and assists. Cady Lalanne is a big body, and has averaged nearly 12 points with 8.1 rebounds and 2.3 blocks a night.
Rhode Island was terrible in February (1-7), but has won three of their last four games, and has gotten awesome scoring production from its two best players. Co-Rookie of the Year E.C. Matthews and Rams’ leading scorer Xavier Munford combined for 56 points in the team’s lone February victory.
Rhode Island is a huge underdog tonight, and would certainly have to win the tournament to make the NCAA tournament. UMass will be fine either way, but tonight’s game is the difference between pushing for a higher seed, or settling for a No. 6-8 seed.
No. 4 St. Josephs plays the winner of Dayton and Fordham. First-team selection Langston Galloway is averaging 17 points per game on 42 percent shooting from beyond the arc; he is making three long-range shots a night. The Hawks have two other players who were named to all-conference teams – second-teamer Halil Kanacevic (a do-it-all big), and third-teamer Ronald Roberts Jr. (who is scoring 14.6 points per game on 58 percent shooting from the field) – to go along with Co-Rookie of the Year DeAndre Bembry, who adds 12.6 points a night.
The Hawks shoot 47 percent from the field (43rd in country), and 38 percent from the perimeter. St. Josephs can play themselves, good or bad, into anywhere from a No. 7-10 seed.
No. 3 George Washington has also been seldom talked about entering this weekend, and how well they do this weekend will affect if they get a UMass-type seed or fall to a No. 8-9 seed. They are just 4-3 over their last seven games, but they have five players who average more than 11 points per game, including Kethan Savage, who returns from an injury this weekend.
Savage is second on the team with 13.4 points per game, but the Colonials are just 7-4 since he went down – 15-3 before his injury. Leading scorer Maurice Creek is a great pick to increase his star this month: he has made 2.5 three-pointers a game this season on 41 percent shooting, and will benefit greatly from Savage’s return.
Head coach Shaka Smart and the VCU Rams are the most well-known team in the conference, and deservedly so: they probably have the highest ceiling of any team in the conference. The most elite turnover-creating defense in the country (11.5 steals per game), the Rams allow just 65.5 points per game. Briante Weber, by the way, is the only player in the country averaging at least 3.5 rebounds, assists and steals per game, and was the runaway Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year because of plays like the one he made against UMass.
On offense, they possess a trio of shooters (Treveon Graham, Melvin Johnson, Rob Brandenberg) who have all made 50 three-pointers this season. Johnson won the conference’s 6th Man of the Year award, Graham is a stud, and Weber is a trendsetter.
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The Rams are the sexy pick to win this weekend, and will no doubt end up in many people’s Final Four.
But the No. 1 seed this weekend is Saint Louis, and for good reason. The No. 18 team in the country has lost just three times in conference play, and is even stingier on defense than the VCU Rams. Yes, they lost three-straight games in late-February into March. Yes, they are 0-2 against nationally ranked teams, and lost by double-digits at VCU – only defeating VCU at home by two points.
The reason why Saint Louis is the favorite in the Atlantic 10, however, begins and ends with Jordair Jett. Named Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, Jett has been everything for this team. His 4.7 assists per game leads the Billikens. He has scored 17 points a night in conference play, more than three points higher than his season average. And it was his game-winning driving layup with three seconds left that defeated UMass in the regular season’s final game – locking up their second-consecutive outright conference title. Jett and fellow first-team all-conference selection Dwayne Evans (14 ppg, 6.4 rpg) are as accomplished a duo in the conference.
Saint Louis is in the NCAA tournament next week regardless, and barring a loss on Friday, projects as a No. 4-5 seed.
Joe Manganiello (@JoeMags_hoops) is a staff writer for pickinsplinters.com. He was published in the 2013-14 USA Today Sports College Basketball Preview. Peace, love, recycle and ball.
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