Courtesy of Atlantic10.com
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Dayton senior Scoochie Smith was chosen as the Atlantic 10 Men’s Basketball Player of the Week while Richmond freshman De’Monte Buckingham was selected as the league’s Rookie of the Week. The awards, announced Monday and presented by Come Ready Nutrition, are for games played Jan. 2-8.
Smith led UD to its fifth straight win and a 3-0 record in league play by guiding the Flyers to a pair of victories this week, 90-74 at St. Bonaventure and 67-64 at home over Rhode Island. Smith averaged 19.0 points, 5.0 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals in the two wins. The point guard from the Bronx, N.Y., had 10 assists and just four turnovers. He scored 17 points with four assists at SBU, including 14 second-half points to help break open a four-point game to the 16-point win. Then on Friday against Rhode Island in the matchup between the 1-2 teams in the A-10 preseason poll, Smith had 21 points, six assists, five rebounds and four assists. He shot .542 (13-of-24) from the field and .500 (5-for-10) from 3-point range during the week. The Flyers trailed by two at halftime against URI, but Smith had 11 of his points and all six of his assists after the break.
Buckingham helped Richmond to a perfect 2-0 week with two spectacular performances. Against Fordham, the guard from Richmond, Va., scored a career-high 22 points with four rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals. He followed that up with a 16-point game at George Washington in which he went 7-for-7 from the field with four assists and three steals and two blocks. He shot 75 percent from the field this week and averaged 19.0 points per game.
WEEKLY HONOR ROLL
Peyton Aldridge averaged 22 points and seven rebounds in 1-1 week for Davidson on the road, including a perfect 15-of-15 from the line in the two games… Emile Blackman led Duquesne with 19 points against VCU and 18 at La Salle, shooting 50 percent from the field in each game and 50 percent from beyond the arc for the week … Duquesne freshman Mike Lewis II scored 23 points and dished four assists out against VCU, shooting 7-of-11 (.636) from the field and 3-for-5 (.600) from 3-point range … Marquise Moore, went 7-for-13 (.538) from the field in both of George Mason’s games last week, gathering a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double at St. Bonaventure and a 24-point, nine-rebound, five assist performance in a win over UMass … La Salle’s Pookie Powell averaged 14.5 points and 6.5 assists in a 2-0 week for the Explorers, with eight assists against Saint Louis and a perfect 10-for-10 from the line for the week … Massachusetts’ Rashaan Holloway averaged a double-double (19.5 points, 10.5 rebounds) in road games at George Mason and VCU, shooting 64 percent (16-for-25) from the field with a career-high four blocks at VCU … E.C. Matthews had 20 points for Rhode Island in a win over Saint Joseph’s, shooting 5-of-8 (.625) from 3-point range with five assists … St. Bonaventure’s Denzel Gregg scored 24 points on 9-of-14 (.643) shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds for a double-double in the Bonnies’ win over George Mason … Bonaventure freshman Josh Ayeni scored 12 points, shooting 6-of-10 (.600) from this field against Dayton … James Demery had back-to-back solid performances, scoring 27 points on 10-of-16 (.625) shooting with six rebounds at Fordham to compliment 17 points and eight rebounds at Rhode Island … Mike Crawford had 16 points, five rebounds and five assists for Saint Louis versus Davidson, and 11 points, four rebounds and three assists at La Salle … VCU’s Justin Tillman had 16 points on 7-of-9 (.778) shooting at Duquesne, followed by a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double game against Massachusetts.
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