Jan. 4, 2013
A quick look around Atlantic 10 men's basketball and the four games on tap for Friday, Jan. 4. The A-10 is less than a week away until the start of conference play.
ON TAP FOR FRIDAY (1/4)
GEORGE WASHINGTON Colonials (6-6)
at GEORGIA Bulldogs (5-7)
7:00 pm | Stegeman Coliseum | CSN-Mid-Atlantic/CSS
Series: First Meeting
A-10 vs. SEC: 6-4
Gamenote: Friday is the schools’ first meeting, but the second between coaches Mike Lonergan and Mark Fox. Lonergan (Vermont) and Fox (Nevada) played in 2005 while at other schools.
Brown Bears (4-7)
at RHODE ISLAND Rams (4-8)
7:00 pm | Ryan Center | Ocean State Networks
Series: Rhody leads 100-53
A-10 vs. Ivy: 7-1
Gamenote: Rhode Island continues its longest rivalry when it hosts Brown for the 154th time in a non-conference matchup that dates back to the 1909-10 season.
SAVANNAH STATE Tigers (5-8)
at SAINT LOUIS Billikens (10-3)
8:00 pm | Chaifetz Arena
Series: Saint Louis lead 2-0
A-10 vs. MEAC: 3-0
Gamenote: The Billikens have won seven in a row, all at home. SLU has limited its last four opponents to just 50 points each and is leads the A-10 in scoring defense, giving up just 54.7 ppg.
FORDHAM Rams (4-10)
at MISSISSIPPI Rebels (10-2)
9:00 pm | Tad Smith Coliseum | CSS/ESPN3
Series: Ole Miss leads 1-0
A-10 vs. SEC: 6-4
Gamenote: This will be Fordham’s first ever appearance in the Magnolia State. The Rebels took the first meeting, 57-47, on December 9, 1982, in the Carousal Classic in Charlotte, N.C.
ON THE TUBE
Wednesday, January 2Penn at Butler | 7:00 pm | MyIndy-TV23
Xavier at Wake Forest | 7:00 pm | ESPN3
La Salle at Miami (Fla.) | 9:00 pm | FOX Sports South
Friday, January 4George Washington at Georgia | 7:00 pm | CSN Mid-Atlantic/CSS
Brown at Rhode Island | 7:00 pm | Ocean State Networks
Fordham at Mississippi | 9:00 pm | CSS
Saturday, January 5
New Orleans at Butler| 2:00 pm | MyIndy-TV23
Lehigh at VCU | 5:00 pm | NBC Sports Network
UAB at Dayton | 7:00 pm | WHIO
Sunday, January 6
Temple at Kansas | 4:30 pm | CBS
Wednesday, January 9
Butler at Saint Joseph’s* | 7:00 pm | The Comcast Network
Duquesne at Fordham* | 7:00 pm | YES Network
Rhode Island at Richmond* | 7:00 pm
Dayton at VCU* | 7:00 pm | WHIO
A-10 SCOOP
>>VCU wanted to make its mark on the A-10 in the first year, so the Rams players earned their way into the record books. First, Briante Weber recorded 10 steals in the Rams’ win over season-opener against Florida Gulf Coast, the second highest single-game total in A-10 history. Then on Wednesday, Troy Daniels swished 11 3-pointers, many of them from beyond NBA range, to set the league’s single game record. Daniels broke a record of 10 threes made held by Fordham’s Jason Harris, set in the 1999-2000 season.
>>La Salle (9-2) is off to its best start since the 1989-90 team started 9-1 with National Player of the Year Lionel Simmons. The 2005-06 squad also started 8-2. Only nine teams in program history have started better. La Salle has also won six of its last eight road games. The Explorers are 11-2 in December over the past two seasons.
>>The A-10 has two team and one individual statistics in a member institution leads the nation. VCU is number one in steals and turnover margin and Butler’s Rotnei Clarke leads the nation in 3-pointers made. There is one other team performance and seven other individuals that rank in the top 10 statistically (see table at right).
>>The Atlantic 10 has six different players who’ve scored 30 or more points in a game this season, including two in Wednesday’s games. Kendall Anthony (UR), Troy Daniels (VCU), Carl Jones (SJU), Jesse Morgan (UM), Xavier Munford (URI), Scootie Randall (TU) and Khalif Wyatt (TU) have all broken 30 this season.
>>The Atlantic 10 has seven teams with multiple-game winning streaks and four of those have streaks of six wins or more. The aforementioned Minutemen have six, Saint Louis has won seven straight (all at home) and Butler and VCU each have won eight straight games.
WEDNESDAY'S (1/2) RESULTS
VCU 109, ETSU 58
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (AP) - Troy Daniels scored 33 points, including a school and Atlantic 10 record 11 3-pointers in 20 attempts, and grabbed 10 rebounds as Virginia Commonwealth routed East Tennessee State 109-58 Wednesday night in a nonconference matchup.
Daniels' 33 points was a career-high, and his 11 shots made from long range set an Atlantic 10 Conference record.
Treveon Graham finished with a double-double for VCU (11-3) with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Daniels and Graham started the game with consecutive 3-pointers and combined to score the first 13 points for the Rams, who led 51-31 at halftime.
ETSU (2-11) shot just 28.6 percent (8 for 28) in the second half.
VCU shot 61.3 percent (19 for 31) in the period and led by as many as 54 points.
The Rams outscored the Buccaneers 36-12 in the paint, while dominating 21-4 on second-chance points.
Lester Wilson led the Buccaneers with 14 points and seven rebounds.
RICHMOND 91, AIR FORCE 68 | HIGHLIGHTS
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Kendall Anthony made seven 3-pointers and scored a career-high 31 points Wednesday night, leading Richmond to a 91-68 rout of Air Force.
The 5-foot-8 Anthony, inserted into the starting lineup in place of injured big man Derrick Williams, missed only twice from beyond the arc in topping his previous high of 24 points. Darien Brothers added six 3-pointers and 25 points for the Spiders (10-5), who snapped a three-game losing streak.
Michael Lyons led the Falcons (8-4) with 19 points, but Air Force was taken out early after an explosive scoring burst by Anthony.
He followed a 3-pointer by teammate Deion Taylor with one of his own. After Terry Allen scored on a drive for the Spiders, Anthony hit again from behind the arc. After a free throw by Kamryn Williams for the Falcons, Anthony hit two more 3s, then made a steal and layup to give Richmond a 39-23 lead.
MASSACHUSETTS 70, MIAMI (OHIO) 69 | POSTGAME VIDEO
OXFORD, Ohio (AP) - Raphiael Putney scored 20 points and Chaz Williams made a late, go-ahead jumper to lift Massachusetts over Miami (Ohio) 70-69 Wednesday night in nonconference action.
Jesse Morgan had 12 and Williams finished with 10 for UMass (9-3), which has won six straight games. The Minutemen also secured their seventh straight road victory, the program's longest road streak since the 1997-98 season.
UMass led 37-29 at intermission but watched Miami (5-7) open the second half on a 9-2 run, cutting the deficit to 39-38. From there, the teams battled through eight lead changes and five ties until Williams' jumper gave UMass the lead for good, 70-69, with 1:12 left.
Miami had a chance to tie but Quinten Rollins missed a free throw and Will Sullivan could not convert a layup as time expired. The Redhawks shot 2 for 9 over the final 6 minutes.
Allen Roberts led Miami with 21 points.
CHARLOTTE 71, UNC ASHEVILLE 63 | HIGHLIGHTS
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Willie Clayton turned in 16 points and 16 rebounds to guide Charlotte to a 71-63 overtime victory over UNC Asheville in a nonconference game Wednesday night.
Charlotte (12-2) scored the first eight points of overtime, turned that into a 13-2 run and cruised to victory from there.
Ingram's jumper put Charlotte ahead 56-51 with 2:26 left in regulation, but Jeremy Atkinson hit a 3-pointer and a layup to tie the game and the teams went to overtime knotted 56-all.
UNC Asheville (6-8) was led by double-doubles from Atkinson and Keith Hornsby - Atkinson had 16 points and 13 rebounds and Hornsby had 16 points and 10 boards.
Ingram scored 16 points and DeMario Mayfield 15 for the 49ers.
Charlotte's start is its best since beginning 13-1 in 1976-77, the year the 49ers reached the Final Four.
The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for UNC Asheville.
No. 17 BUTLER 70, PENN 57 | HIGHLIGHTS | POSTGAME VIDEO
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Roosevelt Jones scored a career-high 24 points to lead No. 17 Butler over Penn 70-57 on Wednesday night, the Bulldogs' eighth consecutive victory.
Butler (11-2) has opened the new year with a victory for the ninth straight season.
Miles Cartwright led Penn (2-10) with 15 points and Tony Hicks added 10.
The Quakers trailed 52-49 with under 9 minutes remaining in the game before an 18-8 run sealed the win for the Bulldogs.
MIAMI (FLA) 76, LA SALLE59
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) - Shane Larkin and Durand Scott scored 18 points each to lead Miami to a 76-59 victory over La Salle Wednesday night.
The Hurricanes (9-3) broke the game open with a 16-2 run midway through the second half. Larkin hit consecutive 3-pointers during the surge. The second of those, with 8:32 remaining, gave the Hurricanes their first double-digit lead at 57-47.
Erik Swoope's basket with 7:02 remaining ended the surge and increased Miami's lead to 61-47.
Trey McKinney Jones and Kenny Kadji finished with 14 points each for the Hurricanes, who snapped a two-game losing streak. Miami lost the final two games of the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii against Arizona and Indiana State on Dec. 24 and 25.
Tyrone Garland scored 20 points to lead La Salle. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Explorers (9-3).
WAKE FOREST 66, XAVIER 59
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) - Travis McKie scored 19 points and Wake Forest beat Xavier 66-59 on Wednesday night for its third straight win.
Codi Miller-McIntyre had 16 points, C.J. Harris added 15 and the Demon Deacons (7-5) erased their only deficit of the second half by scoring 12 straight points. They matched their longest winning streak under third-year coach Jeff Bzdelik.
Travis Taylor had 18 points - but just two in the second half - and 10 rebounds for the Musketeers (7-6).
They rallied from 11 points down and took a 49-48 lead on Jeff Robinson's jumper with just under seven minutes left.
But Xavier came up empty on eight straight possessions and went scoreless for 4 1/2 critical minutes, and the Demon Deacons took over.
