Jan. 19, 2013

MBB WEEKLY REPORT | MBB SCOREBOARD | MBB STATS | MBB CHAMPIONSHIP

A quick look around Saturday's full day of Atlantic 10 men's basketball, with six conference games, A Philadelphia Big 5 game between Saint Joseph's and Penn. The marquee game of the day will be when No. 13 Butler steps out of conference play and takes center stage under the spotlight when it hosts No. 8 Gonzaga.  The  9 p.m. (ET) game at Hinkle Fieldhouse is the kickoff contest for ESPN's eight-week College GameDay schedule. 

Don't forget to us Twitter hashtag #A10MBB when tweeting about tonight's games!

ON TAP FOR SATURDAY (1/19)

ST. BONAVENTURE Bonnies (7-9, 0-3)
at (RV) TEMPLE Owls (12-4, 2-1)
1:00 pm | Liacouras Center | CBS Sports Network
Series: Temple leads 53-6
Gamenote: TU is 30-0 all-time against St. Bonaventure on its home floor. The Owls are looking for their 16th consecutive victory over St. Bonaventure.

LA SALLE Explorer (12-4, 2-1)
at XAVIER Musketeers (10-6, 3-0)
2:00 pm | Cintas Center | Time Warner Cable Sports (Ohio)
Series: Xavier leads 31-7
Gamenote: La Salle snapped Xavier’s five-game winning streak in the series with an 80-70 win in Philadelphia to open conference play last season.

GEORGE WASHINGTON Colonials (7-9,0-2)
at MASSACHUSETTS Minutemen (12-4, 2-1)
4:00 pm | Mullins Center
Series: GW leads 35-27
Gamenote: Former UMass All-American and 1996 National Player of the Year Marcus Camby will have his No. 21 jersey retired after the game.

PENN Quakers (3-13)
at SAINT JOSEPH’S Hawks (9-6)
5:00 pm | The Palestra | ESPNU
Philadelphia Big 5 Game
Series: Saint Joseph’s leads 46-34
A-10 vs. Ivy: 9-1
Gamenote: SJU has won nine of the last 13 against Penn, but has lost two in a row. The Hawks have scored 80 or more points versus Penn in five of the last six meetings.

CHARLOTTE 49ers (15-2, 3-0)
at RICHMOND Spiders (11-7, 1-2)
6:00 pm | Robins Center
Series: Richmond leads 10-7
Gamenote: This is the first time since Charlotte joined the A-10 in 2005-06 that the schools have not been schedule to meet twice. The Spiders have won seven of the last nine meetings.

No. 22/19 VCU Rams (15-3, 3-0)
at DUQUESNE Dukes (7-10, 0-3)
7:00 pm | CONSOL Energy Center
Series: First meeting
Gamenote: This is the first meeting between the new conference foes. Duquesne is 3-32 all-time against ranked
A-10 schools, last winning at home over No. 9 Xavier in 2008.

RHODE ISLAND Rams (5-10, 0-2)
at SAINT LOUIS Billikens (12-4, 1-1)
8:00 pm | Chaifetz Arena
Series: Rhode Island leads 6-5
Gamenote: Rhode Island has won the last four contests, including last season. The Rams upset the Billikens 64-62 at the Ryan Center in Rhode Island.

No. 8 GONZAGA Bulldogs (17-1)
at No. 13 BUTLER Bulldogs (15-2)
9:00 pm | Hinkle Fieldhouse | ESPN
ESPN College Gameday
Series: Series tied 1-1
A-10 vs. WCC: 1-2
Gamenote: Butler is off to its best start since 2008-09, when the Bulldogs won 19 of their first 20 games. ESPN College Gameday will be on-site in Indianapolis.

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WEEKLIES

The 16 A-10 head coaches had their second weekly teleconference Monday. Listen to their thoughts on the first week of league play by clicking on the AUDIO ARCHIVE

Watch the weekly A-10 video highlights for men's and women's basketball on the A-10 WEBSITE or on YOUTUBE

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ON THE TUBE

Saturday, January 19
St. Bonaventure at Temple* | 1:00 pm | CBS Sports Network
La Salle at Xavier* | 2:00 pm | TW Cable Sports (Ohio)
Penn at Saint Joseph’s (Palestra) | 5:00 pm | ESPNU
Gonzaga at Butler | 9:00 pm | ESPN

Wednesday, January 23
Fordham at Dayton* | 7:00 pm | WHIO
George Washington at Rhode Island* | 7:00 pm | Ocean State Networks
Xavier at Charlotte* | 7:30 pm | FOX Sports Ohio

Thursday, January 24
VCU at Richmond* | 7:00 pm | CBS Sports Network

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A-10 SCOOP

>>VCU cracked the AP poll this week to give the A-10 two teams ranked in both polls. Butler is No. 13 in both the  AP Poll and Coaches’ Poll.  In addition, the A-10 has four other teams that have received votes in the AP and ESPN/USA TODAY Coaches Polls. Saint Joseph’s, Saint Louis, Temple, and Xavier have all gotten votes in both polls. This week Temple continues to receive votes.

>>The Atlantic 10 has four teams in Jerry Palm’s (CBSSports.com) latest Bracketology. he lists Butler, Saint Louis, Temple and VCU. Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology has three A-10 teams dancing. Butler, VCU, Temple are all in and Saint Louis is among his four teams listed as “first out.”

>>The A-10 has seven teams with multiple-game winning streaks and two of those, Butler and VCU, have both won more 12 straight. Butler won its 12th in a row Wednesday against Richmond, and VCU matched that with the overtime victory over Saint Joseph’s. Charlotte has now won four straight and Xavier has won three consecutive games.

>>The A-10 has a team leading the nation in two statistical categories and one individual player leading another category. VCU is number one in steals and turnover margin and VCU’s Briante Weber tops the country in steals per game. There are three other team performances and eight other individuals that rank in the top 10 statistically.

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THURSDAY'S (1/17) RESULTS

No. 22 VCU 92, SAINT JOSEPH'S 86 | HIGHLIGHTS | SMART POSTGAME | MARTELLI POSTGAME

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Treveon Graham scored six of his 25 points in overtime and No. 22 Virginia Commonwealth rallied late in regulation to tie it and then beat Saint Joseph's 92-86 on Thursday night.

Darius Theus added a career-high 22 points and 10 assists and four steals for the Rams (15-3, 3-0 Atlantic 10), who won their 12th straight. Juvonte Reddic added 15 points and 17 rebounds.

Langston Galloway had 22 points , Carl Jones 21 and C.J. Aiken 15 points and nine rebounds for the Hawks (9-6, 1-2), who trailed for most of the game before a loud sellout crowd at the Siegel Center.



MASSACHUSETTS 79, DUQUESNE 66 | HIGHLIGHTS

AMHERST, Mass. (AP) - Chaz Williams had 22 points and nine assists as Massachusetts dominated late in both halves and defeated Duquesne 79-66 Thursday night.

The Minutemen (12-4, 2-1 Atlantic 10 Conference), who have won nine of their last 10 games, led 65-62 with 7:12 remaining before a 14-2 run gave them a 79-64 advantage with 1:04 left. The run included three baskets by Terrell Vinson, who finished with 17 points.

A 14-6 Massachusetts run late in the first half widened a 25-21 lead to 44-27 just before halftime. Williams capped the run with consecutive 3-pointers and two free throws.

The Minutemen were 7 of 16 on 3-pointers in the first half, with Williams and Freddie Riley sinking three each. Riley and Cady Lalanne scored 12 points each, and Lalanne had 11 rebounds.

Sean Johnson scored 29 points, 18 in the second half, for the Dukes (7-10, 0-3), who have lost five straight.