Jan. 21, 2013

2012-13 MBB Weekly Report

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - The Atlantic 10 Conference has named Butler sophomore Roosevelt Jones and VCU sophomore Treveon Graham its men's basketball Co-Players 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. 14-20.

Jones helped lead Butler to a pair of wins, including a nationally-televised victory over No. 8 Gonzaga.  The 6-4 forward led the Bulldogs with 20 points, including securing a crucial steal and nailing the game-winner at the buzzer versus Gonzaga.  He scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half to lift Butler to its third Top 10 win this season.  The O' Fallon, Illinois native added five rebounds, four assists, one blocked shot and one steal in the win.  Three days earlier, Jones recorded his second double-double of the season, while helping Butler to a conference victory over Richmond.  He finished with 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, while adding four assists and three steals.  The 12 rebounds matched his career-high. It was Jones' second Player of the Week award this season.

Graham averaged 22.5 points per game in a pair of Atlantic 10 wins for the Rams, including a critical overtime victory against Saint Joseph's. A Temple Hills, Md., native, he scored 25 points and had seven rebounds versus the Hawks, tallying four of VCU's first six overtime points on a four-point play. He finished 10-of-17 (.588) from the field and 4-of-7 (.571) from 3-point range in the win. Graham then scored 16 points in the first 12 minutes of win over Duquesne to help the Rams finish the half on a 31-6 run and ultimately put the game away. His 20 points at Duquesne came in just 21 minutes of play off of 7-of-14 (.500) shooting and 5-of-9 (.556) from beyond the arc. It marked the 12^th straight game he has scored in double figures.

Christon averaged 18.5 points, 7.5 assists in a pair of Xavier wins over St. Bonaventure and La Salle, while shooting 56.0 percent from the field for the week. He led Xavier with 19 points and a career-high 10 assists in the win at St. Bonaventure.  Christon, who scored 15 second-half points, scored eight of XU's 12 points during a crucial Musketeers' rally, including an off-balance bank shot with five seconds left that proved to be the game-winner. He also dished out 10 assists versus Bona. The Cincinnati native then scored a game-high 18 points to go with five assists and three steals, while shooting 72.7 percent (8-of-11) from the field in a win over La Salle.  Christon leads all freshmen in the Atlantic 10 in scoring (14.7 per game) and assists (5.1 per game). It marked the fourth time the freshman has been tabbed Rookie of the Week this season.

A-10 Weekly Honor Roll

Butler freshman Kellen Dunham scored in double digits in both of the Bulldogs wins last week, tallying 11 versus Richmond and 14 in the Gonzaga win ... DeMario Mayfield averaged 14.5 points in a split week for Charlotte, with 18 in a win over Fordham and 11 versus Richmond ... Darion Clark tallied 11 points in the 49ers win over Fordham, his fourth double-figure scoring game of the year ... Vee Sanford scored 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting in Dayton's loss to La Salle ... UD freshman Dyshawn Pierre matched Sanford's output with 13 points, but also grabbed nine rebounds in the La Salle game ... Duquesne's Derrick Colter averaged 14.5 points and 5.0 assists in losses at UMass and to VCU ... Freshman Joe McDonald tallied a 16-point, 10-assist double-double, including sinking 10 free throws in GW's win over UMass ... La Salle's Ramon Galloway averaged 16.5 points in a split week for the Explorers, scoring 18 in a win over Dayton and 15 in the loss to Xavier ... Chaz Williams tallied 22 points and nine assists in UMass' win over Duquesne and 18 points and six assists versus George Washington ... Rhode Island's Xavier Munford scored 24 points on 8-of-14 shooting to lead  the Rams past Saint Louis ...Rhody freshman Jordan Hare scored 10 points and had nine rebounds in the Saint Louis win ... Darien Brothers scored a career-high 39 points in Richmond's win over Charlotte, tallying 10-of-14 from the floor, 8-of-11 from 3-point range and 11-for-12 at the line ... St. Bonaventure's Matthew Wright scored 22 points, tying a career high with four 3-pointers ... Saint Joseph's Langston Galloway averaged 21 points in a split week for the Hawks, shooting a combined 11-of-19 from 3-point range ... Kwamain Mitchell scored 29 points on 10-of-19 from the field, including 7-of-10 from 3-point range in the overtime loss to Rhode Island ... Khalif Wyatt scored 31 points in Temple's narrow loss to Bona and averaged 24.5 points after tallying 18 against George Washington.