Jan. 23, 2013
A quick look around Wednesday's full day of Atlantic 10 men's basketball, with six conference games, and a Philadelphia Big 5 game between Temple and Penn.
Don't forget to us Twitter hashtag #A10MBB when tweeting about tonight's games!
ON TAP FOR SATURDAY (1/23)
No. 9/9 BUTLER Bulldogs (16-2, 3-0)
at LA SALLE Explorers (12-5, 2-2)
7:00 pm | Tom Gola Arena
Series: Butler leads 6-2
Gamenote: La Salle and Butler met six times as rivals in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference (MCC) from 1993-95. Current Butler AD Barry Collier was the Bulldogs coach during that time.
FORDHAM Rams (5-13, 1-2)
at DAYTON Flyers (10-7, 0-3)
7:00 pm | UD Arena | WHIO
Series: Dayton leads 22-5
Gamenote: UD won last season 72-70 in overtime at Fordham. The Flyers have won six straight. Dayton and the Rams are one-two in league play in rebounding margin (13.3/12.3 respectively).
SAINT LOUIS Billikens (12-5, 1-2)
at DUQUESNE Dukes (7-11, 0-4)
7:00 pm | Palumbo Center
Series: SLU leads 8-7
Gamenote: SLU has won five of six, including the last three. DU is 4-3 all-time vs. Saint Louis in Pittsburgh. This is the first year since 2008-09 that Dukes and Billikens are not meeting twice.
GEORGE WASHINGTON Colonials (8-9, 2-2)
at RHODE ISLAND Rams (6-10, 1-2)
7:00 pm | Ryan Center | Ocean State Networks
Series: GW leads 28-24
Gamenote: GW has won the last two meetings against URI.
Last season, the Colonials earned a 69-61 victory at the Smith Center. Rhody is 13-10 all-time vs. George Washington at home.
ST. BONAVENTURE Bonnies (8-9, 1-3)
at SAINT JOSEPH'S Hawks (10-6, 1-2)
7:00 pm | Hagan Arena
Series: St. Joe’s leads 46-18
Gamenote: SJU lost two to the Bonnies last year, but the Hawks have won 19 of the last 22. Saint Joseph’s has won nine straight at home against Bona -- SBU’s last win at Hagan was in 2000.
PENN Quakers (3-14, 0-3 Big 5)
at TEMPLE Owls (12-5, 1-0 Big 5)
7:00 pm | Liacouras Center
Philadelphia Big 5 Game
Series: Temple leads 44-22
Gamenote: Legendary Temple sports information director Al Shrier, will be honored during the game for his 60 years of work and dedication to the University.
XAVIER Musketeers (11-6, 4-0)
at CHARLOTTE 49ers (15-3, 3-1)
7:30 pm | Halton Arena | FOX Sports Ohio
Series: Xavier leads 11-2
Gamenote: Xavier has won the last three and swept the two meetings last season. XU is 4-2 against the 49ers in Charlotte, which, like Cincinnati is known as the “Queen City.”
WEEKLIES
The 16 A-10 head coaches had their third weekly teleconference Monday. Listen to their thoughts on the first week of league play by clicking on the
AUDIO ARCHIVE
ON THE TUBE
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
Saturday, January 26
Rhode Island at Fordham* | 1:00 pm | YES Network
Charlotte at George Washington* | 2:00 pm | CSN Mid-Atlantic
Duquesne at Dayton* | 4:00 pm | TWCS (Ohio)/ROOT Sports
Saint Louis at St. Bonaventure* | 4:00 pm | TWCS (Upstate NY)/FOX MW+
Temple at Butler* | 6:00 pm | ESPN2
Xavier at Saint Joseph’s* | 6:00 pm | CBS Sports Network
La Salle at VCU* | 8:00 pm | CBS Sports Network
A-10 SCOOP
>>The Atlantic 10 has taken down seven ranked opponents so far this season. Most notable was Butler’s overtime win over No. 1 Indiana and the Bulldogs’ buzzer-beating victory against No. 8 Gonzaga. Temple’s victory of No. 3 Syracuse. Saint Joseph’s began with an overtime win over No. 20 Notre Dame. Butler also got a win over No. 9 North Carolina, VCU defeated No. 19 Memphis and Saint Louis beat No. 20 New Mexico.
>>The U.S. Basketball Writers Association selected Butler’s Roosevelt Jones as its Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week for games ending the week of Sunday, Jan. 20. Jones buzzer-beater gave the Bulldogs a 64-63 win over No. 8 Gonzaga on national TV with “College GameDay” on hand.
>>Charlotte has already won 15 games, surpassing the win total for 2009-10 (10) and 2010-11 (13). The Niners are just four wins from topping the 2008-09 season and five wins from reaching 20 for the first time since 2007-08.
>>St. Bonaventure stopped a six-game losing streak, earned its first A-10 win of the year, and claimed its first victory at Temple in 31 tries Saturday afternoon with an 81-78 decision against the Owls. The Bonnies also earned their first win over Temple in 16 tries, dating back to a 2002 meeting.
SATURDAY'S (1/23) RESULTS
No. 13 BUTLER 64, No. 8 GONZAGA 63
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Roosevelt Jones stole an inbound pass with 3.5 seconds left and hit a floater from just inside the foul line right before the buzzer to help No. 13 Butler upset No. 8 Gonzaga 64-63 on Saturday night.
Jones finished with 20 points and the Bulldogs have now won 13 in a row including two straight without their top scorer, Rotnei Clarke. It's the first time Butler (16-2, 3-0 Atlantic 10) has ever beaten three top 10 teams in one season. They also defeated No. 9 North Carolina in November and No. 1 Indiana in December.
Gonzaga (17-2, 4-0 West Coast Conference) was led by Saw Dower and Elias Harris who each had 20 points. The loss ended the Zags eight-game winning streak.
The game was considered the biggest non-power conference matchup of the season, and it met the hype.
Trailing 33-32 at the half, Butler scored the first five points of the second half and never trailed again until Elias Harris scored with 1:24 to go the teams traded leads on the next four possessions before Jones won it.
No. 22 VCU 90, DUQUESNE 63
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Rob Brandenberg scored 22 points and No. 22 VCU dominated in winning its 13th consecutive game, 90-63 over Duquesne on Saturday night at Consol Energy Center.
The Rams' Treveon Graham had 17 of his 20 points in the first half, when VCU (16-3, 4-0 Atlantic 10) used a 26-2 run to seize control. It would cruise to extend what is the nation's second-longest active winning streak.
VCU coach Shaka Smart became the second-youngest coach to reach 100 career victories. The 35-year-old needed 131 games, 30th-fewest in NCAA history. Only 11 other coaches reached 100 wins in their first four seasons, including Butler's Brad Stevens. He was 34 when he won his 100th game.
Derrick Colter had 15 points to lead the Dukes (7-11, 0-4), who have lost six straight.
ST. BONAVENTURE 81, TEMPLE 78
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Matthew Wright led five players in double figures with 22 points to help St. Bonaventure beat Temple 81-78 Saturday and get its first road win over the Owls in 31 tries.
Eric Mosley and Demitrius Conger added 15 points, Youssou Ndoye 12 and Chris Johnson 10 for St. Bonaventure, which snapped a six-game losing streak.
St. Bonaventure (8-9, 1-3 Atlantic 10 Conference) led 69-63 with 3:49 left to play following back-to-back layups from Conger and Wright before Temple's Khalif Wyatt hit a 3-pointer, then two free throws, to make it 69-68 at the 2:56 mark.
However, Conger and Johnson answered with consecutive 3-pointers and Ndoye converted two free throws to put the Bonnies up for good, 77-68.
St. Bonaventure made 11 of 18 3-pointers, compared to 12 of 34 for Temple (12-5, 2-2), and dished out 21 assists.
Wyatt led Temple with 31 points but fouled out with 2:28 remaining.
XAVIER 70, LA SALLE 63
CINCINNATI (AP) - Semaj Christon scored 18 points on Saturday, and Xavier overcame an early 11-point deficit to beat La Salle 70-63 and remain perfect in the Atlantic 10.
Xavier (11-6, 4-0) won its last three games without point guard Dee Davis, who sprained his left wrist in the first half of a 57-52 win over Temple. He returned on Saturday with six points and seven assists.
Brad Redford added 13 points for Xavier, which has won four in a row.
La Salle (12-5, 2-2) is off to best start since the 1990-91 season.
The Explorers have the league's top scoring duo, guard Ramon Galloway - 17.1 points per game, second in the A-10 - and guard Tyreek Duren at 15 points per game. They had trouble against the A-10's second-stingiest defense, combining to go 6 of 26 from the field. Tyrone Garland led with 16 points.
GEORGE WASHINGTON 79, MASSACHUSETTS 76
AMHERST, Mass. (AP) - Joe McDonald scored 16 points and handed out 10 assists as George Washington edged Massachusetts 79-76 Saturday after losing all but one point of a 16-point second-half lead.
McDonald, one of four freshmen starting for the Colonials (8-9, 2-2 Atlantic 10 Conference) made two free throws with 13 seconds remaining after the Minutemen (12-5, 2-2) had cut their deficit to 75-74.
Massachusetts' Freddie Riley sank two free throws with 3 seconds left, but Isaiah Armwood answered with two for the Colonials.
Chaz Williams and Raphiael Putney rallied the Minutemen from a 52-36 deficit with 14:59 left, combining for 26 of Massachusetts' final 40 points. Williams finished with 18 points, Cady Lalanne 15 and Putney 14.
Dwayne Smith scored 15 points, Lasan Kromah 14 and Patricio Garino 12 for George Washington, which led 40-33 at halftime.
Massachusetts retired the jersey of 1996 Naismith Player of the Year Marcus Camby at halftime.
RICHMOND 81, CHARLOTTE 61
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Darien Brothers scored 39 points to lead Richmond to an 81-61 victory over Charlotte, handing the 49ers their first Atlantic 10 Conference loss of the season on Saturday.
Deion Taylor had 13 points and Kendall Anthony 12 for the Spiders (21-7, 2-2). Brothers shot 10 of 14 from the field, 8 of 11 on 3-pointers, and 11 of 12 from the line.
Pierria Henry led the 49ers (15-3, 3-1) with 18 points and seven rebounds, and DeMario Mayfield had 11 points.
Richmond scored the first nine points of the game and finished the first half with a 39-28 advantage. The closest the 49ers got was 44-39 on Pierria Henry's layup 4:24 into the second half. The Spiders scored the next 11 points and cruised to the victory, halting Richmond's four-game winning streak.
Richmond made 12 of 27 from beyond the arc to Charlotte's 3 of 15.
RHODE ISLAND 82, SAINT LOUIS 80
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Xavier Munford scored 24 points to lead Rhode Island over Saint Louis 82-80 in overtime Saturday night, winning their first Atlantic 10 game of the season.
Kwamain Mitchell led Saint Louis with 29 points and had seven 3-pointers.
Munford was 8 of 14 from the field and had four 3-pointers for Rhode Island (6-10, 1-2 Atlantic 10).
Nikola Malesevic and Andre Malone scored 14 points apiece, and Jordan Hare added 10. Hare and Malone had 10 rebounds apiece.
Saint Louis led 29-6 at halftime and the score was tied at 65 at the end of regulation.
Mitchell was 10 of 19 from the field and had seven assists for Saint Louis (12-5, 1-2). Cody Ellis scored 21 points. Rob Loe had seven rebounds.
The Rams shot 55 percent from the field for the game.
SAINT JOSEPH'S 79, PENN 59
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Langston Galloway had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Ronald Roberts had 16 points and 12 rebounds to lead Saint Joseph's past Pennsylvania 79-59 Saturday night.
Carl Jones scored 15 for the Hawks (10-6), who had lost two straight to their local rival.
Two free throws by C.J. Aiken broke a 17-17 tie with 7:08 remaining in the first half and started an 11-0 Saint Joseph's run that included two 3-pointers by Galloway.
Saint Joseph's padded its 32-21 halftime lead by shooting 64.3 percent (18 of 28) in the second half.
Darien Nelson-Henry scored 17 points for the Quakers (3-14), who on Thursday became the 11th Division I program to reach 1,700 victories but have lost nine of their last 10.
The game was played at the Palestra, but Saint Joseph's was designated the home team, a role that rotates in the series between the Philadelphia Big 5 teams.
