A look around Atlantic 10 men's basketball Saturday, with all 16 teams in action, all of which are conference pairings.
Don't forget to us Twitter hashtag #A10MBB when tweeting about tonight's games!
ON TAP FOR SATURDAY (2/2)
MASSACHUSETTS Minutemen (14-5, 4-2) at CHARLOTTE 49ers (16-4, 4-2) 2:00 pm | Halton Arena Series: UMass leads 6-5 Gamenote: Massachusetts defeated Charlotte, 85-75, last year in Amherst and UMass also won, 73-54, in their last meeting in Halton Arena in 2011.
DAYTON Flyers (12-8, 2-4) at SAINT LOUIS Billikens (15-5, 4-2) 2:00 pm | Chaifetz Arena | NBC Sports Network Series: Dayton leads 25-23 Gamenote: The Flyers hold a two-game lead in the all-time series, but have lost five of the last seven matchups with the Billikens. Last season the two teams split, each winning at home.
(RV) LA SALLE Explorers (17-3, 4-1) at GEORGE WASHINGTON Colonials (14-5, 3-2) 2:00 pm | Smith Center Series: GW leads 20-12 Gamenote: A win would give GW four straight for the first time since a five-game streak from Dec. 31, 2010 to Jan. 12, 2011, a stretch which included their last home victory over La Salle.
RHODE ISLAND Rams (6-13, 1-5) at No. 9/10 BUTLER Bulldogs (17-4, 4-2) 4:00 pm | Hinkle Fieldhouse | CBS Sports Network Series: First Meeting Gamenote: Rhode Island is the first of three straight first-time foes for the Bulldogs, who host St. Bonaventure on Wednesday and then visit GW next Saturday.
DUQUESNE Dukes (7-13, 0-6) at ST. BONAVENTURE Bonnies (9-10, 2-4) 4:00 pm | Reilly Center | TW Cable SportsChannel (NY)/ROOT Sports Series: Duquesne leads 57-51 Gamenote: Duquesne leads the all-time series between the interstate rivals, but the Bonnies are 37-22 against the Dukes at the Reilly Center. DU’s last win in Olean came in 2009.
TEMPLE Owls (14-6; 3-3) at SAINT JOSEPH’s Hawks (12-7, 3-3) 6:00 pm | Hagan Arena | CBS Sports Network Series: Temple leads 88-66 Gamenote: Saint Joseph’s snapped a 10-game losing streak to the Owls last year with the 82-72 win over No. 22 Temple. It was the first time since 2001 that the Owls played on SJU’s campus.
XAVIER Musketeers (14-5, 4-2) at RICHMOND Spiders (16-4, 4-2) 6:00 pm | Robins Center | FOX Sports Ohio Series: Xavier leads 13-4 Gamenote: The Spiders have won 2 of the last 5 meetings with both wins coming when Xavier was ranked. The Musketeers also defeated the No. 23 Spiders in a 78-76 double-OT thriller in 2010.
FORDHAM Rams (6-15, 2-4) at (RV) VCU Rams (15-5, 5-2) 7:00 pm | Siegel Center | CBS 6.1 Series: First Meeting Gamenote: Despite this being the first meeting between Fordham and VCU, Fordham coach Tom Pecora is familiar with VCU, having faced the Rams 17 times while at Hofstra.
WEEKLIES
Above are the weekly highlights. 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
Saturday, February 2 Dayton at Saint Louis* | 2:00 pm | NBC Sports Network Rhode Island at Butler* | 4:00 pm | CBS Sports Network Duquesne at St. Bonaventure* | 4:00 pm | TW Sports (NY)/ROOT Sports Temple at Saint Joseph’s* | 6:00 pm | CBS Sports Network Xavier at Richmond* | 6:00 pm | FOX Sports Ohio Fordham at VCU* | 7:00 pm | CBS 6.1
A-10 SCOOP
>>The Atlantic 10 currently has 10 teams in the top 100 of the RPI, (RPIRatings.com) second most of any league behind the Big East (13).
>>The Atlantic 10 has six teams in Jerry Palm’s (CBSSports.com) latest Bracketology. He lists Butler, La Salle, Temple and VCU. Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology will be released Tuesday, but last week he had Butler, Temple and VCU dancing.
>>Continuing on the big wins theme, the Atlantic 10 has taken down 10 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. La Salle got into the act in conference play, beating No. 9 Butler and No. 19/16 VCU last week. Saint Louis also got a conference ranked win Thurday over Butler.
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Jordair Jett matched his career best with 19 points and Saint Louis pressured No. 9 Butler into a season-worst 23 turnovers, recording the program's biggest upset in nine years with a 75-58 victory Thursday night that had fans storming the court to celebrate.
Dwayne Evans added 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting and five rebounds for the Billikens (15-5, 4-2 Atlantic-10), who fed off just the fourth sellout at 5-year-old Chaifetz Arena and led by double digits most of the game. Saint Louis shot 50 percent.
Rotnei Clarke had 17 points for Butler (17-4, 4-2) but also had five turnovers. Andrew Smith added 12 points and six rebounds for the Bulldogs, who have lost four games this season, three by 15 or more points.
Butler is the highest-ranked opponent to play at Saint Louis, led by interim coach Jim Crews with a roster assembled by the late Rick Majerus, since No. 2 North Carolina in 2006-07. The Bulldogs are Saint Louis' biggest victim since a 1-point upset over No. 2 Louisville on Feb. 12, 2003 at the Scottrade Center.
Jett, who was 8 for 12 with two 3-pointers, also scored 19 points against Villanova on Nov. 25, 2011.
More important was the other end of the court. Saint Louis leads the conference in scoring defense, allowing 57.8 points.
Butler was saddled with 16 turnovers in the first half, only two shy of its season high, combined with 37.5 percent shooting that added up to a 34-23 halftime lead for Saint Louis. Clarke had nine points and four turnovers and Kyhle Marshall was held to two points with five turnovers.
On its first 29 possessions, Butler had six baskets and 16 turnovers. Down 17 points late in the half, the Bulldogs finally woke up with nine quick points in a stretch of 1:07 before Jett, a reserve who had 13 points in 13 minutes on 5-for-6 shooting, answered with a 3-pointer with 7 seconds to make it 34-23.
Butler was down 14-12 when Clarke scored off a drive with 8:14 to go. The Bulldogs had just one more basket over the 7 1/2 minutes and not that many chances, either, with an uncharacteristic rash of mistakes forced by Saint Louis' aggressive, overplaying defense.
Jett had a layup and 3-pointer in a 14-0 run capped by Rob Loe's 3-pointer with 3:20 to go that put the Billikens up 31-14.
