Feb. 7, 2010

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Kwamain Mitchell - Saint Louis
Sophomore, Guard, 5-10, 165 lbs.
Milwaukee, Wis./Dominican HS
Mitchell averaged 21 points and 3.5 assists while playing a key role down the stretch in a pair of SLU victories on the week...scored 17 points, including the game-winning hoop with 1.4 seconds remaining, as the Billikens edged St. Bonaventure on Feb. 3, 67-65...poured in a game-high 25 points and scored the last four points of the game on Feb. 6 as SLU edged La Salle, 68-65...added five steals and five rebounds in the two contests...tabbed the A-10 Player of the Week for the second time.

Shamari Spears - Charlotte
Junior, Forward, 6-6, 238 lbs./Boston College
Spears averaged 23 points and 9.5 rebounds in leading Charlotte to wins over George Washington (72-68) and Fordham (77-72)...scored a career-high 31 points on 12-of-20 shooting on Feb. 3 versus GW...notched his second double-double of the season with 15 points and 13 rebounds at Fordham on Feb. 6...marked his second 13-rebound effort on the year...earns his second A-10 Player of the Week honor.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Chris Gaston - Fordham
Freshman, Forward, 6-7, 210 lbs.
Palisades Park, N.J./St. Anthony's HS
Gaston averaged 27.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and four assists as he earns his fourth A-10 Rookie of the Week citation...scored 23 points and grabbed nine boards at Xavier on Jan. 31...poured in 32 points and added 12 boards and a season-high six assists on Feb. 6 versus Charlotte...marked his 13th double-double...shot 15-for-28 on the week.

SHOT CLOCK SNIPPETS...
• Richmond shot 17-of-22 in the opening half - including 8-for-11 from beyond the arc - in its 71-54 victory over #19/#17 Temple on Feb. 6. The Spiders have won four of their last six games versus ranked opponents over the last three seasons.

• The A-10 boasts six teams in the top 45 of the RPI entering play on Feb. 7.

• Seniors Jason Duty (DUQ), Kurt Huelsman (UD), Yves Mekongo Mbala (LAS) and Steve Weingarten (LAS) have been tabbed ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District first-team selections. All four players will be placed on the national ballot for the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Team.

• Junior forward Damian Saunders scored a career-high 27 points and added 16 rebounds on Feb. 6 as the Dukes earned its first win (70-63) at George Washington since 2000.

• Charlotte's total of seven road victories is more than triple its number of road wins (two) from all of last season.

• Temple junior forward Lavoy Allen grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds in the Owls' Feb. 6 contest at Richmond.

• URI is 12-2 in games decided by less than 10 points.

• Following its sellout on Feb. 6 versus Xavier, Dayton is averaging a program-record 13,029 fans per game.

• For his career, junior Damian Saunders of Duquesne has more blocks (197), assists (181) and steals (179) than turnovers (171).

• Freshman Aaric Murray of La Salle is the lone player nationally averaging at least 2.5 blocks per game and 1.0 three-point FG per game. The last player nationally to reach those numbers was Eddie Griffin of Seton Hall in 2000-01 (4.4 bpg., 1.3 3P FG/game).

• Temple is tied for second nationally with six road victories in non-conference action, while GW and Rhode Island rank seventh nationally with five non-league road wins apiece.

WEEKLY HONOR ROLL: Dayton junior forward Chris Wright scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds on Feb. 6 as the Flyers turned aside Xavier, 90-65...junior forward Damian Saunders of Duquesne averaged 17 points, 12 rebounds and 3.7 blocks over three contests...freshman guard Lasan Kromah averaged 13 points and eight rebounds and registered his first career double-double (15 pts., 10 rebs.) versus Duquesne on Feb. 6...UMass senior guard Ricky Harris averaged 28 points on 21-of-37 shooting over two games...senior forward Lamonte Ulmer averaged 15.5 points and 8.5 rebounds, while freshman guard Akeem Richmond averaged 15 points and made nine three-pointers in leading URI to a pair of victories...Richmond junior guard Kevin Anderson scored 29 points in the Spiders' 71-54 win over Temple on Feb. 6 and averaged 19 points and 3.5 assists on the week...Temple junior forward Lavoy Allen averaged 15.5 points and 17 rebounds over two games while extending his streak of double-double performances to four-straight contests.

ALI...FRAZIER...GREGORY?: With the team gathered in the locker room for final instructions prior to its contest with Xavier on Feb. 6, head coach Brian Gregory suddenly appeared in front of the team wearing a long, hooded red-and-white fight robe and boxing gloves. He began firing off volleys of punches at each player as he bobbed to LL Cool J's `Mama Said Knock You Out.' Stacy Schretzman, the team's administrative assistant, had stayed up much of the night making the kind of robe you see fighters wear into the ring. Early Saturday came a pair of boxing gloves from Drake's Gym in downtown Dayton.

LET IT SNOW: As a result of the blizzard in the D.C. area, Duquesne's team bus was snowed in and couldn't make the half-mile journey from the hotel to the Smith Center on Feb. 6 for the Dukes' tip-off at GW. The team took a pair of SUVs - in two shifts - through unplowed streets to the game. Duquesne then edged GW, 70-63, for its first win at the Smith Center since 2000.

WHAT ELSE YOU GOT IN THERE?: You've see it in football where the quarterback has the play-chart on a wrist band. You don't see that in basketball, though. First, it's probably a bit uncomfortable to wear. In addition, referees don't allow the extra writing on a wrist band since it exceeds the logo size restriction. Xavier coaches have come up with an alternative. The mother of Xavier associate head coach Pat Kelsey has sewn pockets for a plastic card to fit in the game shorts of the XU players. Then each game - sometimes more than once in a game - they insert cards that list the out-of-bounds plays next to a number. When you hear the coaches yell out a number, look for the guys to glance in their shorts. They are looking for that short list of plays.

DOUBLE TALK: Duquesne's Damian Saunders notched his 17th double-double of the season and 24th of his career with a career-high 27 points and 16 rebounds in the Dukes' 70-63 win at George Washington on Feb. 6. The junior forward's 16 double-doubles are the most by a Duquesne player in a season since Bruce Atkins had 16 in 1981-82. Saunders has pulled down at least 15 rebounds nine times this season, while his career high for rebounds entering the year was 14 boards.

FRIENDLY CONFINES: Dayton earned its 500th win in the 40-year history of the University of Dayton Arena on Dec. 29 in a 74-60 victory over Boston University. Xavier has a record of 131-17 (.885) all-time at Cintas Center, its on-campus home arena, and boasts a 21-game home winning streak after downing Duquesne on Jan. 28, 86-50. The Musketeers' 21-game home-winning streak marks their longest since the building opened for the 2000-01 season.

GLASS CLEANER: Temple junior forward Lavoy Allen pulled down a career-high 19 rebounds in the Owls' 71-54 loss at Richmond on Feb. 6, his 33rd performance with double-digit rebounds since the start of the 2008-09 season. Allen (11.1 ppg., 10.6 rpg.) seeks to become the first TU player to average a double-double since Ollie Johnson in 1970-71. Johnson is also last Owl to average double figures in rebounds.

ELITE TERRITORY: Senior guard Ricky Harris scored 32 points in Massachusetts' 87-79 loss to Xavier and ranks fourth on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,760 points. On Nov. 18, Harris scored 26 points to move past both Julius Erving (1,370) and Marcus Camby (1,387) and boasts 251 three-point field goals for his career.

HOME SUPREMACY: Three-time defending A-10 champion Xavier boasts a 29-game home-winning streak in A-10 action after turning aside Fordham on Jan. 31, 108-60. Temple holds the record with 34 consecutive home wins in Conference play (Dec. 10, 1987 - Feb. 19, 1991).

CONFERENCE CORNER: Entering play on Feb. 7, the A-10 has been ranked in the top 7 of the conference RPI (collegeRPI.com) the entire season and its 121-71 (.630) overall non-league record is on pace to be the fifth-highest winning percentage in non-conference action in A-10 history. 45 of the league's 121 victories have come on the road or on neutral courts and the A-10 is also the top-rated conference in Strength of Schedule according to RealTime RPI.

MARKED MAN: In its 22 games this season, Dayton has held the leading scorer of its opponent below his scoring average 16 times. For the season, the Flyers have limited their opponents to 40.3 percent shooting from the field and have kept 17 of their opponents below their season scoring average.

DID YOU KNOW?: In its last two wins over ranked foes (Temple - Feb. 6; Xavier - Mar. 7, 2009), Richmond guard Kevin Anderson poured in 29 points on both occasions.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: GW earned its 12th win of the season on Jan. 27 as a result of its 67-62 (OT) win over Saint Louis. The Colonials amassed 10 wins all of last season. GW also boasts six road victories this season. The Colonials amassed three road victories all of last season and their 4-0 start on the road in 2009-10 was the program's best since a 6-0 mark in 1947-48. After winning 11 games in 2008-09, Charlotte secured its 18th victory this season with a 77-72 win over Fordham on Feb. 6. The 49ers also boast seven road wins, up from two a year ago.

RARE AIR: Sophomore Jordan Crawford of Xavier leads the A-10 in scoring at 19.7 ppg. thru the Musketeers' first 23 contests. XU has not had its leading scorer average 17 or more points since National Player of the Year David West averaged 20.1 ppg. as a senior in 2002-03.

START ME UP: Dayton senior Kurt Huelsman has started every game in his career, a span of 122 consecutive starts. Tops in program history, it marks the longest active streak in the Atlantic 10 and eighth-best nationally. Nate Green holds the all-time program record with 133 games played.

LEADING THE WAY: Forward Chris Gaston of Fordham leads all freshmen nationally in both scoring (18.4 ppg.) and rebounding (10.6 rpg.).

WRIGHT STUFF: With junior Chris Wright in the lineup, Dayton boasts a record of 39-1 mark at UD Arena. Wright scored 17 points and grabbed nine boards in the Flyers' 90-65 home win over Xavier on Feb. 6

TARGET PRACTICE: Xavier leads the A-10 in three-point field goal percentage at 39.4 percent (169-of-429). The shooting accuracy is on pace to challenge the school record of 39.9 percent, which was set in the 1986-87 season. Sophomore Brad Redford leads the A-10 for a second straight season at 44.8 percent (43-of-96). Junior Danté Jackson is third in the league at 42.9 percent (36-of-84) and sophomore Jordan Crawford is fourth at 41.7 percent (50-of-120).

EXPLORING NEW HEIGHTS: Rodney Green of La Salle notched his 27th career 20-point outing and 10th of the season on Feb. 2 with 22 points in the Explorers' 90-83 loss to Rhode Island.

LONG-RANGE CLIMBING: Rhode Island freshman Akeem Richmond has drained 47 field goals from beyond the arc, which is tied for the second-highest total by a freshman in program history. Tyson Wheeler holds the URI record for three-pointers by a freshman with 50, set in 1994-95.