Feb. 20, 2013
A look around Atlantic 10 men's basketball Thursday, with one game on tap and three results from Wednesday.
Don't forget to us Twitter hashtag #A10MBB when tweeting about tonight's game!
ON TAP FOR THURSDAY (2/21)
LA SALLE Explorers (18-6, 8-3)
at TEMPLE Owls (17-8, 6-5)
7:00 pm | Liacouras Center | CBS Sports Network
Philadelphia Big 5 Game
Series: Temple leads 72-40
Gamenotes: Temple has won 15 of the last 18 meetings, including the last seven. The Owls are 9-1 versus the Explorers at the Liacouras Center, and have won the last three meetings.
TU coach Fran Dunphy, a 1970 La Salle grad, is 24-6 against his alma mater (11-2 while at Temple). He served as an assistant at La Salle from 1979-80 and 1985-88.
La Salle (3-0 Big 5) has clinched at least a share of the City Series title and can win it outright by beating Temple (2-1 Big 5).
In the teams’ last meeting (last season), La Salle senior Earl Pettis came up big, scoring a career-high 33 points and helping send the contest into overtime with a game-tying three, but the Explorers fell, 80-79, to #22 Temple in front of a sold-out Tom Gola Arena.
WEEKLIES
The 16 A-10 head coaches had their weekly teleconference Monday. Listen to their thoughts by clicking on the AUDIO ARCHIVE.
ON THE TUBE
Thursday, February 21 La Salle at Temple* | 7:00 pm | CBS Sports Network
Friday, February 22 Saint Louis at Butler* | 7:00 pm | ESPNU
Saturday, February 23 VCU at Xavier* | 2:00 pm | CBS Sports Network
George Washington at Saint Joseph’s* | 4:00 pm | CSN Mid-Atlantic/The Comcast Net. (Pa.)
Sunday, February 24 La Salle at Rhode Island* | 2:00 pm | Ocean State Networks
Tuesday, February 26 Memphis at Xavier | 7:00 pm | ESPN 2
A-10 SCOOP
>>The Atlantic 10 currently has 10 teams in the top 100 of the RPI which is the second most of any league behind the Big East (12).
>>The Atlantic 10 has four teams in Joe Lunardi’s (ESPN) latest Bracketology. He lists Butler, La Salle, Saint Louis and VCU with Temple listed among the first four out. Jerry Palm’s (CBSSports.com) latest bracketology six teams dancing -- the same four as Lunardi plus Temple and Charlotte. He also lists UMass among his first four out.
>>Butler is No. 11 in the AP Poll and No. 10 in the Coaches’ Poll. In addition, the A-10 has six other teams that have received votes in the AP and ESPN/USA TODAY Coaches Polls. La Salle, Saint Joseph’s, Temple, and Xavier have gotten votes in both polls as have Saint Louis and VCU which are receiving votes this week.
>>The Atlantic 10 has won 19 total games this season over “big six” programs.
>>The A-10 has taken down 11 ranked opponents so far this season. This includes Butler’s overtime win over No. 1 Indiana, the Bulldogs’ buzzer-beater against No. 8 Gonzaga and Temple’s victory over No. 3 Syracuse. Saint Joseph’s, VCU , Saint Louis, La Salle and Charlotte also have Top 25 wins.
>>Temple has played in a TU - and possibly NCAA - record five straight one point games. Twice in TU history the Owls have strung together three straight one-point games (1979-80 & 1946- 47). All three one-point game streaks were played in February. Prior to this season, TU had only played five one-point games in a season once -- that came in 1895-96 - with the Owls winning three. Fran Dunphy had coached in just five one-point games at Temple prior to the current streak. He has a 6-4 record in one-pointers with the Owls. In his 17 seasons at Penn he posted a 7-7 record in one-point games. Temple has played six one-point games against La Salle (and 7 OT games). The last game against the Explorers the Owls won 80-79 in OT. (2/22/12).
>>Eric Mosley scored 39 points against UMass on Wednesday, hitting 12-of-18 from the field, 5-of-8 from beyond the arc and 10-of-10 at the line. It was the most points ever scored by a Bona player against an A-10 opponent and it equals the season high in the A-10, set earlier by Richmond’s Darien Brothers. Brothers went 10-for-14 from the field, 8-of-11 from three and 11-of-12 at the line. But neither player was able to get the last elusive basket to top 40.
>>La Salle tied a school record with 18 3-pointers in a 89-53 win over Fordham. Tyreek Duren, Sam Mills and Ramon Galloway combined for 16 of those. The previous La Salle record was set twice vs. Loyola Marymount (12/31/90) and Oregon (12/28/91). It ties the most triples by any team in the nation this season and the most nationally since Longwood made 20 vs. VMI on Dec. 20, 2011. The last A-10 team to make that many 3-pointers was Saint Joseph’s on Jan. 31, 2004 when the Hawks set the A-10 record of 20 treys in a game.
WEDNESDAY'S (2/20) RESULTS
ST. BONAVENTURE 99, MASSACHUSETTS 94 | BONA HIGHLIGHTS/POSTGAME | UMASS POSTGAME
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. (AP) - For the second straight game, Eric Mosley set a career scoring high as St. Bonaventure set a season high for points, defeating Massachusetts 99-94 Wednesday night.
Mosley scored 39 points one game after scoring 30 in a loss to Richmond. The senior hit 12 of 18 from the field, including 5 of 8 from 3-point range, and made 10 of 10 free throws.
Chris Johnson added 22 points and Demitrius Conger 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Bonnies (12-13, 5-7), who snapped a two-game losing streak.
St. Bonaventure led 38-31 at halftime but UMass took a 57-56 lead with 12:43 left. Five lead changes and five ties followed, with Yousso Ndoye's layup putting the Bonnies ahead 91-90 with 1:12 left. St. Bonaventure led the rest of the way.
Chaz Williams led UMass (16-9, 6-6) with 26 points and 12 assists. Terrell Vinson added 20 points.
XAVIER 55, RHODE ISLAND 42 | XAVIER HIGHLIGHTS | RHODE ISLAND POSTGAME
KINGSTON, R.I. (AP) - Travis Taylor grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds en route to his eighth double-double of the year as Xavier won 55-42 at Rhode Island Wednesday night.
Taylor added 13 points and Semaj Christon had 16 on 8-of-8 free-throw shooting for the Musketeers (16-10, 9-4 Atlantic 10 Conference).
Xavier trailed 33-32 with 14:44 left when Christon made two free throws to spark a 10-0, nearly 6-minute run. After allowing five quick points, the Musketeers held Rhode Island to just one free throw from the 7:49 mark until allowing a made jumper with 23 seconds remaining.
Xavier improved to 2-7 this season when scoring fewer than 60 points.
The Rams (8-17, 3-9) dropped their sixth straight and 18th of 19 in the rivalry. Xavier Munford recorded 15 points on 5-of-17 shooting, including a 3-of-12 showing from 3-point range. Rhode Island shot just 24.1 percent (13 of 54) and was 5-of-30 shooting from deep.
GEORGE WASHINGTON 68, FORDHAM 60 | GW HIGHLIGHTS
WASHINGTON (AP) - Kevin Larsen scored 15 points and George Washington handed Fordham its seventh consecutive loss 68-60 Wednesday night.
Larsen was 6-of-11 shooting and added five rebounds. Lasan Kromah had 13 points off the bench and Isaiah Armwood had eight points and 12 rebounds for the Colonials (12-12, 6-5 Atlantic 10 Conference), who won their 500th game at the Charles E. Smith Center.
The win was the 399th for George Washington coach Mike Lonergen and snapped a two-game losing streak.
Chris Gaston paced Fordham (6-21, 2-10) with 14 points, while Branden Frazier had 13, Travion Leonard 12 and Mandell Thomas 10.
George Washington led 36-32 at halftime then held the Rams to 28.6-percent shooting (8 of 28) in the second half.
The Colonials turned 22 Fordham turnovers into 27 points and outscored the Rams 44-20 in the paint and 20-7 on second-chance points.
