Dec. 6, 2012
A quick look around Atlantic 10 men's basketball for Thursday, Dec. 6.
ON TAP FOR THURSDAY (12/6)
RHODE ISLAND Rams (2-6)
at PROVIDENCE Friars (6-2)
7:00 pm | Dunkin Donuts Center | Ocean State Networks
Series: Providence leads 68-56
A-10 vs. Big East: 5-5
Gamenote: Rhody and Providence meet for the 125th time (since 1920). The Friars are URI’s fifth most common foe and have won the last four meetings at the Dunkin Donuts Center.
Vanderbilt Commodores (2-4)
at XAVIER Musketeers (6-1)
7:30 pm | Cintas Center | ESPNU
Series: Xavier leads 5-0
A-10 vs. SEC: 4-2
Gamenote: Xavier has won nine of its last 10 games against the SEC, with road wins at Florida, Georgia, LSU Vanderbilt and Auburn, and home wins over Georgia, LSU and Auburn.
ON THE TUBE
Kansas State at George Washington | 2:30 pm | CBS Sports Network
Temple vs. Duke (IZOD Center) | 3:15 pm | ESPN
Fordham at St. John’s (Madison Square Garden) | 7:00 pm | MSG Network
Butler at Northwestern | 8:00 pm | Big 10 Network
Miami (Ohio) at Dayton | 8:00 pm | WHIO
A-10 SCOOP
>>Dayton won at Alabama, (81-76), Temple beat Villanova (76-61) and La Salle beat Penn State (82-57) Wednesday, giving the A-10 three more wins over “big six” programs, bringing the season total to 13. Last year, the A-10 picked up 28 victories versus big six schools, including three postseason victories. The Atlantic 10 has a winning record versus the SEC (4-2) this year and a .500 mark (5-5) against the Big East.
>>Xavier has won seven straight games against the Big Ten Conference against five different teams, including its 63-57 win at Purdue on Saturday. Next up is Vanderbilt tonight. Xavier is hoping to continue its recent success against the SEC as well. XU has won nine of its last 10 games against the SEC since the 2008 season, including road wins at Florida, Georgia, Vanderbilt, LSU and Auburn.
>>Saint Louis Wednesday win over North Texas marked the first time this season the Billikens have won back-to-back games. Entering the game with the Mean Green, SLU had alternated wins and losses through the first seven games.
>>Charlotte added to its best start in school history with Wednesday’s win over Davidson. The 49ers are 8-0 after beating the Wildcats. Additionally, Temple beat Villanova Wednesday to improve to 6-0, the Owls best start since 1987-88, when the team started 14-0, finished 32-2 and advanced to the Elite Eight as a No. 1 seed.
>>Rhode Island’s Xavier Munford had a 33 outpouring in Rhody’s first win over the season. Munford helped the Rams beat Auburn in double overtime, scoring 10 of the 33 points in the two extra periods, including a 3-pointers at the buzzer in the first overtime that tied it and forced the second OT. Munford ranks first in scoring in the Atlantic 10, checking in at 18.9 points per game, which also ranks him 53rd nationally. Munford is tied for fifth in the A-10 in 3-pointers made (21 3FG; 2.6 3FG/g) and he has registered four of Rhody’s top five scoring performances this season, including the 33-point effort at Auburn.
>>Semaj Christon leads Xavier in scoring at 16.0 points per game and assists at 6.2 per game. Xavier hasn’t had a freshman lead the team in scoring since Stanley Burrell (12.7 points per game) in the 2004-05 season. He is bidding to become the first freshman to lead Xavier in assists since Dedrick Finn at 4.3 per game in the 2002-03 season.
WEDNESDAY'S (12/5) RESULTS
The Atlantic 10 won six of it's seven men's basketball game Wednesday night. This includes Charlotte and Temple staying perfect and three wins over big six teams.
DAYTON 81, ALABAMA 76 | HIGHLIGHTS | POSTGAME VIDEO
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) - Kevin Dillard scored 25 points and Josh Benson 19 to lead Dayton to an 81-76 victory over Alabama on Wednesday night.
It was the seventh straight win against SEC opponents for the Flyers (6-2), who improved to 19-8 in the past six seasons against teams from BCS conferences.
Trevor Lacey had 16 points and Levi Randolph 15 to lead Alabama (6-2), which, partly due to injuries, used a different starting lineup for the fifth consecutive game.
Dayton was in control most of the way, although Alabama came back from a double-digit deficit late in the game to make the score more respectable when Lacey made a 3-pointer as the clock was winding down.
Vee Sanford added 13 points for Dayton, while Dillard also had six assists, Benson six rebounds and Devin Oliver seven points and seven rebounds.
Trevor Releford added 13 points and Rodney Cooper 12 for Alabama.
CHARLOTTE 73, DAVIDSON 69 | HIGHLIGHT | POSTGAME VIDEO
DAVIDSON, N.C. (AP) - Pierria Henry buried a baseline jumper and then hit a pair of free throws to key Charlotte's 73-69 victory over Davidson on Wednesday night, giving the 49ers their first 8-0 start in school history.
Henry's final four points came in the last 27.5 seconds, breaking what had been a tie at 69 following a layup by Davidson's De'Mon Brooks with just under one minute left to play.
Chris Braswell led Charlotte with 15 points, Darion Clark added 14 and nine rebounds and Willie Clayton chipped in 12 points. Henry contributed 11 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals in a game that was back-and-forth throughout a tense second half.
Davidson (4-4) was led Jake Cohen with 15 points, Brooks with 13 and Nik Cochran with 12. All but one of Cohen's points came in the second half.
LA SALLE 82, PENN STATE 57 | HIGHLIGHTS
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Tyreek Duren scored a career-high 29 points as La Salle beat Penn State 82-57 Wednesday night for the Explorers' fourth straight victory.
The win moved La Salle to 5-1 this season, its best start since 2005-06, when the Explorers began the season 7-0.
There were six lead changes in the first 4 minutes before the Explorers took control of the game with a 10-0 tear that snapped a 23-23 tie. From there, La Salle never trailed, though Penn State (4-4) did close to within a basket twice - last at 43-41 after a three-point play from D.J. Newbill with 15:33 left.
Duren opened a close game up by scoring 12 straight points during a 3-minute stretch. He was supported by 14 points each from Ramon Galloway and Sam Mills, while Penn State was led by Jermaine Marshall's team-high 19 points, and Ross Travis and Newbill chipped in with 12 each.
TEMPLE 76, VILLANOVA 61 | POSTGAME VIDEO
VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) - Scootie Randall scored 21 points and Anthony Lee had 16 to lead unbeaten Temple to a 76-61 win over Villanova on Wednesday night.
Temple won for the first time since 1990 at Villanova's Pavilion and is 6-0 for the first time since the 1987-88 season. Up next for the Owls, a date Saturday against No. 2 Duke at the Izod Center.
This was the final scheduled matchup between the rivals in this current conference alignment. The Owls leave the Atlantic 10 after this season to join the Wildcats in the Big East.
The Owls simply dominated the second half against the overmatched Wildcats (4-4). Villanova struggled to make shots until garbage time in the second half and had no answer in the interior for Lee's easy drives and buckets.
James Bell led Villanova with 15 points.
SAINT LOUIS 67, NORTH TEXAS 63
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Jordair Jett and Cody Ellis scored 17 points apiece and Saint Louis held on to beat North Texas 67-63 Wednesday night.
Jett's basket with 35 seconds remaining broke a 61-61 tie, and Ellis made four free throws to keep the Billikens (5-3) in control and give them back-to-back victories for the first time this season.
Saint Louis has won both of its games since the death of coach Rick Majerus, who stepped down before this season and was replaced by Jim Crews. Majerus died Saturday in Los Angeles.
Chris Jones led the Mean Green (3-6) with 21 points. Tony Mitchell had 18 points and eight rebounds for North Texas, which has lost four in a row.
It was the teams' first meeting since 1981.
BUTLER 87, IUPUI 55 | HIGHLIGHTS | POSTGAME VIDEO
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Rotnei Clarke and Kellen Dunham scored 17 points apiece, and Butler took control early in an 87-55 victory over crosstown rival IUPUI on Wednesday night.
Clarke hit four 3-pointers and Dunham had three for the Bulldogs (6-2), who never trailed, opened the game on a 35-8 run and led by as many as 37 in the second half. Andrew Smith added 11 points, Erik Fromm and Khyle Marshall had 10 apiece, and every player on Butler's roster saw at least 4 minutes of action.
The Bulldogs shot 56 percent from the floor and made 11 of their 21 3-point attempts. They also turned 19 IUPUI turnovers into 22 points.
Donovan Gibbs and Mitchell Patton led the Jaguars (3-7) with 10 points each, and Gibbs had a game-high six rebounds. IUPUI's campus is just 5 miles away from Butler's.
Butler improved to 73-11 in Hinkle Fieldhouse under coach Brad Stevens.
PITTSBURGH 66, DUQUESNE 45 | POSTGAME VIDEO
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Tray Woodall scored 24 points and Pittsburgh won its 12th straight City Game with a 66-45 romp over Duquesne on Wednesday night.
Lamar Patterson added 13 points and freshman center Steven Adams had eight points and grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds for the Panthers (8-1), who pulled away after a sluggish start to continue their dominance over their crosstown rivals.
Pitt has now won 31 of the last 34 meetings between the schools separated by just two miles, and its current 12-game run is the longest by either program since the series began in 1932.
Sean Johnson led Duquesne (4-4) with 13 points but the Dukes shot just 31 percent (18 of 57) from the field and were never in it once Pitt got rolling midway through the first half.
