A quick look around Atlantic 10 men's basketball for Wednesday, Dec. 12.
ON TAP FOR WEDNESDAY (12/12)
TOWSON Tigers (4-5)
at TEMPLE Owls (6-1)
7:00 pm | Liacouras Center
ON THE TUBE
Friday, December 14
Charlotte at Miami (Fla.) | 7:00 pm | FOX Sports South
Saturday, December 15
Butler vs. Indiana (Bankers Life Fieldhouse) | 2:00 pm | CBS
Fordham vs. Princeton (Barclays Center) | 2:00 pm | YES Network
Southern Methodist at Rhode Island | 2:00 pm | Ocean State Networks
Alabama at VCU | 4:00 pm | CBS Sports Network
Florida Atlantic at Dayton | 7:00 pm | WHIO
A-10 SCOOP
>>The Atlantic 10 currently has 11 teams in the top 100 of the RPI, which is more than any other league. The A-10 is rated as the sixth-best conference (ahead of the Big 12 and SEC) as of Monday's rankings.
>>Duquesne beat West Virginia (60-56), Dayton won at Alabama, (81-76), Temple beat Villanova (76-61) and La Salle beat Penn State (82-57) recently, giving the A-10 13 total wins this season over “big six” programs. Last year, the Atlantic 10 had 28 wins versus big six schools, including three in the postseason.
>>Duquesne rallied from a 15-point second-half deficit to defeat West Virginia, 60-56, at CONSOL Energy Center Tuesday. The 15-point comeback was the best by a DU team since the Dukes erased a 19-point second half deficit to defeat Radford at home on Dec. 6, 1997. Jerry Jones and freshman Derrick Colter combined to score Duquesne’s final 19 points in the win which ended an eight-game series losing streak to WVU.
>>Temple beat Villanova Wednesday to improve to 6-0, which was the Owls best start since 1987-88. A loss to No. 2 Duke spoiled the perfect season, but Temple still is off to a fantastic start at 6-1. La Salle is right there with Temple at 6-1, the best Explorer start since the 2005-06 team started 7-0.
>>Continuing on the big wins theme, the Atlantic 10 has taken down three ranked opponents so far this season. Saint Joseph's began the fun with an overtime win over No. 20 Notre Dame. Butler stole the early week show with a win over No. 9 North Carolina Tuesday and VCU had the headline on Thanksgiving by defeating No. 19 Memphis. Dayton also won Wednesday at an Alabama team that has been receiving votes in both polls.
TUESDAY'S (12/11) RESULTS
Duquesne gets a big win, George Washington and Saint Joseph's come down to the wire in Tuesday's Atlantic 10 men's basketball action.
DUQUESNE 60, WEST VIRGINIA 56 | HIGHLIGHTS & POSTGAME VIDEO
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Jeremiah Jones scored 16 points and Derrick Colter added 12 points and seven assists as Duquesne rallied past West Virginia 60-56 on Tuesday night.
Marvin Binney scored 10 points off the bench for the Dukes (6-4), who beat the Mountaineers for the first time since 2003 behind a solid second half that erased a 15-point deficit.
Juwan Staten led West Virginia (4-4) with 13 points and Gary Browne and Matt Humphrey added 10 points each, but the Mountaineers saw their three-game winning streak end during a miserable 20 minutes in which they struggled on both ends of the floor.
West Virginia shot just 28 percent (9 of 32) in the second half, allowing Duquesne to get back in the game.
Jones and Colter led the way, scoring the Dukes' last 15 points to give head coach Jim Ferry his first signature victory since coming over from LIU-Brooklyn last spring.
RUTGERS 68, GEORGE WASHINGTON 65 | POSTGAME AUDIO
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) - Eli Carter led four players in double digits with 19 points, and Rutgers defeated George Washington 68-65 on Tuesday night.
Myles Mack contributed 13 points, Kadeem Jack had 12 points and a team-high six rebounds and Dane Miller scored 10 to lift Rutgers (6-2) to its sixth win in seven games.
Nemanja Mikic and Lasan Kromah both missed 3-pointers that would've tied the game in the 30 final seconds, and after Patricio Garino drained a 3-pointer with 9.1 seconds left to cut the deficit to one point, 66-65, Mack made two free throws to provide the final margin.
George Washington had one last chance to tie, but Garino's 3-pointer from 30 feet glanced high off the backboard at the buzzer.
Isaiah Armwood had 18 points and Garino and Kromah scored 10 apiece for George Washington (4-6), which has lost three straight games by a total of 10 points.
VILLANOVA 65, SAINT JOSEPH'S 61
VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) - James Bell hit the winning 3-pointer with 29 seconds left to rally Villanova to a 65-61 win over Saint Joseph's on Tuesday night.
Bell and JayVaughn Pinkston scored 12 points apiece for the Wildcats (6-4). Bell squared up and delivered the decisive blow in a city series game that had the crowd roaring down the stretch.
Langston Galloway led the Hawks (5-3) with 22 points and Carl Jones had 16.
The Wildcats beat the Hawks for the first time in two seasons and extended their series lead in the annual Big 5 game to 45-25. It was the first Big 5 win for Villanova, who lots to La salle and Temple earlier this season.
