A quick look around Atlantic 10 men's basketball for Thursday, Dec. 20.
ON TAP FOR THURSDAY (12/20)
IONA Gaels (5-4)
at LA SALLE Explorers (6-2)
7:00 pm | Tom Gola Arena
ON THE TUBE
Friday, December 21
Fordham at Connecticut | 7:00 pm | UConn Sports Network
Longwood at VCU | 7:30 pm | CBS 6.3
Saturday, December 22
Murray State at Dayton | Noon | CBS Sports Network
Temple vs. Syracuse (Madison Square Garden) | Noon | ESPN2
Evansville at Butler | 2:00 pm | MyIndy-TV23
Florida State at Charlotte (TW Cable Arena) | 2:00 pm | CBS Sports Network
Georgia State at Rhode Island | 2:00 pm | Ocean State Networks
Wofford at Xavier | 2:00 pm | FOX Sports Ohio
St. Bonaventure at NC State | 3:00 pm | ESPN3
Loyola Marymount at Saint Louis | 3:30 pm | FOX Midwest
A-10 SCOOP
>>Butler upset No. 1 Indiana, VCU and Dayton beat Alabama, last week, Duquesne beat West Virginia, Temple beat Villanova and La Salle beat Penn State, giving the A-10 14 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.
>>Continuing on the big wins theme, the Atlantic 10 has taken down four ranked opponents so far this season. Most notable was Butler's Saturday overtime win over No. 1 Indiana. Saint Joseph's began the fun with an overtime win over No. 20 Notre Dame. Butler also got a win over No. 9 North Carolina and VCU had the headline on Thanksgiving by defeating No. 19 Memphis.
>>Polling always comes to the forefront in an election year. Butler cracked the Top 25 this week, checking in at No. 19 in the AP Poll and No. 25 in the Coaches Poll. In addition, the A-10 has five other teams that have received votes in the AP and ESPN/USA TODAY Coaches Polls. Saint Joseph's, Saint Louis, Temple, VCU and Xavier have all gotten votes in both polls.
WEDNESDAY'S (12/19) RESULTS
The Atlantic 10 went 5-3 Wednesday, including a big night by Massachusetts' Jesse Morgan in a win over Ohio.
MASSACHUSETTS 85, OHIO 76
AMHERST, Mass. (AP) - Jesse Morgan hit seven 3-pointers en route to a career-high 35 points and Massachusetts won its third straight game, beating Ohio 85-76 Wednesday.
Morgan, who had a previous career-high of 19, made 12 of 18 from the field, including 7 of 10 from beyond the arc. His scoring total fell just shy of the UMass (6-3) record (41) set by Billy Tindall in 1968.
Ohio (7-4) hit four 3-pointers over the first 5 minutes to jump out to an 18-6 advantage, but UMass used a 23-1 run to retake the lead, 29-19. Morgan, who sparked the run with a layup and capped it with a 3-pointer, scored 16 points during the spurt.
D.J. Cooper had 23 to lead Ohio, which rallied to a 55-all tie in the second half but watched UMass use another run, this time 11-0, to pull away. Morgan, again, sparked and capped the run with 3-pointers.
DUQUESNE 71, WESTERN MICHIGAN 66
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Freshman Derrick Colter scored a career-high 25 points and Duquesne led wire-to-wire in a 71-66 win over Western Michigan on Wednesday night.
The Dukes (7-5) led 36-32 at the break and expanded their cushion to 13 with 15:56 to go before the Broncos used a 10-0 run to close to 49-46.
Western Michigan (7-4) got within three once more, but didn't threaten again until hitting four straight free throws to close to 66-62 with 3 minutes left.
From that point, neither team made a field goal until the Broncos' Austin Richie hit a 3-pointer with 13 seconds left for the final margin. The Dukes made 5 of 10 free throws down the stretch and the Broncos were 1 of 2.
Sean Johnson added 18 points, hitting 4 of 8 3-pointers as Duquesne was 12 of 32 from long range.
Shayne Whittington led Western Michigan with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
CHARLOTTE 68, RADFORD 52
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Pierria Henry tied his career high with 14 points, Willie Clayton added 12 and Charlotte was never threatened in a 68-52 win over Radford on Wednesday night.
The 49ers (11-1) have won two straight since losing to Miami 77-46 on Dec. 14.
Charlotte led 23-6 in the first 10 minutes and 38-19 at halftime as the 49ers shot 56.7 percent from the field (17 of 30) compared to just 26.7 percent (8 of 30) for the Highlanders.
Radford (5-6) got within 12 points twice, at 57-45 with 7:59 remaining and 62-50 with 3:13 to go, but could get no closer.
Chris Braswell, who came in leading the 49ers in scoring (13.4 points a game) and rebounding (6.9), was held to only five points and three boards.
The 49ers, who are 42-8 all-time against Big South Conference teams, outscored the Highlanders 50-28 in the paint.
Javonte Green's 16 points led Radford.
SAINT LOUIS 72, EASTER ILLINOIS 45
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Mike McCall Jr. scored 13 points, including three 3-pointers, to lead Saint Louis to its fourth straight win, 72-45 over Eastern Illinois on Wednesday night.
McCall was 4 of 8 from the field. Dwayne Evans and John Manning added nine points apiece for the Billikens (7-3), who shot 58 percent from the field and also improved upon their Atlantic 10-leading scoring defense. Saint Louis came in allowing just 59.4 points per game.
Freshman Alex Austin scored a game-high 17 points for the Panthers (3-9), who lost their fifth straight. Eastern Illinois took only six foul shots and missed four of them, and Saint Louis turned the Panthers' 14 turnovers into 22 points.
Saint Louis never trailed, opening with a 21-5 run en route to a 37-20 halftime lead. The Billikens led by as many as 29 in the second half and improved to 6-1 all-time against Eastern Illinois.
ST. BONAVENTURE 97, THE CITADEL 57
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. (AP) - Chris Johnson and Demitrius Conger scored 16 points each to pace St. Bonaventure to a 97-57 nonconference victory over The Citadel on Wednesday night.
The Bonnies (7-3) posted their highest point total and largest victory margin of the season, while the Bulldogs (3-6) lost their fifth straight game.
After shooting a season-best 53.6 percent in an 87-53 win over Cleveland State last Saturday, the Bonnies bettered that against The Citadel, making 56.5 percent (35 of 62).
Marquise Simmons scored 11 of his 15 points in the first half, which ended with St. Bonaventure in front 43-28.
Eric Mosley scored seven straight points to start a 15-0 second-half run that stretched the lead to 58-30 with 15:02 left in the game. Mosley scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half.
Mike Groselle scored 14 points and Matt van Scyoc 13 to lead The Citadel.
No. 11 CINCINNATI 60, XAVIER 45
CINCINNATI (AP) - Sean Kilpatrick scored 25 points and led a second-half surge that carried No. 11 Cincinnati to a 60-45 victory over Xavier on Wednesday night, renewing their crosstown rivalry amicably one year after it was marred by a brawl.
Cincinnati (11-0) won its 18th straight game at a downtown arena that has become the rivalry's stage for the next two years, an attempt to take the nasty edge off the annual game.
No technical fouls, no showing off, no on-court dust-ups. It was back to being a good old rivalry.
And the Bearcats got the better of it in the second half behind Kilpatrick, who scored nine points in a 17-4 run that put them ahead to stay. Travis Taylor led Xavier (7-3) with 12 points.
Xavier and Cincinnati fans were seated on opposite sides of the arena. Both schools hoped for a clean, exciting game so they could finally get past last year's ugliness.
ILLINOIS STATE 74, DAYTON 73
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) - Jackie Carmichael scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as Illinois State held off Dayton 74-73 Wednesday night.
The Redbirds (8-3) led 74-67 with 1:59 to go, but the Flyers scored six straight points, capped by Devin Oliver's layup with 35 seconds left.
After Illinois State's Johnny Hill missed a free throw with 29 seconds remaining, Dayton (8-3) set up for the final shot. Oliver missed a 3-point attempt with 2 seconds left and teammate Khari Price rebounded, but his one-handed push shot would not fall at the buzzer.
Price was in for leading scorer Kevin Dillard, who left the game with 4:19 to go due to back spasms.
Tyler Brown added 16 points and Jon Ekey 13 for the Redbirds, who led by 12 points early, but fell behind by four with 9:56 to go before regaining the advantage.
Dillard and Dyshawn Pierre led Dayton with 14 points apiece.
CANISIUS 72, TEMPLE 62
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Billy Baron scored 19 points, including nine in the final 4:12 as Canisius defeated Temple 72-62 in a nonconference game Wednesday night.
Consecutive baskets by Baron, the second a 3-pointer, gave the Golden Griffins (8-2) a 62-58 lead with 3:07 remaining, and they made all 10 of their free throws the rest of the way.
The Owls (8-2), who had won 11 straight at home, led 36-28 at halftime, but Canisius went ahead 43-42 with a 9-0 run, including seven points by Isaac Sosa.
After Temple regained the lead, three treys by Reggie Groves put Canisius ahead 57-51 with 8:51 left.
Sosa finished with 13 points, and Groves and Harold Washington scored 12 each for Canisius, which got 13 rebounds and four blocks from Chris Manhertz.
Khalif Wyatt had 17 points and Jake O'Brien 14 for Temple, which shot 25 percent (8 of 32) in the second half.
Saturday, December 22
Murray State at Dayton Noon CBS SN
Temple vs. Syracuse (Madison Square Garden) Noon ESPN2
Evansville at Butler 2:00 pm Indy-TV23
Florida State at Charlotte (TW Cable Arena) 2:00 pm CBS SN
Sacred Heart at La Salle 2:00 pm
East Carolina at Massachusetts 2:00 pm
Georgia State at Rhode Island 2:00 pm Ocean
Wofford at Xavier 2:00 pm FOX Ohio
St. Bonaventure at NC State 3:00 pm ESPN3
VMI at George Washington 3:00 pm
Richmond vs. George Mason (Richmond Coliseum) 3:00 pm
Loyola Marymount at Saint Louis 3:30 pm FOX MW
