Dec. 29, 2012
A quick look around Atlantic 10 men's basketball and the two games on tap for Sunday, Dec. 30.
ON TAP FOR SATURDAY (12/30)
SACRED HEART Pioneers (2-8)
at GEORGE WASHINGTON Colonials (5-6)
2:00 pm | Smith Center
Series: First Meeting
A-10 vs. NEC: 5-4
Gamenote:GW plays its final non-conference home game of the season. It will be just the second game for the Colonials in 19 days and first since a 76-67 triumph over VMI on Dec. 22 .
DAYTON Flyers (9-3)
at SOUTHERN CAL Trojans (4-8)
4:00 pm | Convocation Center
Series: First Meeting
A-10 vs. PAC-12: 0-1
Gamenote: Dayton is 19-8 in the last six years versus big six conferences. programs. UD is 3-1 this season against big six programs with wins over Alabama, Boston College and Auburn.
ON THE TUBE
Sunday, December 30
Dayton at Southern Cal | 7:00 pm | Pac-12 Network
A-10 SCOOP
>>Dayton’s win at Alabama gave the Flyers seven straight wins over SEC opponents. The Flyers are 7-3 against big six foes in Archie Miller’s one-year-and-one-month as UD’s head coach.
>>La Salle (9-2) is off to its best start since the 1989-90 team started 9-1 with National Player of the Year Lionel Simmons. The 2005-06 squad also started 8-2. Only nine teams in program history have started better.
>>GW’s Isaiah Armwood nearly pulled off the first triple-double in the A-10 this year with a 12-point, 10-rebound seven-block performance in a thrilling game against Kansas State. Armwood and freshman Patricio Garino were a force for the Colonials that week, averaging a combined 29 points to spur GW.
SATURDAY'S (12/29) RESULTS
The Atlantic 10 got men's basketball wins over Vanderbilt, Siena, Northern Illinois and Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday.
No. 18 BUTLER 68, VANDERBILT 49
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Rotnei Clarke hit six 3-pointers and finished with 22 points and the 18th-ranked Butler Bulldogs shook off a sluggish start and routed Vanderbilt 68-49 Saturday night for their seventh straight victory.
The Bulldogs (10-2) missed their first seven 3-pointers and led only 25-22 at halftime before taking control of the game with a 14-3 run to open the second half.
Clarke, who missed his first six shots, had another memorable game in Memorial Gym. He scored 36 points in January 2011 playing for Arkansas, hitting 6-of-8 beyond the arc in that game.
This time around, the senior guard hit 6-of-9 from 3-point range before Butler coach Brad Stevens starting pulling his starters. Kellen Dunham added 12 points.
Kyle Fuller led Vanderbilt with 10 points. Kedren Johnson finished with nine, well below his average of 17.8 points and didn't score until nearly three minutes into the second half.
LA SALLE 80, SIENA 52
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Ramon Galloway scored 22 points to lead La Salle to an 80-52 victory over Siena Saturday night.
The visiting Explorers (9-2) were never headed in a nonconference mismatch. La Salle never trailed and stormed to a 39-24 halftime lead. They extended it to 28 points, outscoring Siena (2-11) 41-28 in the second half.
Galloway's 22 points included six treys on 10 attempts. The Explorers also hit 6 of 7 3-point shots in the second half, finishing 13 of 28 from long range. The Saints, meanwhile, were just 3 of 17 beyond the arc in losing their ninth straight.
Galloway got help from Tyreek Duren, who scored 13 points, and D.J. Peterson, who made all four of his field goal attempts, going 3 for 3 on treys and scoring 11 points.
O.D. Anosike led Siena with a 14-point, 16-rebound double-double. Rakeem Brookins scored 10 points.
MASSACHUSETTS 64, NORTHERN ILLINOIS 59
DEKALB, Ill. (AP) - Maxie Esho scored 14 points as Massachusetts held off Northern Illinois 64-59 Saturday for its fifth straight victory.
Chaz Williams added 12 points for the Minutemen (8-3), Freddie Riley had 11 and Terrell Vinson 10.
Abdel Nader led Northern Illinois (2-10) with 15 points and nine rebounds. Aksel Bolin added 11 points and Akeem Springs had 10.
Massachusetts broke open a close game by outscoring the Huskies 12-2 over the final 5:17 of the first half to take a 36-23 lead.
The lead remained in double figures for most of the second half until Northern Illinois went on a 12-4 run to pull within 55-52 with 4:03 remaining. The Huskies got within two, 61-59, when Nader hit a 3-pointer with 58 seconds left, but the Minutemen hit 3 of 4 free throws in the final minute to secure the win.
VCU 96, FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 67
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Troy Daniels hit a career-high nine 3-pointers en route to a career-best 27 points as Virginia Commonwealth won its seventh-straight game, beating Fairleigh Dickinson 96-67 Saturday in nonconference play.
Juvonte Reddic scored 22 points and grabbed 11 boards, Rob Brandenburg had 13 points, and Treveon Graham finished with 10 for VCU (10-3), which dished out a season-high 26 assists.
Daniels, who entered the game shooting 41 percent from deep, hit 9 of 16 from deep.
VCU opened up a 16-3 lead 3:30 into the first half behind six points from Reddic. Fairleigh Dickinson (4-7) cut the deficit to 28-16 at the 7:55 mark but VCU scored seven straight points to take a commanding 19-point lead, 35-16.
The Rams led by as much as 39, 79-40, in the second half and hit nine 3-pointers during the frame.
Kinu Rochford scored 16 points on 12-of-14 shooting to lead Fairleigh Dickinson.
PENN STATE 84, DUQUESNE 74
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - D.J. Newbill scored a career-high 23 points and added 12 rebounds as Penn State was able to hang on throughout a foul-plagued second half to defeat Duquesne 84-74 Saturday.
The Nittany Lions won their fourth straight game by opening a 22-point second-half lead that was enough to offset a Dukes comeback.
Duquesne (7-7) pulled to within five with 56 seconds left as Penn State's Nick Colella and Jermaine Marshall fouled out and the Dukes were consistently successful from the foul line.
The Nittany Lions had pulled away about halfway through the second half with an 11-0 scoring stretch.
Colella scored a career-high 15 points and Sasa Borovnjak added 14. Sean Johnson led Duquesne with 19 points.
Penn State built a 39-28 halftime lead on the strength of runs of 11-0 and 9-0. The second run was enabled by two technical fouls called on the Duquesne bench late in the half.
TENNESSEE 51, XAVIER 47
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Josh Richardson scored 12 points and Tennessee used a 19-3 second-half run to beat Xavier 51-47 on Saturday.
The Volunteers (8-3) trailed 33-23 early in the second half before holding the Musketeers (7-5) without a field goal for more than 10 minutes.
Derrick Reese knocked down a 3-pointer with 8:14 left to give Tennessee a 38-35 lead. It was the Vols' first lead since being ahead 7-6 at the 12-minute mark of the first half.
Xavier cut Tennessee's lead to 44-43 with just over two minutes remaining on Travis Taylor's layup, but a lay-in by Jordan McRae and five free throws by Trae Golden preserved the Tennessee victory.
The Musketeers took a 25-21 halftime lead.
Tennessee held Xavier to 32.7 percent (18 of 55) shooting. The Vols shot 38.8 percent (19 of 49), but were just 3 of 20 from 3-point range, continuing their season-long struggles from beyond the arc.
GEORGIA TECH 73, FORDHAM 48
ATLANTA (AP) - Daniel Miller and Robert Carter Jr. each scored 14 points and Georgia Tech scored 17 straight points in the second half en route to a 73-48 victory over Fordham on Saturday night.
The victory was the fifth straight for the Yellow Jackets (9-2) and improved their record at new McCamish Pavilion to 7-0.
Miller, just missing a double-double, had nine rebounds and Mfon Udofia added seven assists.
Georgia Tech shot 55.5 percent in the second half (16 of 29) and 50 percent for the game (29 of 58) despite a slow start.
Branden Frazier scored 17 points and Chris Gaston had 16 for Fordham (3-10), which shot 28.1 percent (16 of 57) and made 4 of 19 3-pointers.
Gaston scored Fordham's first eight points of the second half, but Georgia Tech went on a 21-2 run to turn a 41-35 lead into a 62-37 advantage with 8:15 left.
DAVIDSON 70, RICHMOND 64
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Jake Cohen netted 19 points to lead Davidson to a 70-64 nonconference win over Richmond Saturday night.
Cohen also had eight rebounds and De'Mon Brooks added 14 points for the Wildcats (7-5).
Darien Brothers entered with 988 points in his career and scored 16 to become the 41st Richmond (9-5) player to eclipse 1,000 points. The home loss was the Spiders' first in eight games this year.
Richmond tied it at 61 with 2:21 left after Brothers' two free throws sparked a 6-0 Spiders run. Nik Cochran responded with a 3 and two foul shots for Davidson, and after a Trey Davis 3-pointer for Richmond, Cochran added four more free throws as the Wildcats iced the victory.
Cohen scored nine points as Davidson opened with a 13-0, 7-minute run, and the Wildcats led by as many as 23, 35-12. Richmond trailed the entire way until forcing the 61-all tie.
