Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Notebook

The A-10 notes are headlined, for Duquesne fans, by sophomore Aaron Jackson's selection as Co-Player of the Week. This gives the Dukes five selections in the first seven weeks of the 2006-07 season.

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PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

De’Angelo Alexander - Charlotte
Senior, Guard/Forward, 6-6
Midwest City, OK/Midwest City HS

Averaged 19.0 points and 7.3 rebounds as Charlotte went 2-1 at the Rainbow Classic...in the 49ers’ opener on Dec. 21, Alexander posted 10 points and 10 rebounds against Houston - his first double-double of the season...the next night he had 24 points and four boards in a 74-62 win against Valparaiso...he closed the event with 23 points and eight rebounds in a 79-78 win over Wyoming.

Aaron Jackson - Duquesne
Sophomore, Guard, 6-2
Hartford, CT/Worcester (MA) Academy

Registered one of the best single game stat lines of the year...had 16 points on 7-10 shooting from the field, nine rebounds, seven assists, and five steals to lead Duquesne to a 72-71 win at St. Francis (PA) on Dec. 22...the five steals were a career high and his seventh assist led to Kieron Achara’s game-winning, buzzer-beating three-pointer...the win snapped a seven-game losing streak and a 17-game non-conference road losing streak.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

Dan Geriot - Richmond
Freshman, Forward/Center, 6-9
Springfield, PA/Springfield HS

Averaged 15.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in a pair of games...on Dec. 20 against VMI, Geriot had 10 points, six rebounds, and three assists...then at Wake Forest on Dec. 22, he tallied a game-high 21 points to go along with three rebounds in just 23 minutes of action...was 11-20 (.550) from the field for the week.

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A-10-SHUN
NEWS FROM AROUND THE ATLANTIC 10

WEEKLY HONOR ROLL

• Charlotte’s De’Angelo Alexander averaged 19.0 points and 7.3 rebounds as Charlotte went 2-1 at the Rainbow Classic...Freshman classmate Ian Anderson made his first two career starts in Hawaii and averaged 6.0 ppg this past week
• Brian Roberts averaged 15.0 ppg in a pair of Dayton games, including scoring 21 points at No. 7 Pittsburgh on Dec. 23
• Aaron Jackson recorded 16 points, nine rebounds, and career highs of seven assists and five steals in Duquesne’s 72-71 win at St. Francis (PA) on Dec. 23
• Bryant Dunston had 16 points and seven rebounds in Fordham’s game at Charleston on Dec. 23
• Rodney Green averaged 14.0 points in a pair of La Salle games this past week
• James Life tallied 24 points for UMass in its affair at Kentucky on Dec.22
• Joe Mbang had 14 points to lead Rhode Island to a 65-51 win over Boston University on Dec. 22
• Dan Geriot tallied 21 points in Richmond’s game at Wake Forest on Dec. 22. He averaged 15.5 ppg for the week
• Paul Williams registered 11 points and 13 rebounds - his fifth double-double of the year - in St. Bonaventure’s game at Canisius on Dec. 23. Williams averaged 12.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in two games this past week
• Rob Ferguson scored a team-best 15 points in Saint Joseph’s 55-51 win over St. Mary’s on Dec. 19
• Ian Vouyoukas had his Atlantic 10-leading sixth double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds against No. 2 North Carolina on Dec. 22
• Dustin Salisbery paced Temple with 15 points against Drexel on Dec. 22
• Stanley Burrell tallied a team-high 21 points in Xavier’s game with Bucknell on Dec. 20.

ACHARA ON TARGET

Duquesne's Kieron Achara, who entered the season a 52.4 percent career shooter, has been on fire since returning to action after missing nearly a month with stress fractures in his foot. Achara, whose practice time is still being monitored, is 24-36 from the field in three games back. The 6-10 Scot was 6-6 in scoring 15 points in 25 minutes versus West Virginia on Dec. 9; followed that by going 8-12 from the field in adding 17 more points at Niagara on Dec. 16; and was 8-14 at St. Francis (PA) on Dec. 22. Achara, who played a season-high 32 minutes at Niagara, scored 13 in the second half in helping the Dukes rally from a 12-point deficit to pull within one in the 78-74 loss, while his three-pointer at the buzzer was the winning shot in a 72-71 win at St. Francis. With the quick start, Achara has upped his career field goal percentage to .538, which is tied for third-best on Duquesne's all-time list.

ARE WE HOME YET?

Having played just three of its first 12 games of the season at home, UMass has been super on the road, posting a 7-2 record away from the Mullins Center. The Minutemen’s only road losses came at No. 4 Pittsburgh (85-68) and Kentucky (82-68). With its 72-68 win at Louisville on Dec. 13, UMass recorded the most non-home game wins - seven - in a season since the Minutemen won eight in 2000-01 (away and neutral site contests). Last season, UMass won just two games in opponents’ arenas in going 2-11 on the road with wins at Duquesne and St. Bonaventure. The Minutemen also won a neutral site game at Madison Square Garden. UMass gets to see home again on Dec. 28 when it hosts Yale.

POURING IT ON

La Salle’s 102-76 win over Morgan State on Dec. 20 marked the Explorers’ first 100+-point output since a 107-106 four-overtime win against Central Connecticut last season. However, the last time La Salle put up triple digits in regulation was back on Dec. 29, 1993 when it posted a 109-93 win over Tennessee Tech at the Hilo Classic.

HOME AWAY FROM HOME

Saint Joseph’s will be visiting one of its favorite arenas this week as the Hawks return to Madison Square Garden for the fourth consecutive year. In the past three years, SJU has compiled a 3-1 record at MSG. Last season, the Hawks defeated Kansas in the Jimmy V Classic. The previous year they beat Memphis in the NIT semifinals before losing to South Carolina in the NIT title game. Saint Joseph's began its historic 2003-04 campaign in the Garden, defeating 10th-ranked Gonzaga. Phil Martelli's record in the Garden is 4-2 as he directed the Hawks to the NIT championship game in his first season on Hawk Hill in 1995-96.

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS...CHRISTMAS

Making an early claim to the A-10's Chris Daniels Award as the league most improved player is Temple sophomore Dionte Christmas. As a freshman last year, the Philadelphia resident played in all 32 games, but averaged just 11.3 minutes a game. In that time, he registered 3.5 points and 1.6 rebounds. This year, Christmas came early at Temple as the sophomore leads the Atlantic 10 with a 20.8 ppg average. After netting 12 points in Temple's season opener, Christmas scored at least 20 each of the next six games, including a career-high 29 in the Owls' 75-70 win at Towson, where he not only scored, but handed out a career-high five assists and guarded Gary Neal, the former La Salle and 2003 A-10 Rookie of the Year who entered the game 12th in the nation in scoring.

GET HIM THE BALL

Xavier freshman Derrick Brown has been impressive, while earning 17.1 minutes per game this season. He is shooting 80.0 percent from the field, which is thanks in great part to the fact that he has recorded a team-high 15 dunks this season. Brown posted career highs of 13 points, three blocks, and 25 minutes against Bucknell on Dec. 20. “We have to play Derrick Brown more," head coach Sean Miller said. "We are a better team when he's in the game."

NOT SO LUCKY

Rhode Island point guard Jon Lucky will miss the rest of the season after undergoing successful ankle surgery on Dec. 22. The junior started Rhody’s first eight games, averaging 6.5 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 4.4 assists. In his stead, Parfait Bitee and Keith Cothran will look to fill the void at the point.

AN EARLY CHRISTMAS PRESENT

At its Charleston game on Dec. 23, Fordham welcomed a new face to the team as freshman guard Herb Tanner joined the Rams. A 6-4, 165-pound point guard, Tanner prepped last winter at Stoneridge Prep in Semi Valley, CA, where he averaged 14.5 ppg, made 69 three-pointers, and dished out 3.1 assists a game. He was one of five players from Stoneridge to sign with an NCAA Division I school for the 2006-07 season. During the season, he was named third-team All-Great Southern Showcase, averaging 17.5 ppg in the tournament, and he was also named to the All-Tournament squad at the inaugural National Elite Athletic Association NIT tournament. Prior to attending Stoneridge Prep, Tanner played at Catholic Memorial High School in Boston, where he was named a league all-star by the Boston Globe. He led the Knights to the Division 2 South sectional title in 2005.

THREE’S COMPANY

Richmond’s offense relied heavily on the three-point shot in 2005-06 as the Spiders took 47.7 percent of their field goal attempts from behind the arc, but shot just 29.5 percent. Richmond did not have the complement of three-point shooters that thrive in this type of offense. Now in his second year, Chris Mooney and his staff have attempted to rectify that problem by adding several players who can make the outside shot. That has showed as nine different players have made three-pointers this year, resulting in a 71-179 (.397) effort from behind the arc. Freshman Ryan Butler leads the team with 17 three-pointers in 33 attempts for 51.5 percent. Classmate David Brewster is second on the team with 12 treys, while fellow freshman Brian Morris has connected on 10 three-pointers.

WHAT'S ALL THIS THEN?

After not having two players record double-doubles in the same game in the 90-year history of the program, Saint Louis has seen it happen twice this year. It first happened on Nov. 25 when Tommie Liddell (18 points, 12 rebounds) and Ian Vouyoukas (16 points, 13 rebounds) led the Billikens to an 81-78 win over Houston at the Scottrade Center. Then it happened again on Dec. 16 with Vouyoukas (11 points, 10 rebounds) and Liddell (10 points, 11 rebounds) combining to lead SLU to a 77-53 win over Tennessee-Martin.

CLASS SUCCESS, TOO

At 10-2. Dayton has been successful on the basketball floor this season. Off the court, the Flyers are listed as one of the nation's leaders in the 2006 NCAA Division I Graduation Rates Report. The Flyers' GSR is 96, up two points from last year and 18th out of 320 schools Division I school rated. UD's 91 percent graduation rate for its men's basketball program is tops in the A-10. Men's basketball is one of 15 (out of 17) Flyer athletic teams with GSR's of 90 or better.

TURNING IT AROUND?

It’s no secret that Charlotte has had trouble shooting the ball this year, what with a 37.7 field goal percentage, which is last in the Atlantic 10. However, things may be looking up. In their final two games at the Rainbow Classic, the 49ers shot .433 vs. Valparaiso (win, 74-62) and .403 vs. Wyoming (win, 79-78), marking the first time all season that they shot better than 40 percent in back-to-back games. Why is 40 percent the magic number? The 49ers are 5-6. In the five wins, they have managed to shoot better than 40 percent. In the six losses, they shot worse than 40 percent. That’s why.

IT’S MY BALL

One of the reasons for Fordham’s improved play in 2006-07 is the play of junior point guard Kevin Anderson. A two-year starter, Anderson entered the season with 172 career assists and 108 career turnovers, a solid 1.59 assist/turnover ratio. But this year he has been even more impressive, with 40 assists and 18 turnovers to date for an impressive 2.22 assist/turnover ratio, third in the A-10.

STAT OF THE DAY

George Washington, currently 7-2, is accustomed to getting out of the gate quickly. Since Karl Hobbs took over six years ago, the Colonials are 42-18 (.700) in the months of November and December.

HELP FROM DOWN UNDER

Junior guard Zarryon Fereti gives St. Bonaventure a dramatic flair and a willingness to handle pressure. In the Bonnies’ Nov. 25 win at Central Connecticut, Fereti made two free throws with 13 seconds left to give the Bonnies back a one-point lead. Nov. 14, his off-balance three-pointer with two seconds left forced overtime and propelled the Bonnies to a win over Central Arkansas. “Every shot feels like a good shot coming off my hands,” he said. “Every shot is a new opportunity.” The first-year native of Australia leads the Bonnies with a 13.2 ppg scoring average.

FINALLY!

With its 72-71 win at St. Francis (PA) on Dec. 22, Duquesne ended a seven-game losing streak and a 17-game non-conference road losing streak. Previously, the last non-conference road win was a 71-68 overtime win at Florida International in the championship game of the FIU New Year's Classic on Dec. 28, 2002.