Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Notebook

The Atlantic 10 Conference's men's basketball notebook for the week ending December 30, 2006.

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PLAYER OF THE WEEK

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

Jackson earns his second consecutive A-10 Player of the Week award after scoring 19 points and pulling down seven rebounds in Duquesne’s 98-93 (OT) win at Boston College on Dec. 28...shot 7-12 from the field, including 2-4 from beyond the arc...added three steals and two assists...marked the Dukes’ first-ever road victory versus an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

Scott Grote - Duquesne
Freshman, Forward, 6-6
Centerville, OH/Massanutten (VA) Academy

Grote scored 19 points and his game-tying three-point field goal with 8.2 seconds remaining in regulation forced overtime on Dec. 28 in Duquesne’s 98-93 (OT) victory at Boston College...made five-of-six from the line in the extra session...added four rebounds and four assists.

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A-10-SHUN
NEWS FROM AROUND THE ATLANTIC 10

WEEKLY HONOR ROLL

• Robert Mitchell scored 20 points and added five rebounds in Duquesne’s 98-93 (OT) win at Boston College on Dec. 28
• Marcus Stout nailed three field goals from beyond the arc and scored 19 points in Fordham’s 56-47 victory over Fairfield on Dec. 28
• George Washington’s Carl Elliott averaged 10.5 points and 5.5 assists in a pair of games and was named to the all-tournament team of the Cable Car Classic at Santa Clara
• La Salle freshmen Yves Mekongo Mbala and Ruben Guillandeaux scored 23 and 19 points, respectively, versus Niagara on Dec. 30
• James Life notched his eighth double-digit scoring performance of the season with 16 points on Dec. 28 to lead UMass to a 78-69 win over Yale
• Rhode Island’s Darrell Harris averaged 13.5 points and 6.0 rebounds while shooting 11-22 from the floor in a pair of games
• Freshman Brian Morris of Richmond scored a team-high 12 points on Dec. 28 versus Tulane...Tyler Relph hit five three-pointers and scored 19 points for St. Bonaventure on Dec. 30 at Syracuse
• Saint Joseph’s sophomore Ahmad Nivins averaged 15.0 points and 8.0 rebounds in a pair of games at the Holiday Festival
• Kevin Lisch scored 18 points as Saint Louis edged Mississippi on Dec. 30, 59-56...Dionte Christmas averaged 21.0 points in a pair of games for Temple
• Drew Levender scored a career-high 17 points and did not commit a turnover in 36 minutes of action on Dec. 29 in Xavier’s 65-59 win over Illinois
• Charlotte and Dayton resume action on Dec. 31 after having last played on Dec. 23.

BEEN A LONG TIME

• For the first time in their 103-year history, Dayton will play back-to-back top ten teams on the road when the Flyers visit second-ranked North Carolina on Dec. 31. UD visited seventh-ranked Pittsburgh on Dec. 23.
• Saint Louis rallied from a 13-point halftime deficit to edge Mississippi on Dec. 30, 59-56. It marked the Billikens’ largest comeback since a 69-62 victory at DePaul Feb. 21, 2004, when SLU also trailed by 13 at the half.
• Duquesne's 98-93 win at Boston College on Dec. 28 was the school's first victory at an Atlantic Coast Conference arena in 12 all-time tries. It was also Duquesne's first win over an ACC team since a 91-84 victory over then No. 10 Florida State on Dec. 15, 1992. The Dukes have won consecutive road games for the first time since 1994 and already exceeded last season's (3-24) win total.
• Fordham’s 56-47 win over Fairfield on Dec. 28 was its sixth non-conference victory of the year for the Rams, the most since the 2000-01 squad won eight non-league games.
• Massachusetts earned its 10th win in 13 tries this season with a 78-69 victory over Yale on Dec. 28. The win equaled the Minutemen’s earliest date for their 10th win of the season. The 1991-92 team won its 10th game on Dec. 28, 1991, to improve to 10-2 that year.
• Temple’s 96-73 win over Lafayette on Dec. 28 included a Liacouras Center record 50-point first half outburst by the Owls. The facility opened for the start of the 1997-98 season.

HOME AWAY FROM HOME

Xavier’s 65-59 win over Illinois on Dec. 29 at U.S. Bank Arena in downtown Cincinnati improved the Musketeers’ record to 6-1 at the venue since the 2004-05 season. Senior Justin Cage is averaging 14.1 ppg. and 5.0 rpg. and boasts a stellar 69.2 percent (36-52) field goal percentage in his seven contests at U.S. Bank Arena, while Justin Doellman has averaged 12.0 ppg. and 6.7 rpg. in seven career games at U.S. Bank Arena. Xavier takes on Kansas State at U.S. Bank Arena on Jan. 3.

GETTING A CHANCE

With the loss of junior Jon Lucky to season-ending ankle surgery on Dec. 22nd, Rhode Island head coach Jim Baron has looked to freshman Keith Cothran to assume more of the point guard responsibilities. In turn, Cothran has elevated his play. The Winchendon, MA, native scored 12 points and registered a school record-tying seven steals versus Ohio on Dec. 27 before adding six points and six rebounds at Kansas on Dec. 30. More importantly, Cothran committed just one turnover in 53 minutes of action in the two road contests. The freshman guard joined five URI players to record five steals in a game, with the last being Dawan Robinson vs. Pittsburgh on Dec. 21, 2002.

COMING BACK STRONG

After missing his team’s 55-51 win versus St. Mary’s on Dec. 19 due to a sprained ankle, Saint Joseph’s sophomore center Ahmad Nivins has shown no lingering effects in the Hawks’ past two games. Nivins scored 14 points on Dec. 28 in a 65-63 loss to Hofstra before recording his first double-double of the year on Dec. 29 with 16 points and 11 rebounds in Saint Joseph’s 58-53 victory over Boston University. Nivins ranks second in the A-10 in field goal shooting (.614) and his 15.8 ppg. is good for eighth in the Conference.

NO RUST HERE

After sitting out the 2005-06 season as a redshirt, senior forward Dokun Akingbade of George Washington has provided an presence in the paint that was sorely needed with the loss of All-Conference forwards Mike Hall and Pops Mensah-Bonsu to graduation. Akingbade had 11 points and 10 rebounds in just 22 minutes of action on Dec. 29 in the Colonials’ 75-42 win over Colgate, his second double-double of the season. After averaging 1.8 ppg. and 1.3 rpg. in 20 games in 2004-05, Akingbade is averaging 6.7 ppg. and 6.0 rpg. while shooting 52.5 percent (31-59) from the field.

COMING OUT PARTY

After scoring one point in 24 total minutes in St. Bonaventure’s first 12 games this season, freshman forward Jourdan Morris poured in 13 points in 20 minutes of action on Dec. 30 in the Bonnies’ 82-70 setback at Syracuse. The lone freshman scholarship player on the Bona roster, Morris made five of his nine field goal attempts at the Carrier Dome, including 3-5 from beyond the arc.

GET WELL SOON

Duquesne head coach Ron Everhart missed the Dukes' 98-93 (OT) victory at Boston College on Dec. 28 as he was recovering from a gastrointestinal issue. Everhart admitted himself to UPMC Passavant Hospital in the afternoon of Dec. 25 with abdominal pain. He was treated with antibiotics and released on Dec. 29. Assistant coaches Kim Lewis, Richard Pitino and Daryn Freedman shared the head coaching duties in Everhart's absence.

SUPER UNLEADED

La Salle’s 88-82 loss to Niagara on Dec. 30 marked the fourth time this season the Explorers have scored at least 80 points in a game. That equals their combined total number of 80-point performances from the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons. The last time La Salle reached the 80-point mark four times in a season came during the 2002-03 campaign.

APPROACHING A MILESTONE

After scoring 19 points in Fordham’s 56-47 win over Fairfield on Dec. 28, junior guard Marcus Stout climbed to within 31 points of becoming the 32nd player in Fordham history to reach the 1,000-point milestone. Teammate Bryant Dunston became the 31st player just the fifth junior in program annals to reach the 1,000-point milestone versus Manhattan on Nov. 30.

FOUR TO SCORE

Charlotte tri-captains De'Angelo Alexander, E.J. Drayton, and Leemire Goldwire have shouldered the load offensively this season for the 49ers, with all three upper classmen averaging double figures in scoring. However, Charlotte is just 1-5 when only Alexander, Goldwire and/or Drayton score in double figures. The 49ers are 4-1 when another player scores ten or more points, as junior guard Carlos Williams did with 13 points in Charlotte’s 79-78 win versus Wyoming on Dec. 23.

BOARD WORK

Massachusetts senior forward Stephane Lasme had a career-high 16 rebounds, including a Mullins Center record 15 defensive boards, in the Minutemen’s 78-69 victory over Yale on Dec. 28. Lasme, the 2005-06 Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year, leads the A-10 in rebounding (9.5 rpg) and his seven double-digit rebounding performances this season are also tops in the league. The Libreville, Gabon, native shares the team lead with Rashaun Freeman with five double-doubles and his 19 points, 10 rebounds, and a school record and A-10-record-tying 11 blocked shots on Nov. 22 versus St. Francis (NY) is the lone triple-double performance in the Conference this season. Lasme also leads the A-10 in blocks with 58 and his 289 career blocks ranks second to Marcus Camby (336) in school history.

THE GHOST OF PHOGG ALLEN

Sophomore Jimmy Baron missed a pair of free throws at Kansas on Dec. 30, his first two missed foul shots of the season and the first time in 51 previous trips to the charity stripe that he did not convert the shot. In addition, they marked the first two unintentional misses of his career. He is now 28-30 for the season (93.3%) and 55-58 (94.8%) in his career from the charity stripe. Baron leads the A-10 in three-pointers per game (3.31) and ranks second in three-point percentage (.538).

NOTHING FAST ABOUT IT

Richmond has allowed just one of its first 11 opponents this season to score more than 10 fastbreak points in a game. The Spiders are allowing just 5.9 fastbreak points per game and have already held two foes to 50 points or less this season.

QUITE A START

Dayton’s 10-2 record is its best start after 12 games since the 2003-04 campaign, head coach Brian Gregory’s first season at UD. The Flyers lead the Atlantic 10 in scoring defense, allowing just 59.2 points a game. UD held six straight opponents (from Nov. 28 to Dec. 20) to 55 points or less. That hadn’t happened at Dayton in 56 years, since the 1949-50 team did it to ten straight foes.

20-20 VISION

Temple sophomore guard Dionte Christmas has scored at least 20 points in nine of his last 10 games and leads the A-10 in scoring with a 20.8 ppg. average. Christmas scored 20 points in just 29 minutes of action on Dec. 28 in the Owls’ 96-73 win over Lafayette. Christmas is shooting .541 (72-133) from the field, good for fourth in the Conference, and has connected on 30 of his 70 (.429) three-point field goals attempts.

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.