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| Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Notebook - 1/20 | ||||
 UMass' Ricky Harris, a Baltimore native
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This is the Atlantic 10 Conference's Men's Basketball Notebook for play from January 13, 2008, through January 19, 2008. The league weekly honors go to UMass' Ricky Harris, Kevin Anderson of Richmond and Saint Louis's Paul Eckerle. | |||
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Ricky Harris - Massachusetts Harris averaged 23 points on 50 percent shooting (11-for-22) and knocked down 9-of-18 attempts from beyond the arc in a pair of victories for the Minutemen...scored 22 points and tied his career high with five three-pointers on Jan. 16 in Massachusetts' 82-71 win at Dayton...added five rebounds and two assists...had a team-high 24 points on 4-of-7 shooting from three-point range and added a pair of steals in the Minutemen's 86-79 victory over Charlotte on Jan. 19...has scored at least 20 points in ten of Massachusetts' 17 games this season.
Kevin Anderson - Richmond Anderson averaged 13 points, five rebounds and 3.5 assists in a pair of contests...scored a season-high 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting on Jan. 16 as Richmond downed St. Bonaventure, 75-64...had six points, four assists and no turnovers in 38 minutes of action versus La Salle on Jan. 19...leads the Spiders with 31 steals.
Paul Eckerle - Saint Louis Eckerle scored a career-high 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting as Saint Louis turned aside Rhode Island on Jan. 17, 68-61...made 3-of-5 shots from three-point range and added a pair of assists...played a season-high 30 minutes.
WEEKLY HONOR ROLL
BALANCE OF POWER Conference play commenced on Jan. 9 and after just over one week of action, no A-10 team remains undefeated. In addition, 13 of the league's 14 teams have at least one victory. This seems to put the Conference in line with the national trend because after games played on Jan. 19, the Atlantic 10 is one of 11 Division I conferences (out of 31) without an undefeated team. CLOSING IN ON NO. 400 Duquesne junior forward/center Shawn James is two blocks shy of becoming just the 18th player in NCAA Division I history to record 400 career blocked shots. James, who set a program and A-10 single-game record 12 blocks on Nov. 20 at Oakland, has 66 blocks (5.61 bpg.) this season, a Duquesne single-season record. For his career, the Brooklyn, N.Y., native has 398 blocks in 71 games. HITTING A MILESTONE Saint Joseph's 82-42 trouncing of Pennsylvania on Jan. 19 marked the 250th career victory for Hawks head coach Phil Martelli. Now in his 13th season on Hawk Hill, Martelli boasts a record of 250-144. OWL OF AN EFFORT Temple's 78-59 win over #20/#20 Xavier on Jan. 16 marked the Owls' largest margin of victory over a nationally-ranked opponent since a 75-54 win over eighth-ranked Florida in the second round of the 2001 NCAA Tourney. STREAK STOPPERS Massachusetts' 82-71 victory at #14/18 Dayton on Jan. 16 snapped the Flyers' 13-game winning streak as well as their ten-game home-winning streak. Last year, the Minutemen earned a 77-69 victory at Dayton to snap the Flyers' 14-game home-winning streak. NOT FLYING Dayton freshman forward Chris Wright underwent successful surgery on Jan. 14 to repair a fractured bone in his right ankle. A typical rehab program for this injury is four-to-eight weeks. Wright is averaging 10.4 ppg. and 6.0 rpg. and is a four-time A-10 Rookie of the Week selection. Meanwhile, junior forward Charles Little broke a bone near his right big toe on Jan. 16 and is currently projected to be on the shelf for four-to-seven weeks. Little is averaging 8.2 points and 4.9 rebounds. RAISING ITS LEVEL The Atlantic 10 boasts four teams ranked in the top 25 of the collegerpi.com rankings thru games of Jan. 19 and six in the top 60. Dayton comes in at No. 11, followed by Xavier (16th), Massachusetts (19th), Rhode Island (21st), Saint Joseph's (53rd) and Duquesne (59th). The A-10 is ranked seventh among the 31 Division I conferences. In addition, the Atlantic 10 boasts a record of 119-66 (.643 in non-conference action this season which, if maintained for the remainder of the season, would be the fourth-highest winning percentage since the formation of the league in 1976-77 and highest since the 1993-94 campaign (69-35 - .663). A-10 teams were 104-85 (.550) in non-conference matchups a year ago.
Year Record Win % 1992-93 79-32 .712 1991-92 96-36 .679 1993-94 69-35 .663 2007-08 119-66 .643 1997-98 90-58 .608 GOOD AS GOLD Leemire Goldwire of Charlotte scored a career and Atlantic 10 season-high 36 points in the 49ers' 70-66 victory over Saint Joseph's on Jan. 16. The senior guard and two-time A-1-0 Player of the Week has scored in double figures in all 17 of the 49ers' contests this season and leads the team with nine 20-point performances. SELECT COMPANY Fordham senior forward Bryant Dunston notched his school-record 259th block in the Rams' 66-53 win over George Washington on Jan. 16. The previous record of 258 was held by Damon Lopez (1998-01). Dunston scored 15 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for his sixth consecutive double-double as Fordham edged Duquesne on Jan. 19, 75-74. BOMBS AWAY Since the start of the 2006-07 season, Rhode Island junior guard Jimmy Baron has drained 159 three-pointers in a span of 50 games, which is tied for seventh nationally among active players. Just ahead of Baron is Charlotte senior guard Leemire Goldwire with 161 three-pointers made in 47 games played. MAGELLAN...COLUMBUS...GIANNINI La Salle improved to 2-0 on the road in A-10 play after turning aside Richmond on Jan. 19, 76-67. The Explorers are 5-5 on the road this season after posting three wins in ten road dates a year ago. La Salle's next road contest is Feb. 2 at Xavier. BASKETBALL BOOKWORMS Taking a page from Hall of Fame coach Clarence "Big House" Gaines, Fordham head coach Dereck Whittenburg assigned books for each of his players to read over the holiday break. The books ranged from self-help to biographies of famous personalities. "On break, the guys didn't have any assigned reading from school so I decided to give them some," said Whittenburg. "After they read the book, we'll have a conversation about it. These are books that not only will help them now but also will benefit them in the future." Whittenburg also exposed his squad to some history on the Rams' road contest at Xavier on Jan. 12 as he took the team to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. The Rams spent an afternoon learning about "the story of freedom that is woven through the heroic legacy of the Underground Railroad and the American struggle to abolish human enslavement and secure freedom for all people." MORE TIME PLEASE Richmond improved to 8-0 all-time in triple-overtime contests after edging La Salle in three extra sessions on Jan. 9, 75-74, in the Conference opener for both teams. MODEL OF CONSISTENCY Senior guard/forward Gary Forbes scored 15 points in Massachusetts' 86-79 win over Charlotte on Jan. 19. Forbes has scored in double figures in 21 consecutive games shares the league-lead with ten performances of 20 or more points. Forbes ranks third in the Conference in scoring at 20.3 ppg. BALANCING ACT Xavier's 108-70 victory over Virginia on Jan. 3 marked its second straight contest that seven different players scored in double figures. The Musketeers are 13-0 on the year when four or more players reach double digits. ELITE COMPANY Temple junior Dionte Christmas leads the A-10 in scoring with an average of 20.7 ppg. Christmas is vying to become just the fourth player in A-10 history and first since George Washington's SirValiant Brown (2000, 2001) to lead the A-10 in scoring in successive years. The two other players to hold that distinction are John Battle of Rutgers (1984, 1985) and St. Bonaventure's Earl Belcher (1980, 1981). Incidentally, despite a rare off night (13 points) by Christmas in front of a raucous crowd at Charlotte on Jan. 12, Temple Associate Athletic Director Larry Dougherty received emails from 49er fans lauding Dionte's sportsmanship and class in the 60-58 Charlotte victory.
A-10 Players of the Week Nov. 5-10 Kieron Achara, Duquesne Nov. 11-17 Will Daniels, Rhode Island Gary Forbes, Massachusetts Nov. 18-24 Will Daniels, Rhode Island Nov. 25 - Dec. 1 Michael Lee, St. Bonaventure Joe Mbang, Rhode Island Dec. 2-8 Leemire Goldwire, Charlotte Drew Lavender, Xavier Dec. 9-15 Gary Forbes, Massachusetts Dec. 16-22 Dionte Christmas, Temple Will Daniels, Rhode Island Dec. 23-29 Brian Roberts, Dayton Dec. 30 - Jan. 5 Pat Calathes, Saint Joseph's Jan. 6-Jan. 12 Leemire Goldwire, Charlotte Brian Roberts, Dayton Jan. 13-19 Ricky Harris, MassachusettsA-10 Rookies of the Week Nov. 5-10 Chris Wright, Dayton Nov. 11-17 Damian Saunders, Duquesne Nov. 18-24 Chris Wright, Dayton Nov. 25 - Dec. 1 An'Juan Wilderness, Charlotte Dec. 2-8 Chris Wright, Dayton Dec. 9-15 Chris Wright, Dayton Dec. 16-22 Damian Saunders, Duquesne Dec. 23-29 Damian Saunders, Duquesne Jerrell Williams, La Salle Dec. 30 - Jan. 5 Kevin Smith, Richmond Jerrell Williams, La Salle Jan.6-12 Charles Dewhurst, Charlotte Jan. 13-19 Kevin Anderson, Richmond Paul Eckerle, Saint Louis
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