Week #5 – Games of Interest

[Obadiah]

Indiana remains the top team in the nation in both the AP and USA Today polls. No A-10 teams in the Top 25. Both Butler and Temple have votes in the AP poll. Butler also gets votes in the USA Today poll. Votes for St. Joe’s disappeared after the Hawks bad loss to Creighton.

RealTimeRPI rates the A-10 as #7 among the 31 conferences. Top conference is Big Ten and the worst is Big South. Butler holds top RPI in the A-10 at #8. URI is #149, ahead of four schools – Duquesne, Dayton, George Washington, and Fordham.

The URI SOS is #24 and ranks 4th best in the conference at this juncture of schedule. Fordham at #322 holds the worst SOS, followed by Temple at #288, Dayton at #287, and GW at #259. Remember the current SOS rating is a reflection of a school’s OOC schedule to date and not the OOC schedule in total. For example, URI has played the toughest part of its OOC schedule, so the expect the SOS ranking of 54 to increase by opening of conference play.

Temple and Charlotte are the only unbeaten teams in the A-10. Charlotte's record is 7-0, but their schedule so far has not been taxing as reflected in their current SOS of 253. Their first real test comes Wednesday when they visit Davidson, a winner over Vandy and West Virginia. Charlotte will be the opponent in URI’s first A-10 home game on Saturday, January 12. This is one game URI needs to win to make it to Barclay’s.

Temple is 5-0, but the Owls also have enjoyed a weak schedule to date. Their first test comes on Wednesday when they visit Villanova, followed by a December 8 date with Duke.

No A-10 team in action tonight. Only game involving URI OOC opponents is Norfolk State at South Carolina State.

[twisted3829]

Temple is also undefeated currently (5-0)

[Obadiah]

Thanks, twisted, I made the changes.

[ATPTourFan]

What are the chances that we see a ranked team in Kingston this year?

[Obadiah]

Very little chance with best shots being VCU and Xavier.

[ATPTourFan]

OK, so how about Rhody playing a ranked team. Maybe Butler could be ranked?

[Obadiah]

If you look at URI A-10 away opponents, you have Butler, Temple, and St. Joe's as candidates. Besides St. Joe's win over Notre Dame, the Hawks had two other big games in their OOC - Florida State and Creighton. They lost both. Apart from an average Villanova team, the remainder of their OOC schedule is weak, so to get ranked the Hawks will have to put together a hot streak from the opening bell of the A-10 schedule initiating it by beating Butler at Hagan in their A-10 opener.

Temple is more a mystery since their OOC has been underwhelming to date, but they will get their chances with a game against Duke at Izod Center, a match-up against Syracuse at MSG, and then a visit to Kansas. Winning two of these three games will get the Owls ranked.

Butler is looking pretty good, but they have to beat Indiana in Indy on the 16th to get the ranking. If not, they have to make a strong A-10 run, including atoning for their earlier loss to Xavier.

[twisted3829]

best chance might be Charlotte making a run

[Obadiah]

I'm not sold on Charlotte just yet since their 7-0 record was gained against some weak opposition. They have some tough opponents coming up; at Davidson this week, at Miami later and then a match at Charlotte's Time Warner Arena versus Florida State. In my opinion, Charlotte has to take all three games to get ranked. URI has a date with them at Ryan to open the home A-10 season and this will be a definitive game for a Hurley coached team in the A-10. Remember last year's home opener against Richmond; a real debacle that showed that the OOC results of that season were not an aberration and that the addition of Malone and Billy did not significantly turn things around.

[twisted3829]

I'm not sold on them either I was just saying that could be the best chance

[reef]

Pretty amazing no ranked a10 teams, usually there is 1 team that cracks the top 25

[Obadiah]

The A-10 went 4-2 in last night's games. Both UMass and St. Joe's, picked to finish in the top ranks of the conference, struggled in away games - UMass in a sqeuaker over Northeastern, 72-66 and St. Joe's in a 67-55 win over Coppin State, who led at the half. The conference losses were Fordham suffering its seventh loss of season, this time to Lehigh 81-63 and GW who lost at Bradley, 72-68.

In Wednesday night A-10 action:

Temple at Villanova.

In their toughest test to date, Charlotte visits Davidson.

Dayton at Alabama.

Penn State at La Salle.

North Texas at St. Louis.

IUPUI at Butler.


Also,

Towson at Vermont.

Niagara at Loyola (MD).

St. Mary's at Drake.

[ATPTourFan]

It's almost, ALMOST starting to look like Rhody may finish above 3 or 4 teams in the A10 this year.

[Optimistic]

My predicition is UMass finishes in the bottom half of the A10 and Kellogg is put on the hot seat. They just extended him so I can't see him getting canned but watching them play is ugly. They play good D but their offense is chaos (by design) and will prevent them from going to the postseason this year.

[bigappleram]

i like the poster who equated UMass to our old URI teams...loads of athletes, good talent, but a dumb team that lacks fundamentals and the ability to execute in crunch time.

[rodfromcranston]

You forgot , lousy coaching, too.

[ace]

Nice night for the A10- Temple, Charlotte, Saint Louis, LaSalle, and Butler all win, and Dayton is leading late.

[Obadiah]

In an upset, Vermont failed to defend its home court losing to Towson, 68-64.

In another surprise, Loyola (MD) also failed to defend its home court in their MAAC opener as the Greyhounds fell to Niagara, 62-61.

St. Mary’s had no problem in its visit to Des Moines by easily defeating Drake, 87-69.



The A-10 goes 7-1 in tonight’s action:

In a game of Indy teams, Butler easily beats IUPUI, 87-55.

St. Louis narrowly avoids an upset in winning against North Texas of the Sun Belt, 67-63.

Charlotte, proving it’s real, beats Davidson, 73-69, and moves its record to 8-0.

Temple in a second half surge also remains unbeaten at 6-0, as the Owls beat a so-so Villanova team, 76-61.

Leading from the opening tap, Dayton scores an impressive win at Alabama, taking down the Crimson Tide, 81-76. Dayton now owns a seven game win streak against SEC teams.

La Salle is impressive in thumping Penn State, 82-57.

In the evening’s only loss for A-10, Pitt easily handled Duquesne, 66-45. The game was only close for the first 10 minutes with Pitt in complete control of the pace thereafter. The Panthers record in now 8-1.

[ATPTourFan]

Dukes had no shot in the City Game.

[reef]

I dont like seeing UVM lose at home to Towson it makes our win seem not as good vs them

[Obadiah]

In the only Friday night action involving URI opponents, VCU breezed to a 83-70 win over ODU.

Also tonight, Canisius wins its first MAAC game of season at Fairfield, 67-55. Billy Baron scored 19 points on 7-12 FG, 2-4 on treys, and 3-3 FT. The Griffs move their record to 5-1.

[ATPTourFan]

The mighty Griffs are an unstoppable force.......

..until February.

[rodfromcranston]

Baron has to be in his glory looking at the ultimate in conference cupcake schedule.
He has inherited a bunch of transfers, including a 6'10" very mobile center,
and others who are contributing.
Of course, one of his recruits was in trouble for filming himself having sex.
Can't make this stuff up.
His two freshmen don't see any playing time, to the point there's talk of redshirting them.
Some things don't change.
Canisius has to play in the weakest conference, top to bottom, in the country.
Syracuse is next, and Temple and UNLV soon. Give them credit for beating the Bonnies, early on.
Canisius will come back to reality, shortly.

[Optimistic]

Baron has to be in his glory looking at the ultimate in conference cupcake schedule.
He has inherited a bunch of transfers, including a 6'10" very mobile center,
and others who are contributing.
Of course, one of his recruits was in trouble for filming himself having sex.
Can't make this stuff up.
His two freshmen don't see any playing time, to the point there's talk of redshirting them.
Some things don't change.
Canisius has to play in the weakest conference, top to bottom, in the country.
Syracuse is next, and Temple and UNLV soon. Give them credit for beating the Bonnies, early on.
Canisius will come back to reality, shortly.

I agree with everything you've said here Rod, except for the weakest conference part. That is a major overstatement. There are 32 conferences in Division 1 basketball, and the MAAC is usually somewhere near 14th or 15th best. A step down from the A10 surely, but we're not talking about the SWAC here (no team currently has a record above .500) or the Great West Conference (no team above .500 and the best team is NJIT).

[Obadiah]

In Saturday results so far, in the A-10:

At East Rutherford, NJ, Temple routed by Duke, 90-67.

Charlotte defends its home court versus Central Michigan , 78-66, and moves its unbeaten record to 9-0. With the Temple loss, Charlotte is now the only unbeaten team in the A-10.

St. Bonaventure loses a close one at Arkansas State, 73-70.

In D.C, Kansas State edges GW, 65-62.


Elsewhere:

Loyola (MD) gets its first MAAC win, 61-55, over host St. Peter’s.

[Obadiah]

Completing the evening’s results.

In the A-10:

Butler defeats Northwestern, 74-65.

Duquesne in a romp over New Orleans, 88-70. This is UNO’s first year back in D-1 play.

St. John's defeats Fordham, 58-47. Fordham led at the half.

Tyreek Duren hit a jumper with 2 seconds left to lift La Salle to a 66-64 win over Northeastern. Northeastern lost its third close game of the season to an A-10 team.

Richmond over JMU in OT, 83-82.

Dayton pulls away from Miami (O) in second half to win, 83-61.

A-10 finishes 6-4 on the day.

Elsewhere:

A WVU lay-up with 6 seconds left secures the Mountaineers a 68-67 win over Virginia Tech. The Hokies suffered their first loss of season.

Vermont led the entire game in beating Quinnipiac, 53-46.

Visiting Northern Iowa hands George Mason an 82-77 defeat.

Seton Hall in a win over host Wake Forest, 71-67.

[rodfromcranston]

Illinois and Gonzaga are a wild heavyweight fight.
Exciting game, and loads of talent on the floor.

[reef]

Great game indeed and Illinois pulls the upset, Brandon Paul the real deal

[Obadiah]

Concluding Week #5 action:

In a close match-up in Cincinnati, Xavier pulled away from Kent State in the second half to win its 7th game of season, 62-55. Highlight of game was Brad Redford coming off the bench and putting in four consecutive treys. X’s leading scorer, Justin Martin, did not play due to a concussion suffered in the home court loss to Vanderbilt.

Norfolk State had an easy time defending its home court against UMBC, 83-66. With win NSU moves its record above .500 and is now 3-0 in the MEAC.

Also, Canisius moved its record to 6-1 with a win over Marist, 94-82. In 31 minutes of action, Billy Baron scored 16 points on 4-10 FG, 3-6 on treys, 5-8 FT, and 11 assists and 2 TO’s. Canisius is now 2-0 in the MAAC.

[URI96]

Concluding Week #5 action:

In a close match-up in Cincinnati, Xavier pulled away from Kent State in the second half to win its 7th game of season, 62-55. Highlight of game was Brad Redford coming off the bench and putting in four consecutive treys. X’s leading scorer, Justin Martin, did not play due to a concussion suffered in the home court loss to Vanderbilt.

Norfolk State had an easy time defending its home court against UMBC, 83-66. With win NSU moves its record above .500 and is now 3-0 in the MEAC.

Also, Canisius moved its record to 6-1 with a win over Marist, 94-82. In 31 minutes of action, Billy Baron scored 16 points on 4-10 FG, 3-6 on treys, 5-8 FT, and 11 assists and 2 TO’s. Canisius is now 2-0 in the MAAC.

Imagine what would happen to this board if JB made the dance in year one at Canisius.

[Obadiah]

Probably will go ballistic. But remember JB teams swoon in the late season. Also, the MAAC is a one bid conference, so Canisius has to win a tournament to get the NCAA bid.

[reef]

Here we go Golden Griffs here we go !!!

[TruePoint]

Imagine what would happen to this board if JB made the dance in year one at Canisius.

I hear you, but there was no way we were ever going to go anywhere near a dance with Baron here. So if he gets in as a 15 seed at Canisius, good for him, good for them, good for Billy, good for Cory. We're still much better off here. I don't wish anything ill toward him, except that URI wins whatever fight remains ongoing with respect to his contract.

[ATPTourFan]

Right, I don't know if anyone would go ballistic. I don't know why they would. Baron has his son to help give them a talent advantage this year.

We all know Baron could not get URI any where near the dance after his demonstrated collapses on 3 or 4 occasions.

[URI96]

Imagine what would happen to this board if JB made the dance in year one at Canisius.

I hear you, but there was no way we were ever going to go anywhere near a dance with Baron here. So if he gets in as a 15 seed at Canisius, good for him, good for them, good for Billy, good for Cory. We're still much better off here. I don't wish anything ill toward him, except that URI wins whatever fight remains ongoing with respect to his contract.

Retweet.

[ace]

Watching St. Joe's-Villanova. Big 5 basketball in Philly is something special. I love these games!

[rodfromcranston]

Hey, number 10 Iamd undefeated Illinois, only beat
Norfolk State by 10 points!
Duquesne came from way back and beat West Virginia!