Colonial Athletic Association Notebook
The first few weeks of non-conference play haven’t been easy for CAA teams. With many watching after the success of the conference last season, CAA teams have struggled with some unexpected losses and a sub-.500 record overall.
Another interesting note is that there doesn’t appear to be a clear favorite based on early play. Hofstra struggled out of the gates, and losing Greg Washington for the season doesn’t help them in the frontcourt. George Mason hasn’t hit their stride yet, while Drexel and UNC Wilmington haven’t blasted out of the gates, either, with the Seahawks scoring plenty of points but giving up more as well. Old Dominion may be the most promising team early, with some good balance and their win against Georgetown, although they also lost to good teams in Clemson and Marist. VCU has also quietly shown some promise early on.
Mixed Bag Early for Mason
After Sunday’s 60-57 loss to Bucknell in the BB&T Classic, George Mason is 3-3 to start the season, having traded a win with a loss each time out.
The Patriots have lost to some good teams – Creighton and undefeated Wichita State are the other teams to beat them. On Sunday, the Bison shut down the Patriots’ top two scorers, as John Vaughan and Will Thomas combined to go 7-23 from the field.
Two key stats jump out through the first six games: the Patriots have more turnovers than assists, and opponents are shooting 44 percent from the field against them. Jim Larranaga talked a lot about defense before the season, often emphasizing its role in the Patriots’ success last season, so this performance is sure to make it more a point of emphasis going forward.
It doesn’t get easier for the Patriots, who are on the road twice this week: at Radford and at Duke.
Monarchs Start Strong
Old Dominion has been perhaps the most impressive team in the early going, starting 6-2 with a win over Georgetown included. The Monarchs won their CAA opener on Saturday as well, pulling away from pesky James Madison for a 70-57 win, Blaine Taylor’s 100th win at the school.
Unlike last year, the Monarchs don’t appear to have a go-to scorer at first glance, although senior Drew Williamson could take on that role. They want him to score more, and he found some ways to do that without forcing things much during the Cox Communications Classic to open the season. He is their top three-point shooter, while classmate Valdas Vasylius leads the team in scoring at 15.6 points per game. Vasylius has clearly made the transition from role player to key player, as he also leads in rebounding with 6.3 per night.
The Monarchs have been winning the battle on the glass, as they have the conference’s best rebounding margin by far. With this and the best assist/turnover ratio in the CAA, the Monarchs are winning with simply good basketball.
Not Much Pride Out of the Gate
Hofstra didn’t come charging out of the gate, as the Pride lost the first three games of the season. Since then, they have come alive with four straight wins, the latest coming as they held off Georgia State 62-59 on Saturday in Hempstead.
The issue so far has been where most expected: the frontcourt. The three super guards have been fine, as Loren Stokes, Antoine Agudio and Carlos Rivera have done their part by combining to average 51.1 points, 11.8 rebounds and 8.9 assists per game, although they have combined for two more turnovers than assists. But the Pride has been out-rebounded by over four per game, which is worse than all but one team. Sophomore Mike Davis-Sabb has given them good minutes, but the others have not and Chris Gadley has played limited minutes after an injury in an exhibition game kept him out of the team’s first two regular season games.
So as the Pride enter December, their most pressing concern is the same one they had entering the season. The next time we can find out if improvement is being made in that area is on Tuesday, when they head to nearby Stony Brook.
Huskies a Surprise Entry At Top
With most prognosticators picking Northeastern in the bottom five of the CAA in the preseason, they are the surprise early entry at the top of the conference standings after their 58-51 win over visiting UNC Wilmington on Saturday.
The Huskies won by controlling the tempo, slowing the game down and running only when they had the chance off some of the 18 turnovers the Seahawks committed. The Huskies scored 24 points off the turnovers and gave the ball up only seven times in a game where neither team’s shooting was impressive.
“We’ve made what we call ‘killer turnovers’ – turnovers that lead directly to points for the opponent,” said UNCW head coach Benny Moss, who added that his team has also struggled with maintaining focus for 40 minutes.
The interior play of the Huskies went a long way as well, though they were out-rebounded big once again. Manny Adako has developed nicely and was more of a factor since he stayed out of foul trouble against the Seahawks. Senior Bennet Davis had seven blocks, several coming when a Seahawk tried to score off an offensive rebound.
The Huskies are now atop the standings with their 1-0 record. It’s not what many expected, but a good sign that head coach Bill Coen and his staff are getting the most out of this group and getting improvement out of everyone.
Blue Hens Struggling Mightily
Delaware‘s struggles continued on Sunday as the Blue Hens dropped their sixth straight to start the season. The Blue Hens have a good top three in junior Herb Courtney, senior Calvin Cannon and sophomore Zaire Taylor, but there’s a real drop-off after them and freshman point guard Brian Johnson, who has shown a good deal of promise.
Courtney, who looks to be starting to fulfill some of the potential he was thought to have coming in, and Johnson are the main stories. Courtney is leading the team in scoring and rebounding, though he has struggled shooting the ball from long range. Johnson has had the same struggles, but has a 2.4 assist/turnover ratio on a team that averages almost two more turnovers than assists per game.
Before this weekend, sophomore center Matt Hewson left Delaware, and the team also suspended senior big man Raphael Madera indefinitely. The Blue Hens get a little smaller with those losses, but Hewson was never really a factor and Madera has had his struggles as well. Madera is not listed on the roster at the team’s Web site, so he could be done.
On the bright side, Ross signed a nice early class that includes two in-state talents. They get backcourt help with combo guard Edwin Santiago and wings D.J. Boney and Alphonso Dawson, and forward Ryan Bacon should immediately help in the frontcourt. It’s more evidence that Ross will get this program – a sleeping giant with all it has going for it – moving forward, but it won’t happen instantly.
VCU Shows Promise
After Saturday night’s win over Houston, VCU stands 5-2 and has looked good in non-conference play.
The Rams have been well-balanced offensively, with at least four players scoring in double figures in each game, and they have played good defense as well. They lead the conference in scoring and are third in field goal percentage defense, and they have the best turnover margin in the conference by far. Helping out is that they force the most turnovers, as Anthony Grant’s style is clearly paying dividends thus far.
Sophomore Eric Maynor has led the charge as the leading scorer and assist man, with his assists placing him second in the conference. He has picked up where he left off late last season after starting late in the year. On Saturday, he had a career-high 28 points and 11 assists in the win over Houston.
This week, the Rams head to Albany for a rematch of last season’s BracketBusters game, then they head across town to play Richmond.
Other Notes From Around the CAA
- UNC Wilmington won’t know more about T.J. Carter’s status for at least a couple of weeks. The senior guard had groin surgery on November 1 and is out indefinitely. It’s the same injury that he played through last season, meaning it’s been around for a while. Given the timeline of what is to come, redshirting him could be the most practical thing for them to do.
- Towson lost three of four to drop to 3-3 before knocking off Vermont on Friday. Included in the losing stretch was a close loss to Tennessee State over a week ago. It’s not a surprise that Gary Neal, the CAA’s second-leading scorer at 22 points per game, is leading the way. The trouble is that no one else averages more than 7.5 points per game and the Tigers average over three more turnovers than assists per game.
- Though they have just a 2-4 record, James Madison looks to be moving forward. They have been competitive in every game, while Joe Posey has made big strides and newcomers Pierre Curtis and Terrance Carter have helped right away. Curtis needs to cut down on turnovers, but baby steps: this team is fresh off a very bad season last year. They gave Old Dominion a good battle in their CAA opener, so there’s reason for optimism in Harrisonburg.
