In the final game of the night in Brooklyn, Temple lost to UMass, 79-74. Last season, the Owls also lost to UMass in their first game of the A-10 Tournament.

It was once again the Chaz Williams show. Temple had no answer for him defensively, as he scored 28 points and made all ten of his free throw attempts. The Owls actually led with about seven minutes to play before the 5’9 guard took the game over.

Temple’s scoring leader, Khalif Wyatt, scored 19 points but only made 4-of-19 shots. Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson had a good game for the Owls, as he scored 17 points, hauled in nine rebounds, and dished out seven assists.

The Owls now must await their fate on Selection Sunday. UMass moves on to the semifinals on Saturday afternoon (4pm ET) to face VCU, who held off St. Joe’s, 82-79.

VCU made 11 of its first 21 three pointers to build a 17 point lead with more than eight minutes left. They still led by 15 points with two minutes left before the Hawks made their furious comeback. VCU scored 25 points on 17 St. Joe’s turnovers.

In the loss, Carl Jones scored 29 points and Langston Galloway chipped in 25 points for the Hawks.

In the day’s earlier A-10 tourney action…

» Continue reading “Deja’Vu for Temple, as They Lose to UMass in A-10 Tourney”

The A-10 Men’s Basketball Tournament got underway at their new home in Brooklyn on Thursday with four first round games. There were a few minor upsets.

Charlotte and Richmond kicked the day off, as the 49ers won 68-63. It was a wild ending, as the Spiders were called for three technical fouls over the final five seconds and Pierria Henry made eight free throws in just two seconds. That was after the Spiders led 63-60 with 4.7 seconds to go.

It was a crazy ending.

Charlotte moves on to face top seeded Saint Louis, who beat them back on February 16th, 75-58.

In the second afternoon game, Butler pulled away late to beat Dayton, 73-67. The Bulldogs move on to play LaSalle on Friday afternoon and must win four games in four days to win the tourney and possibly make the NCAA Tournament. LaSalle won the only meeting by one point.

The Bulldogs made 10-of-24 shots from the outside, while Dayton only took four. Rotnei Clarke made six of them to score 21 points. Andrew Smith added 18 points in the win.

Dayton actually led 43-39 with less than 14 minutes to go, but Butler hit three pointers on three straight possessions. The Flyers led the play inside, 48-28.

» Continue reading “The A-10 Tournament Gets Underway with a Few Upsets”

Semifinal action gets underway at 1pm ET in the A-10 Tournament. Not sure what the crowd will be like since Temple was upset yesterday (their game had the biggest crowd). Right now the crowd is sparse.

First up is the 8-seed UMass against 4-seed St. Bonaventure. The two teams met once this season, with UMass winning by nine points.

In their upset win over Temple, I was most impressed with 5-9 guard Chaz Williams, especially with a bigger defender guarding him. He has scored 20 points in UMass’ two tournament games.  Jesse Morgan also played well in front of a large group of fans (he’s from Philly).

St. Bonaventure’s Andrew Nicholson, the A-10 Player of the Year, had a nice game in their win over St. Joe’s. What is impressive is that the 6-9 big guy bangs down low and can shoot from the outside.

The second game pits 2-seed Saint Louis against 3-seed Xavier. A win for Xavier should secure them a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

SLU has beaten Xavier twice during the regular season, the last one coming on February 28th.

The Billikens weren’t that impressive in their win over LaSalle. Xavier’s Tu Holloway played with the passion that’s been missing since the team’s brawl with Cincinnati.

Xavier big man Kenny Frease was very good on both offense and defense and will need another big game to advance.

» Continue reading “Live at the A-10 Semifinals”

The A-10 Tournament got underway at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City with quarterfinal action on Friday. The day began with top-seed Temple taking on the 8-seed UMass.

I had been there before and for a noon start, the place was pretty packed (it was the most crowded for that first game). The fans got to see an exciting game in which UMass pulled the upset with a 77-71 win.

UMass had two players score 20+ points: Chaz Williams and Jesse Morgan. These two completely took over the game late (Williams had just seven points at the half and Morgan was saddled with foul trouble). Temple turned the ball over 22 times, which cost them the game (UMass scored 23 points off turnovers).

If you want to know what went on during the game, I was there and you can check out my live blog.

Next up was St. Bonaventure and St. Joe’s. This game went down to the wire, as St, Bonaventure missed a few free throws (four to be exact) to keep the Hawks in the game. However St. Joe’s did not score after the 2:09 mark and the Bonnies held on for the 71-68 win.

A-10 Player of the Year and scoring leader Andrew Nicholson led all scorers with 25 points. He also hauled in ten rebounds and dominated the Hawks inside. Charlon Kloof added 19 points, as the Bonnies shot 54% from the field.

Carl Jones led the Hawks with 24 points. What was remarkable about St. Joe’s was that they committed just four turnovers.

» Continue reading “A-10 Tournament Quarterfinals Recap”

I am coming to you live from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City as quarterfinal action gets underway in the A-10 Tournament.

Top-seed Temple, led by A-10 Coach of the Year Fran Dunphy, begins the day against UMass. UMass won their first round game against Duquesne to advance to AC.

Temple and UMass met just one week ago on Senior Night in Philly, with the Owls hanging on to win in overtime.

This is the last year AC will be hosting the A-10 Tournament, as it will be moving to the new arena in Brooklyn next season. This will also be the next to last season for Temple, as they will be moving to the Big East.

The starting lineups are as follows:

Temple: Khalif Wyatt, Juan Fernandez, Ramone Moore, Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson, and Michael Eric.

UMass: Chaz Williams, Jesse Morgan, Terrell Vinson, Raphiael Putney, and Sean Carter.

» Continue reading “Live from the A-10 Quarterfinals: Temple vs UMass”

The A-10 Tournament‘s first round got underway tonight with four games at 7pm ET at the higher seed’s home court.

The first game to finish was Charlotte at St. Joe’s. The five-seed St. Joe’s won 80-64 and move on to face St. Bonaventure in the second game on Friday. St. Joe’s shot 54.7% from the field and made ten 3-pointers (compared to just five for Charlotte).

Carl Jones led all scorers with 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Langston Galloway scored 18 points and Hali Kanacevic contributed a double-double (16 points and 11 rebounds) for St. Joe’s. Charlotte was led by Chris Braswell, who scored 20 points on 9-of-17 shooting.

Next up was Richmond at LaSalle, with LaSalle winning 80-72. Both teams shot the ball well, both overall and from the free throw line. However LaSalle made eight 3-pointers compared to five for Richmond, which ultimately decided the game.

Richmond’s Darien Brothers led all scorers with 31 points on 10-of-16 shooting. Derrick Williams contributed a double-double (14 points and ten rebounds). LaSalle had four players score in double-figures, led by Ramon Galloway‘s 17 points (and eight assists). LaSalle moves on to face Saint Louis at 6:30pm ET on Friday.

» Continue reading “A-10 Tournament First Round Recap”

Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall will play host to the A-10 Tournament for its final year, as the tourney will be moving to the new Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn starting in 2013 (and for the next five years). This may also be the final season for Temple in the A-10 (they are rumored to be possibly joining the Big East).

Temple won their first outright A-10 regular season title since the 1999-2000 season and hold the top seed. The Owls are also the favorite. The top four seeds (Temple, Saint Louis, Xavier, and St. Bonaventure) head to Atlantic City with a bye to Quarterfinal Friday. The other eight teams open up first round action at the higher seed’s court tonight (all at 7pm).

You can follow along with the bracket.

The five-seed St. Joe’s (who recently beat Temple to put themselves on the NCAA bubble) will host Charlotte. St. Joe’s lost to Charlotte at home back in the beginning of January. The Hawks lost 2 out of three to end the regular season, while Charlotte lost five of their last six games.

Players to Watch: Carl Jones of St. Joe’s is sixth in the A-10 in scoring at 16.3 points per game, Langston Galloway hits 47.5% of his three pointers, and CJ Aiken blocks 3.7 shots per game. Chris Braswell leads Charlotte in scoring with 15.6 PPG and 7.6 rebounds per game.

The winner will face fourth-seeded St. Bonaventure in the second game on Friday. Both Charlotte and St. Joe’s lost to the Bonnies, with St. Joe’s losing in double overtime in the final game of the regular season.

» Continue reading “A-10 Tournament Preview”