1. St. Joseph’s – The Hawks have yet to play an exhibition game, but will take on Wheeling Jesuit this Thursday at Hagan arena.
2. St. Louis – 79-47 winners over Rockhurst, the Billikens were lead by Mike McCall Jr. who dropped team-high’s in points (14) and minutes (31). SLU played a nine-man rotation, with five other players seeing 20+ minutes of action, including Cody Ellis, Cory Remekun, and Dwayne Evans who rounded out the Billikens group of double digit scorers. SLU hit a ridiculous 64.6% of their shots on the evening while holding Rockhurst to just 29.3% from the field.
3. VCU – 94-44 winners over Virginia Union. The Rams dominated Union by imposing their havoc defense to the tune of 22 turnovers, including an eight-steal performance by sophomore defensive first-teamer Briante Weber. No player for VCU played over 20 minutes, and 11 players logged at least 14 minutes for the black and gold. VCU was lead by senior marksman Troy Daniels who scored 16 of his 19 points in 11 minutes of first half play. Daniels was 5-8 from long range on the night.
4. Temple – The Owls have no exhibition games this season. They’ll tip up the regular season at Kent State Tuesday, Nov 13th at Kent State on ESPN.
5. UMass – The Minutemen have been a chic peek to do damage in this season’s newly expanded A-10, but apparently have some rust to shake first. UMass trailed American International College 67-68 until a Maxi Esho layup gave Derek Kellog’s squad the lead for good. The Minutemen would eek out an 87-82 win in front of 2169 fans in Amherst. UMass played a seven-man rotation the majority of the night and were lead by star Chaz Williams’ 24 points and 11 assists in his 37 minutes. Freddie Riley was another bright spot for UMass, hitting six of his 10 long range attempts on a night that saw 50% (12-of-24) free throw shooting by the home team. AIC faired well form long range as well, hitting 42% of their 26 attempts, and making just under 47% of their field goal attempts on the evening.
6. Butler – The Bulldogs played two exhibitions this fall, winning 62-40 over Marian and then 63-47 over Indianapolis. Freshman top-100 shooter Kellen Dunham has been a bright spot for a Bulldog team who had a hard time hitting shots last season. Dunham averaged 11 points in his two games and hit 50% of his shots from downtown (6-of-12). Arkansas transfer Rotnee Clarke comes into this season as perhaps the top shooter in the country, but struggled to hit the deep ball in his two exhibition contests, going 3-of-13, but was a perfect 10-of-10 at the free throw line, and averaged 13.5 points. The Bulldogs played solid team D in the wins, holding their two opponents to about 33% from the field.
7. La Salle – Like UMass, the Explorers scraped by in their exhibition opener, surviving a 61-58 scare from Carleton University. La Salle was lead by senior star Ramon Galloway and needed every bit of his 28 points on the evening. The Explorers struggled against Carleton big Tyson Hinz who dropped 24 points on 10-12 shooting and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for the games only double double. La Salle lost the battle of the glass 31-34. They’ll have to fix that problem quick as they take on a tough Delaware Blue Hens team lead by senior big Jamelle Hagins who averaged a double double in last season.
8. Dayton – The Flyers defeated Findlay 77-58 and will wrap up their exhibition schedule against Walsh this evening. Dayton saw four players hit double digits against Findlay and were lead by Jalen Robinson’s double double of 19 points and 10 rebounds. Robinson was practically unstoppable in his 27 minutes, hitting eight of his 10 attempts from the field. The Flyers locked down on D against Findlay as well, holding them to just 31.4% shooting, 26.7% from long range. The Flyers played an eight-man rotation lead by Kevin Dillard’s 30 minutes. Dillard dished 7 dimes to go along with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
9. Xavier – 9,051 fans showed up to check out the new-look Muskateers, and so far, they have to be impressed with what they’ve seen. The young Xavier squad hit 47% of their shots, out-glassed Kentucky State 41-30 and forced 24 turnovers on the evening. The parrenial A-10 power saw a balanced scoring performance with five players hitting double digit scoring, lead by Eric Stenger’s 12 points and nine rebounds, both team highs.
10. Richmond – The Spiders hit the road for the rare A-10 road exhibition game, this time taking the short trip up 95 North to take on Randolph-Macon. UofR was lead by Derrick Williams’ 14 point, 12 rebound double-double. Richmond lost the war of the glass, getting out-rebounded 36-40, but more than made up for that with a balanced scoring attack that included four players in double digits, including usual suspects Kendall Anthony (13) and Darien Brothers (12), and a 9-22 turnover advantage.
11. St. Bonaventure – The Bonnies may have lost Andrew Nicholson, but resumed their annual pounding of Mansfield, this time in a 104-61 home victory. Like VCU, St. Bonaventure played a deep 10-man attack, with no player taking one more than 25 minutes of action. Senior Demitrius Conger lead the attack, scoring 25 points in as many minutes while grabbing a team-high 9 rebounds. And also like VCU, The Bonnies wreaked havoc on their opponent, seeing 21 Mansfield turnovers in the win. Matthew Wright dropped a team-high six assists in a game that saw the home team dish 24 total in the win.
12. Charlotte – In another night of A-10 exhibition dominance, the 49ers cruised past Pfeiffer 95-51. The Niners saw five players in double figures, including three hitting double-doubles in the win, all by freshmen. The youth movement was in full effect on the defensive end as well, as sophomore Pierria Henry swiped six steals as a part of Pfeiffer’s 28 turnovers. Charlotte completely dominated on the glass as well, out-rebounding Pfieffer by 19 with 26 offensive boards on the evening.
13. George Washington – GW saw nine players log 12+ minutes in their 72-46 win over Catholic yesterday. Both teams looked sloppy at times — 19 GW turnovers, 22 by Catholic — but the A-10 school proved too much on the glass with a 12 point advantage. Senior Dwayne Smith impressed with a team-high 14 points in just 18 minutes of play. 6’9 forward Isaiah Armwood was 3-9 from the floor but made up for it by grabbing a game-leading 16 rebounds.
14. Fordham – The Rams have no exhibition games this fall. They’ll tip up their regular season at Texas State Friday at 8PM.
15. Rhode Island – Someone needed to call in an airlift to rescue the Coast Guard this time, as Dan Hurley’s squad pounded Coast Guard 83-31, holding them to just 25% from the floor. Nikola Malesevic lead Rhody with 21 points in just 24 minutes and hit seven of his 11 attempts including 3-4 from long range. Coast Guard turned it over 22 times as the Rams were lead by Northeastern transfer Alwayne Bigby’s 4 steals. Bigby also lead Rhody with 11 rebounds off the bench. Like most A-10 teams this preseason, this game including total domination on the glass.
16. Duquesne – The Dukes may have been picked last in the A-10, but did what they needed to do against DIII Carnegie Mellon, holding them to just 25% shooting in the 74-48 Duquesne win. Duquesne owned the glass to the tune of a 22-rebound advantage. The Dukes will hope to get their turnover numbers down heading into A-10 play however, turning it over 19 times, a 10-turnover disadvantage on the night.
