A-10 Basketball Week In Review: Week #2

A-10 basketball enters the third week of the season, still in search of a signature win.

A-10 basketball finished the first week of the regular season with 10 teams undefeated. A week later, only six remain, and only a few are the usual suspects. George Mason, Saint Louis, and George Washington were predicted to finish in the top five of the conference according to the A-10 basketball preseason poll. But they are joined atop the conference by Davidson, St. Bonaventure, and Richmond, who have gone unbeaten in the first 14 days of the regular season. While the first two weeks of the season were important for the conference, the run towards Thanksgiving seems to have the makings of a make-or-break week and a half for A-10 basketball.​

The state of A-10 basketball

​Last week, four undefeated teams dropped their first game of the season. La Salle was attempting to start 3-0 for the third straight season, but fell on the road in their first true test of the season in the Philadelphia Big 5 Classic in blowout fashion to Temple. The Explorers’ Big 5 counterpart, Saint Joseph’s, also faced their first road test of the season in Blacksburg, Virginia, where the Hawks fell to Virginia Tech, which has received votes in the AP Poll.

Elsewhere around the conference, Dayton fell behind Cincinnati early and never could claw their way back into the game. After trailing by as many as 16 in the first half, the Flyers fell for the first time this season, 74-62. However, this game revealed a glaring weakness for the team, which was picked to finish third in the conference: three-point shooting. In the loss, Dayton shot 2-26 from deep. While this may be an outlier early in the season, through four games, the Flyers have shot 28.4% from behind the arc, which ranks 308th in the country. With matchups against Marquette and Georgetown on the horizon, the Flyers will need to find their stroke to compete once conference play rolls around.

The biggest surprise so far in A-10 basketball, or even in the country, is the early-season struggles for Loyola-Chicago. The Ramblers were picked to finish 5th in the conference, but after four straight losses, Loyola-Chicago fans might consider hitting the panic button. After opening the season with a win over Cleveland State and a loss to Mercyhurst, the Ramblers fell to North Texas, Wichita State, and Colorado State. However, it is not the time to start thinking about next season yet. Through the chaos, Miles Rubin recorded his 177th career block, which places him atop the Loyola-Chicago record books. When confidence returns to Gentile Arena, a veteran-led group could still make noise in the A-10.

Even though week two in the A-10 seems to have gone poorly, the conference is off to a relatively competitive start. The biggest key is that teams have almost completely avoided bad nonconference losses at home. The two biggest being Loyola-Chicago’s loss to Mercyhurst and Fordham’s loss to NJIT. The A-10 boasts four opportunities in the next week to battle with Power 5 opponents, so a win here or there could go a long way to boost A-10 basketball’s respect come March.

Team of the Week: Saint Louis

​Saint Louis has the early feels of a team that could make a Cinderella run in March. However, if the early-season success is any indication, the Billikens could be battling for an at-large spot in the tournament. Right now, they rank 58th in the KenPom rankings, the highest of any A-10 team. They also boast dominant wins over Southeast Missouri State, Chicago State, Lindenwood, and, most importantly, a 78-64 win over Grand Canyon.

Through four games, Saint Louis ranks 14th in the country in field goal percentage at 53.5% and in the top 50 of three-point percentage as well. The Billikens are led by sophomore guard Amari McCottry, who is averaging 17.3 points per game. He is joined in double figures by five other players, none of whom have played more than 25 minutes per game thus far.

When sharing the ball is combined with the fact that head coach Josh Schertz has his team playing at the 14th fastest pace in the country, the Billikens could create problems for any team when conference play rolls around. When Saint Louis does enter conference play, they might also be the most battle-tested team in the conference. The Billikens have nonconference matchups with Santa Clara, Loyola Marymount, and San Francisco, and could face either Minnesota or Stanford in the Acrisure Invitational.

Players of the Week

Rafael Castro: George Washington

Rafael Castro entered his senior season with high expectations when he was picked as a member of the Preseason All-Conference First Team in the A-10. Through four games, the 6-foot-11 senior is living up to these expectations. Last week, he helped the Revolutionaries take down a tournament team from last season, American, and Old Dominion. In the win over American, Castro put up a solid 15 points while adding eight rebounds. Then, in the win over Old Dominion, Castro elevated his game to score 20, grab nine boards, all while earning three steals and a block. The stats say that Castro has steadily improved in each game this season. If that continues, watch out for the senior and his Revolutionaries.​

​Tarence Guinyard: Duquesne

​The 6-foot-2 guard leads A-10 basketball in points per game after two weeks. While Duquesne did drop its first game of the season on the road at Villanova, it was not the fault of Guinyard. In 32 minutes of gametime, the senior led all scorers with 30 points, while shooting 10 for 15 from the field with five of those makes coming from deep. Guinyard has scored in double figures in each of his four games and has scored 25 or more points twice. With a start like this, do not be surprised to see Tarence Guinyard competing for A-10 First-Team All-Conference honors in March. 

A-10 Basketball Upcoming Games to Watch 

VCU at #25 NC State – Mon., Nov. 17, 7 p.m.

Villanova at La Salle – Wed., Nov. 19, 7 p.m.

Dayton at Marquette – Wed., Nov. 19, 7:30 p.m.

Davidson vs Boston College – Fri., Nov. 21, 3:30 p.m.