A-10 basketball struggled in the conference’s first “down week” of the season.
The state of A-10 basketball
Coming into this week, there were a few opportunities for the A-10 basketball to continue its reign as one of the best mid-major conferences in college basketball. However, on multiple occasions, it was the challengers who came away with victories against the contenders in the conference. As of December 16th, the conference had eight teams ranked inside the top 100 of the NCAA’s NET Rankings. However, many of the upper-tier dropped down the rankings.
A-10 basketball NET Rankings:
#28: Saint Louis
#62: George Mason
#64: VCU
#77: George Washington
#79: Dayton
#84: Richmond
#96: St. Bonaventure
#97: Davidson
The team with the biggest change in the past week was George Washington. On paper, it shaped up to be a week that the Revolutionaries could climb up the rankings, as they hosted Delaware and traveled south to take on Florida. However, it was anything but a successful week for Chris Caputo’s squad. Delaware made the trip to The District and controlled GW for the entire game. Delaware held the Revolutionaries to 58 points, the lowest mark of the season. Then, after a competitive first half against the defending national champions, the Revs could not keep up with the Gators in the second half. These performances dropped George Washington 30 spots in the NET Rankings.
Another team that saw a significant drop in the NCAA Tournament at-large conversation was VCU. The Rams welcomed New Mexico into the Siegel Center in a battle of two top teams from arguably the best mid-major conferences. But it was the Lobos who left Richmond with a close win.
In Fairfax, George Mason continued their historic start by paying homage to the most memorable squad in Patriot history, the 2006 Final Four team. Not only did legendary coach Jim Larranaga return to Fairfax, but the Patriots brought back their famous Kryptonite uniforms, which the squad wore during their Cinderella run, while beating in-state rival ODU.
While it was not a disastrous week for A-10 Basketball, the conference will need to finish the nonconference schedule strongly to remain in the conversation to be a multi-bid league.
Team of the week: Saint Louis
In a week that saw some of the top teams in the conference struggle, Saint Louis retained its firm grip at the top of the conference. While the Billikens only played one game, it was another tough test against a mid-major team picked to finish in the top three of their conference. Saint Louis welcomed San Francisco into The Lou. After a low-scoring first half, the Billikens used 54 second-half points to pull away and beat the Dons 85-75. The Billikens are ranked 28th in the NET rankings, up one spot from last week. With a weaker finish to nonconference play, do not be surprised to see Saint Louis remain atop the A-10.
Player of the week
Rikus Schulte: Fordham
Fordham had a successful week, as the Rams took down Manhattan and Fairleigh Dickinson. While the Rams had a few standouts this week, the most consistent and dominant was Rikus Schulte. The 6-foot-9 forward began the week with 10 points and 14 rebounds in the win over FDU. He continued his success with a career-high 21 points against Manhattan, and shot a perfect 10-10 from the field. The junior now has five double-doubles on the season, and sits in the top five of the A-10 in both rebounding and field goal percentage.
A-10 Basketball Upcoming Games to Watch
Liberty at Dayton – Sat., Dec. 20, 12:30 p.m.
Loyola Chicago vs Santa Clara – Sat., Dec 20, 5 p.m.
La Salle at #2 Michigan – Sun., Dec. 21, 4 p.m.