Oh, when we were young! Revisiting our preseason predictions

Ok, I’ll take the blame: I was responsible for ranking the men’s Atlantic 10 basketball field in our Basketball Preview way back when in November. With the A-10 Tournament looming, what better time than the present to simultaneously pat myself on the back while kicking myself  over the path taken by my prognostications? All comments, insults, and compliments (especially compliments) are welcomed.

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Dayton

Our prediction: 1

Final place: 7

It’s hard to figure where Dayton’s season went awry. They started out 13-3—with a win over a ranked Georgia Tech and two narrow losses at other ranked opponents in New Mexico and Villanova. But the Flyers stumbled down the stretch, going 6-8 in their final 14 games, including losses in five of their last seven outings. Defense’s penchant for keying in on Chris Wright successfully has limited his ability to take over games. He hasn’t been the superstar he’s needed to be, and the supporting cast has been unspectacular.

Xavier

Our prediction: 2

Final place: 2

Bull’s-eye! I’ll take any victory I can get. It didn’t look that way early on, with the Musketeers stumbling out of an extraordinarily tough nonconference slate with an 8-5 record. But this young squad, led by A-10 scoring champ Jordan Crawford and the rapid maturation of Jason Love into a premier big man, has meshed down the stretch. They’ve crept into the Top 25 thanks to a seven-game win streak, and could end up with a high seed in the Big Dance if they can buck their trend of poor showings in the A-10 Tourney in recent history.

Williamson only Hawk honored by Atlantic 10 in postseason awards

St. Joe’s guard Garrett Williamson was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Defensive team today, the only Hawk to garner any postseason recognition.

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Richmond’s Kevin Anderson was named Player of the Year, while Fordham’s Chris Gaston was honored as the Rookie of the Year. Damian Saunders earned recognition as the Defensive Player of the Year, and Temple’s Ramone Moore was named the Sixth Man of the Year.

Temple’s Fran Dunphy took home Coach of the Year honors, while Dayton’s Chris Johnson earned the Chris Daniels Most Improved Player award. Yves Mekongo of La Salle was named the Student-Athlete of the Year.

Anderson leads a first team comprised of all underclassmen, including A-10 co-scoring champ Jordan Crawford. Ricky Harris of UMass, who finished tied with Crawford at 19.7 points per game, landed on the third team.

Williamson struggled early on, but has turned in some tremendous performances down the stretch, solidifying his reputation as one of the best on-ball defenders in the conference. The season highlight for him and the Hawks was his emphatic block in the waning seconds against Dayton to seal the upset over the Flyers.

Hawks earn spot in Atlantic 10 Tourney with win over La Salle

On the day in which they were honored at half court prior to tip-off, St. Joe’s seniors delivered a dominant performance, ensuring they would be college basketball players for at least one more game.

Garrett Williamson led all scorers with 18 points, including 10-10 from the free throw line, and Darrin Govens added 14 first half points and 17 on the game to lead the Hawks to a 74-59 win.

“We approached this game like a playoff game,” Williamson said. “It was either win or go home. I feel like we came out here with a mature approach, real methodical.”

The Hawks’ win assured them a spot in next week’s Atlantic 10 Tournament. They earned the 12th seed thanks to UMass’ upset of Rhode Island, which slotted the Minutemen into 11th in the final standings, and officially put an end to the Explorers’ season. The Hawks will likely travel to fifth-seeded Rhode Island for their first round game.

St. Joe’s-La Salle LIVE game blog

5:52- And there he is!! Martelli calls time with 57.6 and inserts Brown for O’Brien, much to the delight of his sizable cheering section in the crowd. He manages a rebound, but misses the put back before Martelli calls timeout to get his two senior starters out for a standing ovation. The Hawks run out the clock, the ball in Brown’s hands, with a 74-59 win and a berth in the A-10 Tournament. Postgame comments momentarily.

5:50- Jones does it again with a stop-and-go move that gives him a lane to the hoop to stretch the lead to 16. Williams answers with a bucket, but Govens gets hacked by Mekongo, his fifth foul, and makes one of two to restore a 15-point spread. I hear chants of “WE WANT C.J.”!

5:49- La Salle commits its 12th turnover of the night as Giannini turns to his assistants and claps in resignation. Murray’s three-point attempt doesn’t help matters, and sends the normally boisterous coach to take a seat for one of the first instances all night.

5:46- Williamson hits two free throws out of the break, and Grant nearly strips Jones after Mekongo misses a three. But Jones instead heads to the line, and hits both to stretch the lead to 14, the biggest margin of the day, 71-57.

5:43-  JONES TO THE BUCKET! He hits a lay-in driving right to left, up and under a defender to move the margin to 10 at 67-57 with 4:09 to play. As Bill Raftery would say, “a little early onions from the youngster!”

He’s got 12 off the bench, one of four Hawks in double-figures today. The score stays that way into the final media timeout with 3:39 to play.

Also, in Amherst, the Rams hold a slim 50-47 lead. And the Explorers’ postseason hopes.

For more play by play, click here…

A-10 play is here

It’s no secret that St. Joe’s is floundering heading into the start of Atlantic 10 play tonight, losers of eight of their last nine. They are one of only three teams in the conference that enter the conference slate with a losing record. Here’s what the rest of the A-10 looks like with conference play starting tonight:

Charlotte (10-3): The 49ers have an ugly loss to Old Dominion on the resumé, but balance that with a quality win, and a blowout at that, at then No. 18 ranked Louisville, 87-65. Two of their three losses have been to ranked teams (at Duke and against Georgia Tech their last time out), but they have another chance for a big win against a distracted Tennessee team today to bolster their postseason hopes with a  strength of schedule that ranks 277th in the nation. Boston College transfer Shamari Spears has been just as big as his 245-pound frame indicates, averaging 17.0 points per game, while guard Derrio Green has the hot hand after 31 points, including seven three-pointers, against Georgia Tech.

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Dayton (11-3): A tough early season schedule has Dayton in a strong position to start conference play. They started the season in the top 25, but consecutive losses to Villanova (then ranked sixth in the nation) and Kansas State (now ranked 10th in the nation) knocked them from the polls. They stuck close in both games, as well as a two-point loss at New Mexico, but do have a victory over Georgia Tech to their credit. The two Chris’s, Wright and Johnson, have been pacing the Flyers as their only two double-figures scorers. They’ll be tested early in the conference season, as they’ll travel to Xavier on Jan. 16 on national television (ESPN2, 11 a.m.) in the first of two battles for Ohio.