SLU doesn't have a basketball game today while most of the rest of the Atlantic 10 is in action. Coach Rick Majerus said his big priority for the early part of the week is to get his team back into rhythm of going back to class after a month away. (Classes at SLU resumed on Tuesday.) Also for the team, this means going from morning or early afternoon practices to the standard late-afternoon practices.
SLU's next game is Saturday at home against Duquesne. That's followed by one of their busier weeks, with a road game at Xavier on Wednesday then a road game at UMass on Saturday. (The team is chartering home from Xavier after the game on Wednesday, then taking a charter to UMass on Thursday night.)
There are some interesting games in the A-10 tonight, though at this point, with all the teams so tightly bunched, almost every game seems to pack some relevance, either identifying teams for the top of the pyramid, providing some separation in the middle, or isolating teams at the bottom.
For instance, there's the Big 5 battle between La Salle and Temple. A win for La Salle would solidify its stance as one of the top teams in the league. A loss would put Temple in a bind at 1-3. A Temple win, meanwhile, would advance the clutter in the middle of the league. The Philadelphia Inquirer calls it "arguably the season's biggest game in Philadelphia." Temple has won 13 of the past 16 meetings between the team, including all three last season. La Salle is 1-7 at Temple's Liacouris Center.
Another of those games though could provide some separation is UMass at Duquesne. UMass is 3-1, but its had three home games and one road game and has held serve in all of them. These are the two highest scoring teams in the league, and Duquesne will be looking to slow one of the league's top 3-point shooting teams.
St. Joseph's is at Xavier and after a promising start that raised expectations on Hawk Hill, but the team is 3-3 in its past six games. Coach Phil Martelli insists his team is not tired, or at least, they'd better not say they are. Xavier is starting to play like it was before the brawl with Cincinnati threw it all out of whack. Kenny Frease, who rolled his ankle against St. Bonaventure, is expected to play.
In a rivalry game, Richmond is at George Washington. Both teams are 2-1 in league play, so there's a bit at stake here too. Interesting tidbit: SLU, Charlotte, UMass and St. Bonaventure all have at least as many recruits from the DC area, one, as GW. GW coach Mike Lonergan wants to recruit better in his own backyard. These teams have been playing since 1926, and Richmond has won the past four meetings.
Meanwhile, Rhode Island and Fordham, the two winless teams in league play, meet in New York, with the loser having the inside track on being one of the two teams to miss the conference tournament.
And in a nonconference game, Charlotte hosts Kennesaw State. Charlotte has already matched its conference win total from last season, two, and can match its overall win total (10) with a victory over the 3-15 Owls. St. Bonaventure and Dayton have the day off.
Charlotte point guard Pierria Henry was named the league's co-rookie of the week, scoring in double figures in both of his games. SLU followers may recall he had eight turnovers against the Billikens.
League RPI numbers:
24. Temple
27. Dayton
43. Xavier
53. St. Joseph's
59. SLU
61. UMass
78. La Salle
89. St. Bonaventure
91. Charlotte
93. Richmond
101. Duquesne
192. Fordham
215. George Washington
273. Rhode Island
The A-10's 10 teams in the top 100 of the RPI are the most of any league. The league ranks seventh in conference RPI. The Mountain West is sixth, Missouri Valley eighth and Pac-12 ninth.
Brian Conklin's recent struggles have knocked him down to No. 20 nationally in shooting percentage at 59.0 percent and he's 47th in free throw percentage at 85.4. Kwamain Mitchell is 35th nationally in assist-turnover ratio at 2.37.
As a team, SLU is 10th in scoring defense at 56.4 points per game, 12th in turnover margin at 4.5, 15th in turnovers per game at 11.2, 29th in 3-point field goal percentage at 39.1 and 37th in won-loss percentage at 77.8.
