And standing alone in the Atlantic 10 at the midway point in league play is ... La Salle?
Yes, the Explorers, the preseason pick to finish 13th in the league, are alone on top at 6-2, half a game up on Temple (5-2) and Xavier (6-3) and a game up on SLU, St. Bonaventure and UMass.
Is La Salle the real deal? They are 17-6 overall, thoiugh their big plus is that that are 12-0 at home in Tom Gola Arena (even though calling the building an "arena" is generous), 5-0 in A-10 play. That means that La Salle as a lot of road games ahead of it, five of its final eight. And the teams that come into Gola, SLU, Temple and St. Bonaventure, are among the league's best. So there are some tough tests coming up for La Salle.
La Salle took sole possession of first by dispatching Charlotte 85-72, though its attendance was just 1,778. That's not surprising, considering La Salle is not in a great park of town and I suspect its difficult to attract the casual fan. Charlotte moved into a three-way tie for last (or, to put a good face on it, 12th) though 49ers faithful was no doubt distracted by the signing of the first recruiting class for the school's fledgling football program.
SLU's next opponent, Dayton, comes in a lousy note after losing, at home, to Duquesne, 83-73. The Flyers have lost three straight, the last two at home, and a team that just a few weeks ago was being touted as the dominant team in the league is in free fall. "The guy who's not getting it done the most is me," Dayton coach Archie Miller, falling on his sword. Dayton is playing its way out of NCAA consideration, though it does have some very good wins. Dayton almost pulled out a big comeback, erasing a 16-point Duquesne lead, before the Dukes regained their footing.
Xavier, trailing much of the game, escaped with a 59-58 win at George Washington as the Colonials missed three shots in the closing seconds. The fact that GW didn't score in the final 3:22 no doubt helped.
St. Joseph's snapped out of its funk with a 70-60 win at Richmond. Guard Carl Jones had 16 points after not reaching double figures in three of the previous four games. Richmond shot 35 percent and was outrebound 47-27.
Temple got its obligatory win over Fordham and next up is Rhode Island. That Fordham lost just 78-60 is progress; their two previous losses were by a combined 88 points.
UMass, meanwhile, saw the optimism built by its win over SLU deflated with an overtime loss at Rhode Island. UMass, by the way, was 15 of 25 on free throws in the game after making 17 of 21 against SLU.
So here's what the A-10 standings look like:
La Salle 6-2
Temple 5-2
Xavier 6-3
SLU 5-3
Umass 5-3
St. Bonaventure 5-3
Dayton 4-4
St. Joseph's 4-4
Duquesne 4-4
Richmond 3-5
George Washington 3-5
Charlotte 2-6
Fordham 2-6
Rhode Island 2-6
Coming up Saturday:
La Salle at St. Joseph's (at the Palestra), 11 a.m.
Charlotte at Fordham, noon
Temple at Rhode Island, 1 p.m.
Dayton at SLU, 4 p.m.
Richmond at Duquesne, 6 p.m.
UMass at George Washington, 6 p.m.
Plus Xavier at Memphis, noon
Six of SLU's final eight opponents are at .500 or worse in the league. La Salle and Xavier are the only teams with winning league records still on SLU's schedule. Of course, that's all subject to change very quickly.
