Men's Basketball Weekly Honors - Dec. 15
Rob Washburn
CAA MEN'S BASKETBALL WEEKLY REPORT - DEC. 15 (PDF format)
PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Luke Eddy • Elon
So., G, 6-0, 190 - Charleston, W.Va./George Washington
Eddy came off the bench to score a career-high 27 points in only 24 minutes in Elon’s narrow 78-73 setback at Missouri last Thursday. The sophomore guard poured in 21 second-half points to help the Phoenix erase a 19-point deficit, including a three-pointer with under a minute to play that cut the Tigers’ lead to one. Eddy finished 8-of-15 from the floor, including 3-of-5 from three-point range, and was a perfect 8-for-8 at the free throw line.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK:
Jordon Talley • UNCW
Fr., G, 6-0, 180 - Richmond, Va./Henrico
Talley scored a career-high 13 points and dished out three assists in UNCW’s 68-57 loss at 4th-ranked Louisville on Sunday. The freshman guard tallied 10 of his points in the second half as the Seahawks rallied to within 52-50 with 6:50 to play. Talley finished 6-of-14 from the floor and made his only three-point attempt while playing a career-high 26 minutes off the bench.
CONFERENCE NOTES:
SOLID STARTS: CAA teams have gotten off to a solid start this season with eight of the league’s 10 teams having .500 or better records. Hofstra’s 7-2 record is its best since the 2008-09 squad also opened 7-2. The Pride is on a four-game winning streak for the first time since 2011. Towson (7-3) got off to its best start ever at the Division I level (7-1) before having its seven-game winning streak snapped with road losses at Georgetown and Temple. Northeastern recorded five victories in the month of November for the first time in program history, and is now 6-2 after beating Western Michigan on Dec. 6. James Madison (6-3) has won six straight home games and two of its three losses this season are to #6 Virginia and #12 Ohio State. College of Charleston (5-4) has won three in a row and four of its last five.
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS: CAA teams are 46-37 (.554) in non-conference play. Fourteen of the losses have come against teams from the Power 5 conferences, including six teams who are currently ranked in the top 25 (#4 Louisville, #6 Virginia, #7 Villanova, #12 Ohio State, #18 Miami and #22 West Virginia). Elon visits 2nd-ranked Duke on Monday night.
MORE ON THE NON-CONFERENCE NUMBERS: Making the non-conference winning percentage even more impressive is the fact that CAA teams have played only 34 of their 83 non-conference games (41%) at home and the league is a combined 26-8 in those contests. CAA teams have also picked up 12 road victories and are a combined 8-5 in neutral site games.
TWO CAA TEAMS IN TOP 70 OF RPI: Two CAA teams are ranked in the top 70 of the latest RPI report produced by Collegiate Basketball News (rpiratings.com) through Dec. 14. UNCW is currently ranked #41 in the RPI while Northeastern moved up to #66. The CAA is ranked 13th out of the 32 Division I conferences.
UNCW’S JACKSON NAMED TEAM MVP: UNCW senior guard Freddie Jackson was named the team MVP in the Billy Minardi Classic on Sunday as the Seahawks were beaten 68-57 at 4th-ranked Louisville. Jackson topped UNCW with 16 points and seven rebounds in a contest in which the Seahawks trailed by only two (52-50) with 6:50 remaining.
CAA TEAMS AMONG TOP 10 IN NATIONAL STATS: Several CAA teams rank among the top 10 nationally in various statistical categories through games of Dec. 14. Hofstra is 2nd in Division I in 3-point FG percentage (43.8%) and 8th in 3-pointers per game (9.9 pg). UNCW ranks 8th in 3-point percentage (42.5%). Northeastern is 6th in free throw percentage (77.1%). Towson ranks 8th in rebound margin (+11.1 rpg).
DOUBLE-DOUBLES FOR TOWSON’S DAVIS: Towson sophomore forward John Davis leads the CAA and is tied for fourth in Division I with six double-doubles this season. Five of them have come in the past six games, including 10 points and 10 rebounds against Georgetown and 11 points and 14 boards at Temple last Wednesday. Davis is averaging 11.3 ppg and leads the CAA in rebounding with 9.7 rpg.
ELON’S SAMSON CLIMBS 3-POINT LIST: Elon junior guard Tanner Samson has moved up to 7th place on Elon’s career three-pointers list with 173 after making three at Missouri last Thursday. Samson leads the CAA and ranks 8th nationally with 34 three-pointers this season and is shooting 44.2% from beyond the arc.
W&M’s SHAVER NEARS 500 WINS: William & Mary head coach Tony Shaver has 499 career victories and is just one win away from becoming the 86th coach with at least 10 years of Division I experience to win 500 or more games.
AUTOMATIC AT THE FREE THROW LINE: Towson junior guard Four McGlynn was 4-for-5 at the free throw line at Temple last Wednesday, continuing his near-perfect accuracy. For the season, he is an incredible 49-of-51 (96.1%) at the charity stripe, which ranks third in Division I. Last season, McGlynn led the CAA and ranked sixth nationally in free throw percentage at 91.3%.
HOFSTRA’S 3-POINT THREATS: Hofstra features two of the nation’s top three-point threats this season. Junior Ameen Tanksley is shooting 59.6% from beyond the arc, which ranks third in Division I, and he’s 37th nationally with 3.11 threes per game. Sophomore Brian Bernardi is 11th nationally with 3.56 treys per game and he’s 15th in 3-point percentage (50%). Feeding them the ball is junior Juan’ya Green, who is 12th in Division I in assists (6.3 apg) and 28th in assist/turnover ratio.
For more CAA men's basketball news and notes, check out the
Men's Basketball Notebook on our official blog, Hoop Scoop.