Men's Basketball Weekly Honors - Feb. 16
Rob Washburn
CAA MEN'S BASKETBALL WEEKLY REPORT - FEB. 16 (PDF format)
PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Scott Eatherton • Northeastern
Sr., F, 6-9, 234 - Hershey, Pa./Hershey
Eatherton averaged 23.5 points and 8.5 rebounds while shooting 69.6% from the floor in Northeastern’s two road games last week. The senior forward scored a season-high 24 points on 8-of-10 FG shooting and grabbed nine boards in a 79-68 triumph at Hofstra last Thursday and followed with 23 points and eight rebounds in a 66-61 setback at UNCW. Eatherton is shooting a league-best 60.1% from the floor this season and has scored 20+ points four times in CAA play.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK:
Jordon Talley • UNCW
Fr., G, 6-0, 180 - Richmond, Va./Henrico
Talley averaged 16.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists as UNCW moved into a tie for first place with two wins last week. The freshman guard scored a team-high 18 points and snared six rebounds as the Seahawks rallied past College of Charleston 58-45 and added 14 points in a 66-61 victory over Northeastern. For the week, Talley shot 52.9% from the floor and made 13-of-17 at the free throw line.
CONFERENCE NOTES:
W&M, UNCW TIED ATOP CROWDED CAA STANDINGS: Six teams are within two games of first place in the CAA regular-season standings with two weeks to play. William & Mary and UNCW are tied for first place at 10-4 after the Tribe had their 14-game home court winning streak snapped in a 73-70 setback to Delaware and the Seahawks got past Northeastern 66-61 on Saturday. The loss dropped Northeastern to 9-5 and into a third-place tie with James Madison, which improved to 6-2 on the road in CAA play after an 86-75 triumph at Elon on Saturday. Drexel slipped into a tie for fifth at 8-6 with Hofstra after the Pride ended the Dragons’ six-game winning streak with an 81-57 triumph on Sunday evening. W&M visits NU and Drexel travels to JMU on Wednesday night.
CLOSE CONFERENCE GAMES: There have been 45 CAA games played since January 17, and 22 have been decided by six points or less. Delaware has had nine of its past 12 contests with a margin of six points or less. Eight of College of Charleston’s last 12 games have been decided by six points or less. Six of UNCW’s last 10 games have been decided by five points or less. Nine of Towson’s 14 CAA games have had margins of 4 points or less.
ROAD TEAMS DOING WELL IN CAA PLAY: Road teams have posted a 13-7 mark over the past two weeks and are now 35-35 (50.0%) in CAA play this season. Six squads have winning records in league road games, led by James Madison (6-2) and Hofstra (5-2). All 10 teams have won at least one conference road contest and eight have won three or more. Last season, home teams went 44-28 (61.1%) in CAA play.
PERFECT FROM THE FLOOR: Hofstra senior center Moussa Kone scored a career-high 23 points on perfect 10-for-10 field goal shooting in Sunday’s win at Drexel. It was just the seventh time in CAA history that a player has gone 10-for-10 or better in a game. Northeastern’s Scott Eatherton was also 10-for-10 against Towson on January 10, 2015. The best performance in CAA history came on March 7, 1985 when Navy All-American and future Hall of Famer David Robinson was 12-for-12 against East Carolina.
TWO CAA PLAYERS AMONG TOP 25 IN SCORING: Two CAA players are among the nation’s top 25 in scoring through games of Feb. 15. Drexel junior guard Damion Lee is ranked 5th with 20.9 ppg, and W&M’s Marcus Thornton is 23rd with 19.2 ppg. Thornton has scored double figures in 31 consecutive games and Lee has a 22-game streak.
3-POINT THREATS: The CAA features several of the nation’s top three-point threats this season. Elon junior Tanner Samson ranks 20th in 3’s per game (3.04). W&M senior Marcus Thornton is 24th in 3’s per game (2.92) and 32nd in 3-pt percentage (41.5%). Hofstra sophomore Brian Bernardi is 38th in 3’s per game (2.74) and 26th in 3-pt percentage (41.8%).
MCGLYNN RANKED #4 NATIONALLY IN FT PERCENTAGE: Towson junior guard Four McGlynn is 106-of-114 (93.0%) at the charity stripe, which currently ranks fourth in the nation. Last season, McGlynn led the CAA and ranked sixth nationally in free throw percentage at 91.3%. Drexel junior Damion Lee is close behind in 18th at 88.3%.
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Men's Basketball Notebook on our Hoop Scoop blog.