Men's Basketball Weekly Honors - Nov. 13
Rob Washburn
CAA MEN'S BASKETBALL WEEKLY REPORT - NOV. 13
CAA MEN'S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Ryan Daly • Delaware
So., G, 6-5, 225 - Ardmore, Pa./Archbishop Carroll
Daly scored a game-high 22 points on 9-of-14 FG shooting in Delaware’s 76-63 season-opening victory at Richmond last Friday. The sophomore guard added four rebounds and two assists to lead a dominant effort by the Blue Hens, who never trailed in the contest. It was the 19th time in the past 23 games that Daly has been Delaware’s leading scorer.
CAA MEN'S BASKETBALL ROOKIE OF THE WEEK:
Tomas Murphy • Northeastern
Fr., F, 6-8, 220 - Wakefield, R.I./Northfield Mount Hermon
Murphy averaged 11.5 points and 4.0 rebounds as Northeastern got off to a 2-0 start for the fourth straight season. The freshman forward scored a team-best 15 points and added six rebounds and three assists in the Huskies’ 65-59 road win at rival Boston University last Friday. He chipped in eight points as NU rolled over Wentworth, 83-49, on Sunday. For the week, Murphy shot 50% (9-of-18) from the floor
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CONFERENCE NOTES:
SOLID OPENING WEEKEND: It was a solid opening weekend in CAA men’s basketball, with the league’s 10 teams combining for an 8-4 record, including a 6-1 mark at home.
TOURNAMENT TIME: Five CAA teams participate in tournament action this week. Hofstra faces A-10 power Dayton in the first round of the Charleston Classic on Thursday night. Drexel meets Houston on Friday in the first round of the Paradise Jam, which will take place at Liberty University. James Madison meets Northern Kentucky on Friday in the Island of Bahamas Showcase. Elon takes on FIU in the opener of the Black & Gold Shootout in Milwaukee. Northeastern plays road games at Stanford on Friday and Ohio State on Sunday as part of the PK Invitational.
CHARLESTON PICKED TO WIN CAA TITLE: College of Charleston, which returns all five starters from last year’s 25-10 team, was the unanimous choice to win the CAA men’s basketball championship in 2017-18 according to a vote of the league’s coaches, media relations directors and media members. The Cougars were followed in the voting by Towson, Elon and Hofstra. Two-time defending conference champion UNCW was picked to finish fifth, followed by Northeastern, Delaware, William & Mary, Drexel and James Madison.
SEVEN ALL-CONFERENCE PLAYERS RETURN: The CAA welcomes back seven players who earned all-conference honors in 2016-17. Leading the group is Charleston senior guard Joe Chealey, who made the All-CAA first team and was picked as the 2017-18 Preseason Player of the Year. Three players return from the All-CAA second team - Charleston junior forward Jarrell Brantley, Elon junior forward Tyler Seibring and Hofstra junior guard Justin Wright-Foreman. Back from the All-CAA third team are UNCW junior forward Devontae Cacok, Delaware sophomore guard Ryan Daly and Towson senior guard Mike Morsell.
MAJORITY OF STARTERS ARE BACK: The CAA’s 10 teams return 62% (31-of-50) of their starters from a year ago. College of Charleston and Elon have all five starters back while Delaware and Towson each return four starters. In addition, six of the CAA’s top 13 scorers are back in 2017-18 as are five of the top 10 players in rebounding.
CHARLESTON, ELON RANKED IN PRESEASON MID-MAJOR POLL: College of Charleston is ranked 4th and Elon is ranked 22nd in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major preseason Top 25 poll. Both the Cougars and Phoenix welcome back all five starters from a year ago. UNCW and Hofstra were among other teams receiving votes. A new poll will be released later on Monday.
College of Charleston
• Got past Siena, 68-60 in OT, last Friday. CofC is 4-0 in home openers under Earl Grant.
• Grant Riller scored seven of his game-high 21 points in OT against Siena. It was the 8th 20-point outing of his career.
• Joe Chealey contributed 17 points and 7 rebounds vs. Siena. The senior was chosen as the CAA Preseason Player of the Year.
• Nick Harris just missed a double-double vs. Siena with 11 points and a team-high 9 rebounds.
• Sophomore Jaylen McManus made his first career start vs. Siena and grabbed 6 rebounds in 27 minutes. He saw action in 28 games off the bench a year ago.
• Jarrell Brantley, who was named to the preseason All-CAA first team, sat out the Siena game due to an injury.
• CofC’s defense forced Siena into 24 turnovers which resulted in 23 points.
Delaware
• Never trailed in a season-opening 76-63 victory at Richmond last Friday.
• Ryan Daly, the 2017 CAA Rookie of the Year, scored a team-high 22 points on 9-of-14 FG shooting at UR. He has been the Blue Hens’ top scorer in 19 of the last 23 games.
• Eric Carter recorded a double-double at UR with 12 points on 5-of-7 FG shooting and a team-high 12 rebounds. He also made a team-high four steals.
• Senior Anthony Mosley came off the bench to contribute 10 points, a team-high five assists and two steals.
• UD started two freshmen - Kevin Anderson and Chyree Walker - in its season opener for the first time since 2011. Anderson scored 11 points and Walker had seven.
• Jacob Cushing hit 2-of-4 from 3-point range and chipped in 8 points at UR.
• Delaware shot 75% from the floor in the first half at UR and finished at 56.5%.
Drexel
• Fell 78-69 to Bowling Green last Friday in their home opener. Led 42-32 at the half.
• Senior Austin Williams scored a career-high 18 points on 7-of-7 FG shooting and grabbed a team-best 12 rebounds vs. BGSU.It was his 3rd career double-double.
• Senior Sammy Mojica hit 2-of-5 treys and tallied 17 points vs. BGSU. He also had seven rebounds and two steals. Mojica ranks 16th on DU’s career treys list (133).
• Point guard Kurk Lee played all 40 minutes vs. BGSU and contributed 11 points, 3 assists and 2 steals.
• Junior guard Troy Harper, a transfer from Campbell, started vs. BGSU and scored eight points in 26 minutes.
• Drexel shot 50% from the floor in the first half, but just 32% over the final 20 minutes. The Dragons struggled from 3-point range, making just 4-of-20.
• Drexel out-rebounded BGSU 35-33 and had 11 offensive boards.
Elon
• Rebounded from a 97-68 loss at #1 Duke by beating William Peace, 96-53. Have won 9 straight home openers under Matt Matheny.
• Dmitri Thompson tallied a team-best 13 points at Duke and scored 14 vs. William Peace. He was 6-of-7 from 3-point range in the two games and averaged 7.0 rpg.
• Brian Dawkins recorded his first career double-double (10 pts/10 reb) in the win over William Peace.
• Tyler Seibring averaged 13.0 ppg over the two games and was 6-of-14 from 3-point range.
• Sheldon Eberhardt averaged 9.5 ppg, 8.0 rpg and 4.0 apg off the bench over the two games. He was 8-of-14 from the floor.
• Elon, which averaged a CAA-best 9.6 threes per game last season, made 14-of-33 treys at Duke and 13-of-35 against William Peace.
• Elon has had at least 3 players score in double figures in nine straight games.
Hofstra
• Defeated Army West Point, 77-74, in their home opener last Friday.
• Justin Wright-Foreman scored a game-high 25 points vs. Army, including a 3-point play that put HU ahead to stay with 3:30 left. He added 6 rebounds and 5 assists.
• Forward Joel Angus III, a transfer from SE Missouri, contributed 13 points and 8 rebounds in his Hofstra debut.
• Freshman Jalen Ray started and scored 10 points in his first collegiate game. He was 2-of-5 from 3-point range.
• Point guard Desure Buie, who missed most of last season with a knee injury, tallied 12 points and a team-high 4 assists in his return to action.
• Senior Rokas Gustys grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds and added six points vs. Army. He’s second among all active Div. I players with 945 career rebounds, trailing only Seton Hall’s Angel Delgado.
James Madison
• Cruised past Bridgewater, 80-50, in their season opener last Friday. It was JMU’s largest margin of victory under coach Lou Rowe.
• Guard Stuckey Mosley, a transfer from Toledo, scored a game-high 22 points in his JMU debut. He was 8-of-14 from the floor, including 4-of-8 from 3-point range.
• Guard Joey McLean, one of two returning players on the JMU roster, had 14 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals against BC.
• Freshman guard Matt Lewis came off the bench to score 14 points in 21 minutes in his first collegiate game.
• JMU, which ranked 2nd in the CAA in rebound margin last season, had a 53-30 advantage on the glass against BC. The Dukes pulled down 22 offensive boards.
• The Dukes’ defense limited Bridgewater to 29.5% FG shooting, including 5-of-25 from 3-point range. They also forced 19 turnovers.
UNCW
• Rolled over N.C. Wesleyan, 105-81, last Saturday in C.B. McGrath’s first game as head coach of the Seahawks.
• Senior guard Jordon Talley scored a career-high 24 points in just 24 minutes vs. N.C. Wesleyan. He was 8-of-9 from the floor, 3-of-4 from three, and dished out 5 assists.
• Junior Devontae Cacok, who posted 13 double-doubles last season, contributed 21 points and a team-high 16 rebounds vs. N.C. Wesleyan in the opener.
• Cacok had four dunks in the win and set a UNCW record with 95 for his career.
• Sophomore Jaylen Fornes had 11 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in only 21 minutes.
• UNCW won its season opener for the sixth straight year and the Seahawks topped the 100-point mark in their opener for the third consecutive season.
• Ten different UNCW players scored at least 5 points in the victory.
Northeastern
• Off to a 2-0 start for the fourth straight year after victories over Boston Univ. (65-59) and Wentworth (83-49).
• Freshman Tomas Murphy tallied a team-high 15 points and 6 rebounds off the bench at BU. He averaged 11.5 ppg and shot 50% from the floor in his first 2 collegiate games.
• Guard Devon Begley, NU’s lone senior, averaged 10.0 ppg and 5.0 rpg for the week. He made 4-of-8 from 3-point range.
• Point guard Vasa Pusica, a transfer from San Diego, dished out 11 assists in the two games, including 7 vs. BU. He also scored 9 points in each game.
• Forward Anthony Green averaged 9.0 ppg and was 8-of-12 (66.7%) from the floor.
• NU’s defense held both opponents under 41% FG shooting and the two foes were a combined 10-of-36 from 3-point range.
• The Huskies face road games at Stanford and Ohio State this week as part of the PK80 Invitational.
Towson
• Dropped a hard-fought 57-54 decision at Old Dominion last Friday.
• Sophomore guard Zane Martin scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed a career-best 7 rebounds at ODU. He hit 4-of-8 from 3-point range. It was Martin’s second career 20-point effort.
• Senior Mike Morsell added 15 points at ODU on 5-of-9 FG shooting. It was the 54th double-digit outing in his career.
• Towson, which led the CAA and ranked 7th nationally in rebound margin (+7.9 rpg) last year, dominated ODU 46-31 on the glass. The Tigers have outrebounded 49 of their last 53 opponents.
• Sophomores Justin Gorham and Dennis Tunstall each snared 7 rebounds off the bench.
• The Tigers held ODU to 3-of-16 shooting (18.8%) from 3-point range.
• Towson had nine players who played at least 10 minutes.
William & Mary
• Suffered a 100-66 setback at High Point in their opener last Friday.
• Sophomore Justin Pierce scored a career-high 18 points and grabbed a career-best 7 rebounds at HPU. He was7-of-11 from the floor and also had 2 steals and 2 blocks.
• Sophomore forward Nathan Knight contributed 15 points, 7 rebounds and 6 blocked shots against HPU. He led the CAA in blocked shots (1.3 bpg) last season.
• Boston College transfer Matt Milon scored 8 points off the bench in his W&M debut.
• Senior Connor Burchfield also scored 8 points, making 2-of-6 from 3-point range.
• High Point shot 60.7% from the floor for the game, which was the highest by a W&M opponent since 2014.
• W&M, which has traditionally been one of the CAA’s top 3-point shooting teams, hit just 5-of-22 from beyond the arc at HPU. The Tribe was 21-of-27 from the FT line.