#CAAHoops MBB Notebook - Jan. 20

#CAAHoops MBB Notebook - Jan. 20

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Dylan Smith

CAA MEN'S BASKETBALL WEEKLY RELEASE - JAN. 20

And Then There Was One...
William & Mary moved to 5-0 in league play following its 67-64 victory over Hampton. Matteus Case scored a team-high 18 points on 6-of-6 FG shooting, including back-to-back three-point plays in the final 1:07, to hold off the Pirates. W&M is 5-0 to open a season for the first time since 2019-20, when it went 6-0.
 
W&M is on a six-game regular season conference winning streak, that dates back to March 2, 2024, its longest since registering 11 from Feb. 16, 2019 through Jan. 16, 2020. A win on Monday would mark the program’s fourth-longest such streak since joining the CAA. William & Mary has won three straight road games in conference play for the first time since Jan. 17-31, 2021.
 
Protecting the Home Court
Five teams - Charleston (3-0), Delaware (3-0), Elon (2-0), Towson (3-0) and William & Mary (2-0) - are undefeated in conference play at home. Charleston, Delaware and Towson all edged out victories on Saturday by a combined total of nine points.
 
The Cougars survived against Northeastern with an 87-85 win behind 32 points and eight made 3-pointers from co-Player of the Week Deywilk Tavarez. The Blue Hens staved off a late run from Elon with a 28-point showing from fellow Player of the Week John Camden to secure a 79-77 triumph. Towson battled to the wire with three players in double figures to hold on for a 53-49 win over Stony Brook.
 
Three’s Company
The CAA is the only Division I conference to have eight players with 50+ made 3-pointers this season.
 
Player (Team)                                   Total 3FGM (NCAA Rank)
Abdi Bashir, Jr. (MU)                          70 (1st)
Landon Glasper (N.C. A&T)               59 (12th)
Nick Dorn (Elon)                                58 (15th)
CJ Luster (SB)                                   53 
Gabe Dorsey (W&M)                         52
Kobe MaGee (Drexel)                        51
John Camden (Delaware)                  50
Deywilk Tavarez (CofC)                      50
 
As a team, William & Mary ranks fifth nationally with 11.2 treys made per game.

 
CAMPBELL CAMELS (8-11; 3-3 CAA)
  • Campbell scored 40 points off the bench in its 81-58 win over Monmouth. Caleb Zurliene scored 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor and a perfect day at the line (5-5 FT).
  • Colby Duggan extended his double-digit scoring streak to eight games with 11 points on Saturday.
  • Campbell leads the CAA in 3-point defense (25.2%) through six league games after holding the Hawks to a 3-for-20 mark from deep on Saturday.
 
CHARLESTON COUGARS (15-4; 5-1 CAA)
  • Deywilk Tavarez (32 pts. / 8 3FGM) and Ante Brzovic (24 pts. / 10-13 FG) helped the Cougars to an 87-85 win over Northeastern.
  • Tavarez joined UD’s John Camden, MU’s Abdi Bashir Jr., and NU’s Donovan Newby as the only CAA players to record 30-plus points and eight-plus 3-pointers in a game this year.
  • The Cougars have won 11 of its last 13 games. Ranks 16th in KPI in adjusted tempo at 72.1.
 
DELAWARE BLUE HENS (11-8; 4-2 CAA)
  • Co-Player of the Week John Camden (28 pts. / 9-11 FG) reached double figures for the ninth-straight game after helping the Blue Hens earn a 79-77 win over Elon.
  • Delaware has won four of its last five games, outscoring opponents by 7.2 points per game. Five players are averaging 11.8 points or better with Camden leading the way (20.6 PPG).
  • The Blue Hens pace the conference with 83.2 points per game on 50.6 percent shooting from the floor and 40.0 percent from deep in six CAA contests.
 
DREXEL DRAGONS (10-8; 2-3 CAA)
  • Kobe MaGee (17 pts.), Jason Drake (15 pts.) and Yame Butler (11 pts.) reached double figures against Elon. Butler has scored 10 or more points in 16 of 18 starts.
  • MaGee remains the team’s most efficient shooter with a 49.2 percent clip from the floor (6th) and a 45.5 showing from distance (T-3rd) through five league games.
  • The Dragons lead the CAA and rank 17th nationally in 3-point defense (28.8%). Drexel is also second in the conference and top 50 in the country with 66.1 points allowed per game (45th in NCAA).
 
ELON PHOENIX (13-6; 4-2 CAA)
  • TJ Simpkins (21 pts. / 7-14 FG) and his brother, TK (16 pts. / 4 asts.) nearly erased a 19-point deficit in the final 3:36 of regulation before falling to Delaware, 79-77, on Saturday
  • The Phoenix ranks fifth in NCAA Div. I with 42.4 boards per game and sits seventh with a +10.2 rebounding margin.
  • Elon Head Coach Billy Taylor earned CollegeInsider.com’s Hugh Durham Award ‘Mid-Season’ honors last week.
 
HAMPTON PIRATES (9-9; 2-4 CAA)
  • Nearly knocked off William & Mary on Thursday despite double-digit scoring from Noah Farrakhan (15 pts., 3 3FGM), Trevor Smith (12 pts.) and George Beale Jr. (11 pts.).
  • Hampton ranks 2nd nationally in bench scoring (38.6 PPG).
  • The Pirates also sit second in the CAA with 13.9 offensive rebounds per game (20th in NCAA) and a +2.3 turnover margin while leading the conference with 7.7 swipes per game.
 
HOFSTRA PRIDE (10-8; 2-3 CAA)
  • Jean Aranguren reached double figures for the eighth-straight game with 14 points and five assists against Towson.
  • The Pride paces the league defensively, holding the opposition to 37.4% shooting (7th in NCAA) and 64.4 PPG (26th).
  • Hofstra has seen heightened defensive success since the start of league play, allowing just 61.2 points per game.
 
MONMOUTH HAWKS (5-14; 3-3 CAA)
  • Madison Durr led Monmouth with 18 points while Abdi Bashir, Jr. chipped in 14 points against Campbell on Saturday.
  • Bashir paces the conference with 21.0 PPG and is third with 3.3 made 3-pointers per game.
  • Monmouth has won 16 of its last 17 home games, including a program-record 15-game winning streak over that stretch.
 
N.C. A&T AGGIES (4-15; 0-6 CAA)
  • Jahnathan Lamothe (22 pts. / 12 rebs.) and Ryan Forrest (19 pts.) combined for 31 points in the team’s setback to Monmouth
  • The Aggies lead the CAA and rank 16th in NCAA Div. I with 9.8 turnovers per game.
  • One of four NCAA Div. I teams to have two players averaging 18.0+ PPG with Forrest (19.1 PPG) and Landon Glasper (18.1 PPG), joining Kennesaw St., Northwestern and Rutgers.
 
UNCW SEAHAWKS (13-5; 3-2 CAA)
  • Sean Moore led four in double figures with 15 points in the team’s 80-72 win over Northeastern. Noah Ross had 14 and Harlan Obioha added a double-double (12 pts. /10 rebs.) for UNCW.
  • UNC Wilmington ranks 19th in Div. I averaging 40.6 rebounds and 21st with 17.8 made free throws per game. The Seahawks also pace the CAA with a +9.4 scoring margin.
  • Newby is averaging 16.0 PPG and ranks fourth in league action, along with Moore, averaging 1.6 treys made per game.
 
NORTHEASTERN HUSKIES (10-9; 2-4 CAA)
  • Northeastern nearly knocked off Charleston on the road on Saturday despite 20-point efforts from Rashad King (22 pts.) and Harold Woods (20 pts.). The duo combined for 17 rebounds and 10 assists.
  • King is among the league leaders with 18.8 points (4th), 7.2 boards (9th), 2.2 steals (1st) and 2.0 blocks (T-3rd) per contest through six conference games.
  • LA Pratt, who missed Saturday’s game, averaged 20.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game to go with 3.3 3FGM over his last three contests.
 
STONY BROOK SEAWOLVES (4-13; 0-4 CAA)
  • The Seawolves saw 16-point efforts from Joe Octave and Jared Frey in the team’s setback to Towson.
  • In two games last week, Octave averaged 19.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists.
  • CJ Luster saw his four-game streak of 20-plus points come to an end on Saturday. Luster remains second in conference play with an 88.9 percent clip from the charity stripe (24-27 FT).
 
TOWSON TIGERS (10-9; 5-1 CAA)
  • The Tigers edged out a 53-49 victory against Stony Brook to remain perfect at home (3-0) in league action.
  • Towson has won four straight games, led by Nendah Tarke (16.0 PPG), Dylan Williamson (14.0 PPG, 3.8 APG) and Tyler Tejada (13.3 PPG), all in double figures over that span.
  • Towson overcame an 18-point first-half deficit to top Hofstra, 65-60, on Thursday. The last time the Tigers rallied from a deficit of at least 18 points was at Drexel in a 94-92 OT victory on Feb. 8, 2018.
 
WILLIAM & MARY TRIBE (11-7; 5-0 CAA)
  • William & Mary remained unbeaten following an 18-point effort on 6-of-6 shooting from the floor from Matteus Case in the team’s 67-64 win over Hampton. Case knocked down back-to-back three-point plays in the final 1:07 to secure the win.
  • Through five CAA games, the Tribe is outscoring the opposition by a league-leading 8.8 points per game, shooting 48.7% from the floor and 39.7% from deep, both good for second in the CAA.
  • W&M ranks 6th in NCAA Division I with 11.2 threes made per game, hitting nine-plus treys 14 times.