Atlantic 10 Notebook

The top of the Atlantic 10 proved their merit this past weekend in conference matchups with Rhode Island, Xavier, Massachusetts, Saint Joseph's, and George Washington all turning in victories. Jim Baron's Rhode Island squad continues to hold onto sole possession of first place due to the sharp shooting of the coach's son, Jimmy Baron, the 6'2 sophomore was 11 for 14 from the field including 9 three pointers on the way to beating former Conference USA members Saint Louis and Charlotte. Hanging onto first place looks to be a challenging task as the Rams face Xavier in Cincinnati then head back home to face a formidable Fordham squad. Baron wasn't the only Ram to turn in a solid performance this week as the Rhode Island frontcourt outplayed E.J. Drayton of Charlotte in an 85-69 defeat of the 49ers. In the win, forwards Will Daniels and Joe Mbang combined for 31 points and 15 rebounds to help Rhode Island surprise Charlotte on the boards by a 12 rebound margain.
On the topic of good shooting and rebounding, George Washington used both combined with a night to forget for the A-10's top scorer, Temple guard Dionte Christmas in a win over the Owls Saturday. Christmas was a woeful 2 for 14 from the field for 5 points and just as many turnovers. A bright spot for Temple was the 33 points from Mark Tyndale who has played very well over the last month creating matchup problems for rest of the conference with his versatile play needed for the Owl's four guard lineup to be successful, the Owls were 5-3 since mid-January before dropping 2 straight on the road.
With the Atlantic 10 tournament rapidly approaching, the battle for the top four seeds is still up for grabs amongst nine teams, however time is running out as only two weeks remain. Currently St. Joe's is hanging onto a one-game lead over George Washington for the fourth spot. It still appears that only one team from the conference will be dancing come Selection Sunday. Despite it's less than desirable chances for an at-large berth, Xavier still remains the sexiest team for the selection committee. Although they did not participate in the Bracket Buster this weekend, Xavier was actually helped by the abysmal performance of the Missouri Valley Conference, as well as teams like Oklahoma, Gonzaga, Mississippi, and San Diego State all suffering key defeats. If the Muskateers are victorious the remainder of the regular season, they will finish 23-7, while going 13-3 in the conference. With the impressive regular season record and noticable wins over tournamnet hopefuls Villanova, Virginia Commonwealth, Illinois, and Kansas State, an at-large bid still remains a possibility for Xavier.

Atlantic 10 Player of the Week: In two road victories this week, UMass forward Stephane Lasme was a force on both ends of the court averaging 16 points and 11 rebounds, while swatting away 5 shots versus Dayton and 7 against Fordham. If the Minutemen look to finish the season strong and make a run in the Atlantic 10 Tournament, Travis Ford will need Lasme and center Rashaun Freeman to continue their dominance as the premiere post players in the Atlantic 10.

Atlantic 10 Game of the Week: Rhode Island @ Xavier, Wednesday 7:00. Rhode Island brings the conference's top three point shooting team to this week's feature matchup against Xavier, the team with the stingiest perimeter defense in the A-10. Trailing Rhode Island by a game in the win column, Xavier faces an important matchup with the Rams this week in Cincinnati. The Muskateers could use as many quality wins as possible to bolster their at-large hopes and conference leading Rhode Island provides that opportunity. Jimmy Baron, the Rams' top shooter is coming off of a stellar week and will have to dish out more of the same for the Rams to head back to Kingston holding onto first place. Look for the Muskateers to use their balanced scoring attack to take over first place with a 80-70 home win.

Bubble Busters: As Xavier's quest for the aforementioned at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament will be determined over the next few weeks, some teams suffered some major hits to their NCAA resumes this week. Missouri Valley teams Missouri State and Creighton hopped back on the bubble with their Bracket Buster losses to Winthrop and Drexel respectively. Creighton still looks to be in decent shape, but is no longer the "lock" some had previously thought just a week ago. Andy Kennedy's surprising Mississippi squad had their four game winning streak snapped at Arkansas Saturday damaging their at-large hopes despite finding themselves tied atop the SEC West with fellow bubble team Alabama and Mississippi State, a probable NIT invite. Lastly, the Muskateers received good news upon hearing of defeats from Iowa and San Diego State, two teams that now appear to be in need of automatic berths via victories in their conference tournaments.