CAA News & Notes 1/23
Some Notes from around the League and a quick look at the Blue Hens.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Justin Wright-Foreman • Hofstra
So., G, 6-0, 184 - Queens, N.Y./High School of Construction
Wright-Foreman averaged 24.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals as Hofstra split a pair of games last week. The sophomore guard shot 68% (17-25) from the floor, including 5-of-10 from three-point range.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK:
Ryan Daly • Delaware
Fr., G, 6-4, 185 - Ardmore, Pa./Archbishop Carroll
Daly averaged 24.0 points and 6.5 rebounds as Delaware went 1-1 last week. The freshman guard shot 45.5% from the floor, including 8-of-13 from three-point range, and was 10-for-10 at the free throw line. He is owning this award.
UNCW STAYS UNBEATEN IN CAA PLAY: UNCW continued its best overall (19-2) and CAA (8-0) starts in school history with victories over College of Charleston (65-59) and Drexel (87-74) last week. The Seahawks’ 8-0 conference start is tied for the 6th-best in league history and is three wins shy of the 11-0 marks compiled by Delaware (2013-14), VCU (2006-07) and Richmond (1985-86).
UNCW’s 19 overall victories are tied for the most in the nation through games of Jan. 22. The Seahawks are tied with #1 Villanova, #3 Gonzaga and #8 UCLA. The CAA is one of only nine conferences to have two teams with at least 16 victories as College of Charleston has a 16-5 mark.
LEAGUE STANDINGS: College of Charleston continues in second place in the league standings, behind UNCW, at 7-1, while Northeastern remains third at 5-3. The backlog of teams is at spots 4-7, with Elon, Towson and JMU at 4-4 and W&M (a game down in games played) at 3-4.
LATEST RPI REPORT: UNCW is ranked #26 in the latest RPI rankings (rpiratings.com) through games of Jan. 22. The Seahawks (19-2) have captured 16 of their last 17 games, with the only loss coming on the road at ACC foe Clemson. College of Charleston (16-5) is #66 in the RPI and has won 13 of its last 15 contests, with the only setbacks coming on the road at SEC member LSU and to UNCW. Northeastern fell out of the Top 100, to #132. W&M fell to #136. The CAA is ranked #11 among the nation’s 32 Division I leagues.
NATIONAL POLES: UNCW once again was flirting with national ranking, landing among other teams receiving votes in the national Top 25 rankings in both Poles. The Seahawks got 14 points in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, which placed them 29th. UNCW received 21 points in the USA Today Coaches poll, which placed them in a tie for 26th.
CAA PLAYERS AMONG NATIONAL LEADERS: UNCW forward Devontae Cacok leads Division I in field goal percentage (80.3%) and ranks 17th in rebounding (10.4 rpg) according to the latest NCAA stats. Northeastern guard T.J. Williams, who has scored 20+ points 13 times this season, ranks 13th nationally in scoring (21.9 ppg) and 37th in assists (5.4 apg). UNCW guard Denzel Ingram is 15th in 3-pointers per game (3.3), 24th in assists (5.8 apg) and 24th in assist/TO ratio. Hofstra junior Rokas Gustys ranks third nationally with 12.1 rebounds per game as of Jan. 23. He grabbed 25 rebounds in the Pride’s 65-57 win over South Dakota on Nov. 23, which is the 2nd-most by any NCAA Div. I player this season
W&M DISA & DATA
• Daniel Dixon rallied to score 18 points, with 7 rebounds and 3 steals vs. JMU and had 13 points and 6 boards at Elon. He’s scored double digits in 11 straight games and is averaging 21.8 ppg over his last 7 contests.
• Omar Prewitt averaged 13.0 ppg and 7.0 rpg last week, including team-highs of 14 points and 8 rebounds at Elon. He’s scored double figures in five of his last six games.
• Paul Rowley tied his career-high with 14 points vs. JMU and added 8 points at Elon. He was 8-of-11 from the floor, including 5-of-7 from three, over the two games.
• Connor Burchfield hit 3-of-6 treys and scored 12 points at Elon. It was his highest scoring game since Dec. 19.
• W&M shot 56.4% from the floor against JMU. The Tribe has topped the 50% mark in four of their last six games, while going 2-2 in those four games.
Delaware NOTES:
• Defeated Northeastern, 69-62, for their first CAA victory of the season, but lost 75-58 to Towson last week.
• 6'4" Fr. Guard Ryan Daly scored a team-high 27 points vs. NU and a team-best 21 points vs. TU. He’s had six 20+-point efforts, which is the most ever for a UD freshman and has reached double digits in 12 of his last 13 games. Daly has been UD’s top scorer in 8 of the last 10 games and top rebounder in 7 of the past 9 contests He’s averaging 19.3 ppg and 6.8 rpg in CAA play.
• 6'4" Sr. Guard Cazmon Hayes contributed 13 points and a career-high 4 blocks against NU. Hayes is averaging 9.4 ppg and 3.8 rpg. He has 17 blocks on the season.
• 6'9" So. Forward Eric Carter scored 11 points in the NU win, which was his first game in double figures since the season opener. He averages 5.0 rebounds per game.
• 6'1" Jr. Guard Anthony Mosley made four steals vs. TU and leads the CAA with 1.7 steals per game (36 for the season). He averages 10.4 ppg and 2.6 apg.
• Delaware was 8-of-19 from 3-point range vs. NU and has made at least seven treys in five of the past six games.
FINALLY:
This is a classic "don't let them hang around" game. The Tribe needs a strong start and make the Blue Hens play from behind all game. Delaware has the lowest scoring Offense in the league (63.6 ppg), but that means very little if you give a bad team confidence early.
Some solid defense (akin to the man to man shown in the first half vs JMU) wouldn't hurt. This string of games is, obviously, vitally important. Let's hope team chemistry is on display this week.
Go Tribe!!
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