.
A quick look around the Association, with some JMU game info for Thursday night.


PLAYER OF THE WEEK:

Justin Wright-Foreman • Hofstra
So., G, 6-0, 184 - Queens, N.Y./High School of Construction
Wright-Foreman averaged 27.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists as Hofstra split a pair of road games last week. The sophomore guard has scored double figures in 17 straight games and has topped the 20-point mark in his past seven contests.


ROOKIES OF THE WEEK:

*The two favorites for Rookie of the Year shared the award this week. My vote, right now, would go to the Cougars Riller, who is as quick as any guard in the league.

Ryan Daly • Delaware
Fr., G, 6-4, 185 - Ardmore, Pa./Archbishop Carroll
Daly averaged 15.0 points and 8.0 rebounds as Delaware won back-to-back CAA games for the first time this year. The freshman guard posted his third double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds in a 76-74 overtime win over Elon and had team-highs of 12 points and six boards in a 58-57 triumph at James Madison.


Grant Riller • College of Charleston
Fr., G, 6-3, 185 - Ocoee, Fla./Ocoee
Riller averaged 22.5 points while shooting 72% from the floor in College of Charleston’s two games last week. The freshman guard has reached double figures in 11 straight games and has topped the 20-point mark in four of his past six outings.




CAA NOTES:

CAA STANDINGS: The top three teams in the CAA standings are separated by only two games with two weeks left in the regular season. Preseason favorite UNCW (11-3) has a one-game edge over College of Charleston (10-4) with both teams heading on the road this week to face Hofstra and Northeastern. Towson (9-5) has climbed to third place after winning four in a row and nine of its last 10. The Tigers entertain fourth-place Elon on Thursday and James Madison on Saturday.


CLOSE GAMES CONTINUE: Eight of the last 20 CAA games have been decided by two points or less, including four last week. Last Thursday, freshman Bolden Brace hit a baseline shot at the buzzer to give Northeastern a 73-72 victory at Charleston, and Delaware edged Elon 76-74 in overtime after freshman Ryan Daly made a game-tying jumper with 1.5 seconds left in regulation. On Saturday, Darian Bryant nailed a 3-pointer with 5.5 seconds to go to lift Delaware past James Madison, 58-57, and Elon knocked off first-place UNCW, 77-76, after the Phoenix made a key defensive stop in the final seconds.


RPI REPORT: Three CAA teams are ranked in the Top 100 in the latest RPI rankings released by Collegiate Basketball News (rpiratings.com). UNCW (22-5), which has won 19 of its last 23 games, leads the way at #45. College of Charleston (19-8), which has captured 16 of its last 21 contests, is ranked #73. Towson (17-10), which has won nine of its last 10 games, is ranked #94. The Tribe remains at #104. The CAA continues to be ranked at #11 among the nation’s 32 Division I leagues.


THREE CAA PLAYERS NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT: Three CAA men’s basketball players were selected to the Capital One Academic All-District team, which recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom. Elon sophomores Steven Santa Ana and Tyler Seibring were honored on the District 3 first team and College of Charleston junior Evan Bailey made the District 4 first team. This will place all three on the ballot for Academic All-America accolades.




W&M Disa & Data

• Omar Prewitt averaged 23.5 ppg and 7.0 rpg last week, including a season-high 30 points vs. CofC. It was his 9th 20+-point outing of the season and 9th double-figure effort in the past 10 games.

• Daniel Dixon had 14 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists vs. CofC, extending his double-digit scoring streak to 18 games. He has 10 20+-point efforts for the year and is averaging 20.9 ppg in CAA play.

• Nathan Knight tied his career-high with 15 points and added 6 rebounds vs. CofC. He’s averaging 12.5 ppg over the past 4 games and leads the CAA in blocks (1.5 bpg).

• Jack Whitman has made 28-of-34 shots from the floor over the past seven games and is shooting 72.7% in CAA play.

• W&M has shot better than 53% from the floor in each of its last five home games and is averaging 93.8 ppg over that stretch.




JMU Dukes Player News

• JMU (7-20, 5-9) dropped decisions to UNCW (88-71) and Delaware (58-57) last week.

• 6'7" Sr. Guard Jackson Kent scored a team-high 17 points against Delaware and has reached double digits in 13 of the past 15 games. He’s averaging 16.4 ppg in CAA play.

• 6'8" Sr. Forward Paulius Satkus scored 13 points at UNCW. He’s averaging 11.7 ppg in CAA play while shooting 56.1% from the floor.

• 6'9" Sr. Forward Ivan Lukic added 12 points vs. UD and is scoring 11.0 ppg over his past 5 games.

• 6'6" Sr. Forward Shakir Brown contributed 13 points, 5 rebounds and 4 steals at UNCW. He has four double-digit efforts in the last six games. He is averaging 8.2 ppg.

• 6'10" Sr. Forward Dimitrije Cabarkapa scored a season-high 13 points at UNCW, making 3-of-4 treys.

• 6'6" Jr. Forward Ramone Snowden filled the stat sheet with 12 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and no turnovers against Delaware.

• 6'0" Jr. Guard Joey McLean is second on the team in scoring, at 9.4 ppg. The quick point guard also hands out 2.5 assists per game.

• JMU leads the league in scoring defense (65.9 ppg) in CAA play.




FINAL WORD: This will be a tough contest for the Tribe. Even with the loss of Dalembert for the season, this is a veteran squad of mostly juniors and seniors, that are buying into Coach Rowe's system and almost pulled off the upset at Kaplan. W&M will need to be as unselfish as they are with the ball at home, make the extra pass and work the inside-out game. The Dukes are not as efficient at defending the three ball as some other teams, so the Tribe will have to be on target when they get open outside shots. The Dukes are a very solid rebounding team. The two headed monster of Nathan-Jack will need to give the kind of production we have come to expect from them (close to 20/10 a night), so as to open up the perimeter for our shooters and corral some key rebounds.

We badly need these two road games.