A-10 Tempo Thursday: February 25, 2021

By Ray Floriani (@rfloriani)

A week to go and a tie at the top. St. Bonaventure and VCU are both 10-3. The Bonnies knocked off Davidson on Sunday at Reilly Center and Wednesday at Belk Arena. Their last two games are home against George Washington and Dayton. VCU held off Saint Louis on Tuesday and has one game remaining, a trip to Davidson on Saturday. Richmond (6-3), UMass (6-3) and Davidson (6-4) follow the top two. 

The conference tournament begins in Richmond in less than a week. Prior to that, the next few days are vital as they should help sort out the final standings.

Efficiency Margins and Records (courtesy of KenPom)

1) St. Bonaventure (+12, 10-3)

2) Richmond (+10, 6-3)

3) Davidson (+9, 6-4)

4) UMass (+7, 6-3)

5) VCU (+6, 10-3)

6) Saint Louis (+5, 4-4)

7) Dayton (+3, 8-7)

8) Rhode Island (+2, 7-9)

9) George Mason (+1, 7-6)

10) George Washington (0, 3-4)

11) Duquesne (-1, 6-7)

12) La Salle (-8, 6-10)

13) Saint Joseph’s (-12, 2-9)

14) Fordham (-24, 2-11)

Offensive Efficiency Leaders

1) Richmond (110)

2) Davidson (109)

3) St. Bonaventure (108)

4) Dayton (104)

5) George Washington (103)

Given their times of pause and inactivity, George Washington is a relatively small sample. The offense in Saturday’s win over Rhode Island was potent, as the Colonials posted a 118 offensive efficiency. 

Defensive Efficiency Leaders

1) UMass and VCU (93)

3) St. Bona (95)

4) Duquesne and Rhode Island (96)

Tempo Leaders

1) Saint Joseph’s and UMass (71 possessions per game)

3) VCU and La Salle (70)

5) George Mason (69)

Slowest Tempo

1) Davidson (64 possessions per game)

2) Fordham and St. Bonaventure (65)

4) Dayton (66)

5) Duquesne (67)

A Closer Look at La Salle

The Explorers own victories over Dayton, Saint Louis and Richmond. In recent weeks life, for the most part,  has been a struggle. The promise provided by those early season victories has long since faded. La Salle’s efficiency margin entering Wednesday night’s game against Duquesne was a  minus-10. The offense was 99 (ninth in the A-10). The defense was at the bottom of the conference at 110, thanks to a too generous 55 percent defensive effective field goal percentage.

On a closer look, there are other factors. We see a young team that has lived and died by the 3-pointer. That preference of launching from downtown is not the sole reason for recent struggles. In Saturday’s loss at Saint Joseph’s, the starters included three sophomores and a freshman. David Beatty was the lone senior seeing action. Tempo is another issue. 

Ashley Howard, in his third season, has the Explorers playing at a low to mid-70 possession pace. His first two seasons saw the tempo in the high sixties. Mathematically, about a five to seven-possession difference may not seem significant. When you are in the 70-possession range, it is decidedly uptempo, and can be tenuous with such a young team. The turnover rate, a product of that pace, is 19 percent. In A-10 play, it puts the Explorers near the bottom at tenth in conference.

The Explorers attempt 39 percent of their field goal attempts from beyond the arc. That actually puts them near the middle (sixth) of the A10 pack. A greater concern is they are one of the poorer teams at getting to the foul line, which suggests a steady diet of outside shots. La Salle is also near the A-10 bottom (12th) in assisted field goals (50 percent). That last point is crucial. The low assist rate illustrates La Salle is a team that will try to beat you off the dribble. They surprised a few teams early, but once the opponents adjusted, by stopping transition and staying in front of their man defensively, as the season progressed, the Explorers have faced a tougher time on the  offensive end.

Twice in a recent three-game stretch, Howard was ejected. Frustration over the struggles of a young team? Possibly and understandable. Among this young group, sophomores  Sherif Kenney, Christian Ray and Jack Clark have shown promise, as has freshman Jhamir Brickus. Still, there is a learning curve and there are those mistakes of youth. A more fair assessment for the coach is chalking it up to Howard’s competitive nature, his background as a winner having assisted Jay Wright at Villanova, and his vision, one of how he wants his team to play and the vision of getting the program’s fortunes reversed. 

The Week in Review

February 19: Dayton 76, Saint Louis 53

Visiting Saint Louis held a 21-4 offensive rebounding edge. That was it. Dayton led tip to buzzer in a dominant victory. The Flyers posted an outstanding 109 efficiency, holding the Billikens to a far below norm of 76. Flyer standout Jalen Crutcher led all scorers with 19 points while handing out six assists.

Davidson 101, Southern Virginia 51

Kellan Grady hit seven threes en route to a game-high 26 points as Davidson rolled in its first game since January 24.

February 20: Saint Joseph’s 91, La Salle 82 (OT)

In its fourth game requiring an extra session this season, Saint Joseph’s broke through for their It’s overtime victory. It was also the first A-10 win for Billy Lange’s Hawks. Ryan Daly celebrated his return to the Saint Joseph’s lineup, dropping a game-high 30 points. Teammate Jordan Hall added a triple-double with 22 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. La Salle dropped its fourth straight.

George Mason 79, VCU 76 (OT)

The visiting Patriots snapped VCU’s six-game win streak. Josh Oduro, George Mason’s 6-foot-9 sophomore, led the way with a game-high 27 points. VCU was also limited to just three offensive rebounds, losing the battle of the boards by a 42-26 count.

Richmond 79, Duquesne 72

Host Richmond placed four in double figures. Jacob Gilyard and Blake Francis scored 17 points each to lead a balanced attack. Michael Hughes of Duquesne was a force inside, leading all scorers with 20 points while contributing nine rebounds.

February 21: George Washington 78, Rhode Island 70

The Rams ventured into the nation’s capital and came away with their fifth loss in the last six games. James Bishop (28 points) and Jamison Battle (26) led the way for the Colonials. The duo also combined to shoot 7-of-11 from beyond the arc.

St. Bonaventure 69, Davidson 58

The Bonnies snapped a four-game losing streak against the Wildcats with their win at Reilly Center. Jaren Holmes led the way with a 19-point, 11-rebound performance. Kellan Grady and Hyunjung Lee scored 18 each, but no other Davidson player hit double figures. The Bonnies also shot a torrid 11-of-21 from long distance.

February 23: VCU 67, Saint Louis 65

It was a second straight road loss for the Billikens. Hasahn French, the 6-foot-7 senior, had an excellent 21-point, 8-rebound effort for Travis Ford’s team. With Bones Hyland out of the lineup, freshman guard Ace Baldwin (15 points, 7 assists) came up big for VCU. 

Richmond 79, UMass 65

Chris Mooney’s Spiders were a model of efficiency, with a 113 on the offensive end helped a great deal by a 9 percent turnover rate. Blake Francis led the way with a game-high 20 points. Jacob Gilyard handed out 6 assists, and the 5-foot-9 guard added nine rebounds.

February 24: St. Bonaventure 56, Davidson 53

The Bonnies were held to 17 second-half points, but were able to squeeze out a hard-fought game at Davidson. Once again, St. Bonaventure was on the mark from deep, shooting 11-of-21 and held Kellan Grady to two points as Davidson shot 29 percent from beyond the arc.

Saint Joseph’s 97, Dayton 84

Taylor Funk (36) and Ryan Daly (25) combined for 61 of the Saint Joseph’s points. Dayton did post a healthy 115 offensive efficiency, but allowed a less than healthy 133 on the defensive end.

George Mason 63, George Washington 58

The Patriots won their third straight, as freshman guard Tyler Kolek earned KenPom MVP honors with a game-high 16 points, five rebounds and four assists.

La Salle 85, Duquesne 65

The Explorers ended a four-game losing streak with an impressive victory at Tom Gola Arena. La Salle had four double-figure scorers, with David Beatty leading the way with 22 points. A solid defensive effort saw the Dukes forced into a 23 percent turnover rate and limited to an 88 defensive efficiency. 

Upcoming Games

February 26: George Washington at St. Bonaventure

Richmond at Saint Louis

February 27:

VCU at Davidson

La Salle at George Mason

Rhode Island at Duquesne

March 1:

Dayton at St. Bonaventure

Saint Joseph’s at Richmond

UMass at Saint Louis

March 3-6: A-10 Tournament

At Robins Center and Siegel Center in Richmond

March 14: A-10 Championship

At UD Arena, Dayton 

All-KenPom

Bones Hyland, VCU

Jalen Crutcher, Dayton

Jordan Goodwin, Saint Louis

Grant Golden, Richmond

Osun Osunniyi, St. Bonaventure

Conference Trends

Efficiency: 100

Tempo: 68 possessions per game

Home record: 50-32 (.610)

Close games: 18 of 83 (21.7 percent)

Blowouts: 15 of 83 (18.1 percent)

Efficiency has slightly improved in recent weeks. Tempo picked up slightly as well. The conference on an average is not playing at an all-out pace, but is willing to run given the opportunity. No fans, or by now, some allowing a very limited amount, negated the home court edge in the early going. Now, that advantage is back. Even without fans, the home team enjoys familiarity with its home site and does not have to travel. Getting on the road can be tough during normal times. In the height of a pandemic, travel is even tougher. As the weeks progressed, the home court edge played an increasingly important part in the conference race.