Weekly Wrapup: The mighty A-10

by Jeff Goodman

Updated: December 12, 2007, 1:35 PM EST 12 comments

The A-10 had a big day on Saturday as Dayton defeated Rick Pitino's highly ranked Louisville Cardinals and Rhode Island knocked off Syracuse at the Carrier Dome. It was the Rams' third win this season against a Big East team.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: Jim Baron's Rhode Island club blasted in-state rival Providence 77-60 on Tuesday night at home and then followed it up with a huge road win Saturday night at Syracuse. Baron's son, Jimmy, had 21 and knocked down six 3-pointers in the victory over the 'Cuse and senior Will Daniels led the Rams with 18 against Providence. Baron & Co. are 10-1 with the lone loss coming at Boston College.
Runner-Up: Charlotte — Bobby Lutz's team posted key wins against Davidson and Southern Illinois.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: We're giving Charlotte's senior scoring guard Leemire Goldwire the nod after scoring a career-high 34 and knocking down nine trifectas in a victory over Davidson and then going for 24 and grabbing eight boards in a win over Southern Illinois over the weekend.
Runner-Up: Jordan Crawford -- The Indiana freshman guard came back from a suspension and had 20 points in a head-to-head matchup against his older brother, Kentucky senior guard Joe Crawford.

BEST WIN: Once again, there was no shortage to choose from. Washington State got a huge win on the road against Gonzaga. Holy Cross went to Philly and knocked off Saint Joseph's. Wright State handed Butler its first setback of the season. However, we're going with Brian Gregory's Dayton Flyers after they got past Louisville in Freedom Hall. Senior guard Brian Roberts scored 28 points for Dayton.
Runner-Up: Villanova's comeback victory against LSU.

WORST LOSS: Louisiana Tech didn't manage a single field goal for more than 19 minutes against Bob Knight's Texas Tech club. LSU blew a 21-point second-half lead to 'Nova. Still, neither compares to Sidney Lowe's N.C. State club continuing to underachieve with the latest loss coming to East Carolina. Remember Gavin Grant's statement that the Wolfpack wouldn't lose more than four games. Well, they've already dropped three and we haven't even started the ACC slate yet.
Runner-Up: Oklahoma's loss to Stephen F. Austin

WEEK TO FORGET: Providence -- The Friars were unable to use any momentum from last week's overtime win against Boston College. They failed to make it a game against Rhode Island and then lost a close one to South Carolina on a neutral floor before finishing up the week with a victory against Brown.

STILL LOOKING: There are just a handful of D-1 teams still winless: Ball State, Furman, Grambling State, NJIT and Canisius. You've got to feel badly for Billy Taylor at Ball State since he didn't have much of a chance this season after having to clean up the mess left behind by Ronny Thompson.

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR: N.C. State fans chased away Herb Sendek and those in Lexington did the same thing with Tubby Smith. Well, both programs are struggling. N.C. State, with Sidney Lowe at the helm, is 4-3 and coming off a loss to East Carolina while the Wildcats couldn't beat Indiana despite the Hoosiers being without Eric Gordon, Armon Bassett and A.J. Ratliff.

Player of the Year race

Every week in this space, we'll handicap the Player of the Year Race with the Top 10 front-runners:

1. Michael Beasley, F, Fr., Kansas State -- He's slowed down a bit, but still managed 19 points in a loss to Notre Dame and a victory over Cal. He also averaged 12 boards in the two games and still leads the nation in rebounding.

2. D.J. Augustin, PG, Soph., Texas -- The Longhorns had an easy week, but their floor leader continues to perform at a high level with 29 points and 10 assists against North Texas and 18 points and seven assists in an easy win over Rice.

3. Tyler Hansbrough, F, Jr., North Carolina -- The Tar Heels big man is putting up the best numbers of his career in Chapel Hill -- 21.4 points and 9.6 boards per game.

4. Chris Douglas-Roberts, SG, Jr., Memphis -- CDR struggled against USC's triangle-and-two and finished with 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting, but he's still averaging 20.1 points and 6.1 boards for the unbeaten Tigers.

5. Kevin Love, C, Fr., UCLA -- The freshman big man has slowed down since the return of Darren Collison, but he's still in the mix. Love had 12 points and 12 boards in 24 minutes against Davidson.

6. Andrew Ogilvy, PF, Fr., Vanderbilt -- The Aussie big man is skilled and is averaging 19.6 points and 6.3 boards while shooting an amazing 70 percent from the field -- and the Commodores are undefeated.

7. Sean Singletary, PG, Sr., Virginia -- He still needs to shoot a higher percentage from the field, but the Cavs leader is averaging 20.4 points, 6.9 assists and 4.4 boards per game.

8. Eric Gordon, SG, Fr., Indiana -- The Hoosiers frosh got banged-up in a win over Tennessee State and finished with just eight points and then he sat out the easy win over Kentucky this past weekend. Gordon is still one of the nation's most prolific scorers at 24.3 per contest.

9. Ryan Anderson, F, Soph., Cal -- The skilled forward went for 24 points and 11 boards in a loss to Kansas State on Sunday -- just about his season averages of 22 and 10.

10. Jason Thompson, C, Sr., Rider -- I know, I know. How can we put a guy from Rider on this list? Well, he'd be putting up big-time numbers wherever he plays. Trust me. He's averaging 20.7 points, 11.9 boards, 3 assists and 3.2 blocks and he had 24 points and 15 boards against N.C. State earlier in the year.

Six-pack on tap

1. Louisville at Purdue, Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET -- Rick Pitino's Cardinals suffered a tough loss this past weekend, but is loaded with talent. Matt Painter's Boilermakers are young, but also have plenty of talent with a terrific freshman class.

2. Saint Mary's at Southern Illinois, Tuesday at 8 p.m. -- Randy Bennett has one of the top freshmen in the country in Patrick Mills, but he'll go up against a defensive-minded Salukis club that is hungry to get back on track.

3. Miami at Mississippi State, Thursday at 8 p.m. -- The 'Canes are still undefeated and it'll be interesting to see how their frontline does against a Bulldogs team led by versatile guard Jamont Gordon.

4. Winthrop at Mississippi, Thursday at 6 p.m. -- Andy Kennedy's Ole Miss Rebels are one of 15 D-1 teams still unbeaten. Winthrop has been a mid-major power for the last few years.

5. Butler at Florida State, Saturday at 6 p.m. -- The Bulldogs suffered their first loss of the season, but are still a legitimate Top 25 program. FSU has been erratic, but the 'Noles have experienced and talented guards.

6. UAB at Kentucky, Saturday at 2 p.m. -- Both teams need this win desperately if they want to get in the NCAA tournament.