CAA Men's Basketball Report - Jan. 22, 2024
CAA Men's Basketball Report - Jan. 22, 2024
The CAA Men's Basketball Player of the Week is North Carolina A&T's Landon Glasper!
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Landon Glasper, North Carolina A&T
Sophomore | Guard | Fayetteville, Ark. / Fayetteville
Glasper powered N.C. A&T to a 3-0 week with his performances in wins over Hampton, Northeastern, and William & Mary. The guard from Arkansas averaged 28.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists with 24 points in Monday’s one-point win over Hampton, 35 on Thursday vs. Northeastern, and 27 on Saturday against William & Mary. Glasper is 10th in the nation in scoring at 21.3 points per game for the Aggies, who are 4-2 in CAA play.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Tyler Tejada, Towson
Freshman | Guard | Teaneck, N.J. / Teaneck
Tejada averaged 12.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in a 2-0 week with wins over Charleston and Campbell. The guard from New Jersey tallied six points and six rebounds in Towson’s road victory Thursday to snap Charleston’s nine-game winning streak before notching a career-high 18 points to go with six rebounds in Saturday’s win over Campbell. Tejada is averaging 10.5 points on 46% shooting and 52% from three in league play.
NEWS AND NOTES
PHILADELPHIA PHIRE DEPARTMENT
Drexel is off to a 7-0 start in CAA play for the first time in its league tenure after Thursday’s comeback win over Monmouth. The Dragons’ start to its league schedule is its best since opening its North Atlantic Conference schedule 8-0 in 1995-96; that Drexel team defeated Memphis in the NCAA First Round.
Drexel has recorded a scoring margin of +16.9 points, rebounding margin of +9.9, and shot 51.0% while holding its opposition to 39.2% - all conference-bests - in CAA games.
THEY GET BUCKETS
The CAA features four of the nation’s top 16 players in scoring average as of Monday morning. Hofstra’s Tyler Thomas is fourth nationally with 22.3 points per game, while Xander Rice of Monmouth and Landon Glasper of N.C. A&T are tied for 10th (21.3), and Trazarien White of UNCW is 16th (20.7).
RISE AND FIRE
The CAA’s top two teams in three-point percentage - Monmouth and Elon - were the bottom two a year ago.
Monmouth is shooting 37.5% from three after a league-low 30.2% last season, while Elon is at 36.5% after shooting 30.6% from distance in 2022-23.
EVERYTHING’S BETTER WITH OLD BAY
Pregame meals in Maryland have treated Towson well this year, as the Tigers extended their TU Arena winning streak to 16 games Saturday. Towson’s streak is third nationally behind Virginia (20) and Cleveland State (18) and tied with Houston and North Texas.
Home teams have gone 27-15 (.643) in conference play, which ranks 10th out of all 32 leagues. CAA teams went 52-12 (.813) at home in non-conference play.
HEN-CINNATI
Delaware bounced back from a 10-point deficit in the first half to down Xavier, 87-80, on Dec. 5. The Blue Hens shot 50% and turned the Muskeeters over 17 times while receiving a career night from Jalun Trent (27 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists.)
STATEMENT SATURDAY
Drexel and UNCW took down AP Top 25 opponents on Dec. 2 with Drexel holding off No. 18 Villanova, 57-55, and UNCW powering past No. 12 Kentucky, 80-73. It marked the first time in league history that two CAA teams defeated Top 25 opponents in the same day.
CHECKING THE NET
Drexel leads the CAA with a NET of 97 in the latest update. UNCW (115), Charleston (129), Hofstra (133), Delaware (136), and Towson (146) join them in the top 150. Drexel, UNCW, and Delaware each hold a Q1 win, while Charleston and Towson have one Q2 win each. UNCW, Charleston, Monmouth, and Towson have steered clear of a Q4 loss so far.
TROPHIES
Drexel and Hofstra were winners of their multi-team events with the Dragons taking both games in the Market Street Challenge and the Pride sweeping the three-game bracketed Gulf Coast Showcase. Hofstra’s Tyler Thomas took MVP honors in Florida after averaging 30.3 points per game in wins over Buffalo, Wright State, and High Point.
HEALTHY COMPETITION
The CAA was .500 or better against the Horizon (4-0), Missouri Valley (3-0), CUSA (1-0), Southland (1-0), Patriot League (9-1), MAAC (6-1), Big South (4-2), Sun Belt (8-3), Atlantic Sun (3-2), and MEAC (6-5) in non-conference play.
The CAA has two wins against the Big East (Drexel at Villanova, Delaware at Xavier) and The American (Northeastern vs. East Carolina, Hofstra vs. South Florida) and one vs. the Big 12 (Monmouth at West Virginia) and SEC (UNCW at Kentucky).
HIGH FIVE!
Hofstra’s Tyler Thomas (Nov. 28) and UNCW’s Trazarien White (Dec. 12) earned one of the five spots on the USBWA’s Player of the Week list this year, thanks to Thomas’ 30.3 scoring average at the Gulf Coast Showcase and White’s 27-point effort to knock off Kentucky.
ALMOST HEAVEN, CENTRAL JERSEY
Monmouth made a statement in the season’s opening week with a 73-65 victory over West Virginia in Morgantown. Graduate transfer Xander Rice scored 30 points in his second game playing at Monmouth for his father, King Rice, who defeated a high-major opponent for the ninth time at the helm of the Hawks program. The victory was the CAA’s first over a school in the Big 12 at the time of the matchup since VCU’s Elite Eight win over Kansas in 2011.
WHOLE LOTTA WINS
The longest-tenured head coach in the CAA, Northeastern’s Bill Coen passed Jim Larranaga for the top spot in conference history with his 184th league win (conference games + CAA Championship) on Saturday.
Towson’s Pat Skerry ranks sixth on the list with 118, while North Carolina A&T’s Monté Ross is the active coach closest to entering the top 10 with 87 league wins, 83 of which came in his time at Delaware.
One Thing To Know On Each CAA Hoops Team
Campbell’s 62% shooting performance Thursday was its seventh-best in 11 seasons under Kevin McGeehan; the Camels shot over 60% in both halves.
Ante Brzovic contributed a double-double of 27 points and 11 rebounds in Saturday’s game at UNCW.
Gerald Drumgoole Jr. has scored 16+ points in each of his last four games.
Drexel’s seven-game winning streak ranks ninth nationally behind Samford (17), Dayton (12), Auburn and McNeese State (11), and Bradley, High Point, North Carolina, and Richmond (8). UConn, Eastern Washington, and UMass Lowell are also on seven-game streaks.
Elon has made 10 or more three-pointers eight times this season, including an 11-for-26 (42.3%) showing on Saturday.
Jordan Nesbitt’s 11 assists Thursday were the most in a conference game this season.
Darlinstone Dubar has been in double figures in 19 straight games and grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds against Campbell.
Xander Rice is averaging a league-best 27.0 points per game in CAA games with 21, 29, 26, 34, 27, and 25 in his first six. Rice is 10th in the nation in scoring at 21.3 points per game on the overall season.
Landon Glasper is up to 10th in the nation in scoring (21.3) and is second among CAA players in league games (24.5).
UNCW is second in the nation in turnovers per game (8.5) and committed a season-low four in Saturday’s win.
The Huskies have shot over 50% in all three of their CAA wins.
Dean Noll leads the CAA with 1.83 steals per game.
Towson is 8-0 at TU Arena this year and has pushed its program-record home winning streak to 16 games, which is tied for third nationally with Houston and North Texas; only Virginia (20) and Cleveland State (18) have won more consecutive home games.
Gabe Dorsey is the lone W&M player to start all 19 games this season and one of five to play in every game.