CAA Men's Basketball Report - Jan. 8, 2024
CAA Men's Basketball Report - Jan. 8, 2024
The CAA Men's Basketball Player of the Week is Charleston's Byrce Butler!
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Bryce Butler, Charleston
Graduate Student | Guard | Latrobe, Pa. / Greater Latrobe Senior/West Liberty
Butler came off the bench to average 16.0 points and 4.5 rebounds in 25.0 minutes of action to help lead Charleston to back-to-back conference road wins over Hofstra (73-61) and Stony Brook (93-87). The Cougars’ guard shot a sizzling 76.5% (13-of-17) from the floor, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range. Averaging 8.0 ppg entering the week, he poured in a season-high 18 points against the Pride and followed with 14 points versus the Seawolves to help Charleston overcome a 15-point deficit and extend its winning streak to seven.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Nick Dorn, Elon
Freshman | Guard | Charlotte, N.C. / Julius L. Chambers
Dorn repeats as CAA Rookie of the Week after averaging 14.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists in Elon’s 1-1 week. The freshman tallied 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting from three-point range as the Phoenix defeated North Carolina A&T, 77-59. He also netted 13 points in a 77-70 setback at William & Mary. Dorn shot 50% from the floor, including 6-of-13 from beyond the arc, and has scored double digits in four of his past five contests.
DRAGONS BREATHING FIRE
Drexel is off to a 3-0 start in CAA play for the first time since 2006-07 after posting victories over Hampton, UNCW and William & Mary last week. The Dragons outscored their three opponents by an impressive 23.7 points per game. Along with its league-leading defense (63.1 ppg), Drexel outrebounded its foes by 8.0 rpg last week. Three different players led DU in scoring - Mate Okros (20 vs. Hampton), Luke House (25 vs. UNCW) and Justin Moore (22 vs. W&M).
STREAKING
Charleston is on a 7-game winning streak after road victories at Hofstra and Stony Brook last week. It is tied for the 12th-longest active streak nationally. The Cougars’ only setback since Nov. 17 was to nationally ranked FAU.
CHECKING THE NET
Charleston leads the CAA with a NET of 99 in the latest update. Drexel (106), Hofstra (113), Delaware (133) and UNCW (134) are close behind. UNCW, Drexel, and Delaware each hold a Q1 win, while Charleston has three Q2 wins and is one of five schools clear of a Q4 loss.
TURN UP THE VOLUME
Hofstra’s Tyler Thomas and North Carolina A&T’s Landon Glasper have combined for six of the CAA’s top 12 scoring performances and five of the league’s 11 30-point games.
Thomas’ 40 points against High Point are the most in the CAA this year, while Glasper has scored 30+ points three times. Thomas’ 22.1 points per game rank fifth nationally, while Glasper is 28th in the country with 19.8 points per game. UNCW’s Trazarien White ranks 11th with 20.9 points per game.
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 at East Carolina, Hofstra vs. South Florida) and one vs. the Big 12 (Monmouth at West Virginia) and SEC (UNCW at Kentucky).
WHOLE LOTTA WINS
The longest-tenured head coach in the CAA, Northeastern’s Bill Coen is second in conference history in combined CAA and tournament wins with 181 and sits two victories from tying Jim Larranaga for first in CAA history.
Towson’s Pat Skerry ranks sixth on the list with 115, while North Carolina A&T’s Monté Ross is the active coach closest to entering the top 10 with 84 league wins, 83 of which came in his time at Delaware.
•Anthony Dell’Orso averaged 21.5 ppg last week, including a team-high 19 points in CU’s first-ever CAA win over Hampton. He posted his third double-double with team-highs of 24 points and 10 rebounds at N.C. A&T last Thursday.
•Campbell went 36-of-43 at the FT line last week and is 58-of-68 (85.3%) from the stripe over the past three games.
•Charleston’s bench outscored its opponents 62-14 last week. CofC ranks 11th nationally in bench scoring (34.8 ppg).
•The Cougars drained 13 treys in the win at Stony Brook, which was the 8th time this season they have hit at least 10 threes. CofC ranks 16th nationally with 10.1 threes made per game.
• Christian Ray averaged 14.5 ppg and 11.5 rpg last week, highlighted by a season-high 20 points and 10 boards at Hofstra. He shot 73.3% from the floor.
• Jyáre Davis scored 17 points vs. Hampton last Thursday, which was his 8th straight game with at least 17. He was held to 11 points at Hofstra, but has hit double digits in 13 of 14 contests.
• Luke House tied his career high with 25 points vs. UNCW, hitting 9-of-12 from the floor, including 5-of-7 from 3-point range. He added 11 points at W&M.
•Justin Moore made 4-of-6 treys and scored 22 points at W&M. He averaged 14.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists in the Dragons’ 3-0 week.
•Rob Higgins tallied a team-high 19 points at W&M and had 17 points and 8 assists vs. A&T. He’s scored double digits in 7 of the last 10 games and is 21-of-37 from the floor over the past three contests.
• Sam Sherry came off the bench to contribute team-highs of 20 points and nine rebounds in the win over A&T. Elon’s bench has scored 30+ points nine times.
• Kyrese Mullen posted his league-leading 9th double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds vs. Campbell. He ranks 6th nationally in double-doubles and 22nd in rebounding (9.8 rpg).
• Tedrick Wilcox, Jr. tallied a team-best 18 points against Campbell, which was his most points since Nov. 18 vs. Florida Gulf Coast (24).
• Darlinstone Dubar averaged 19.0 ppg, 10.5 rpg, 3.0 steals and 2.5 blocks last week. He recorded his 4th double-double of the season vs. CofC with 20 points and a career-high tying 12 rebounds.
• Tyler Thomas ranks fifth in the nation in scoring (22.1 ppg) and first with 4.13 made three-pointers per game. He hit 7 threes and averaged 21.5 ppg last week.
•Xander Rice scored the final 16 points of the game for MU as the Hawks closed on a 16-5 run to rally past Towson. Rice finished with 21 points, which was his 8th 20+-point effort of the season.
• Monmouth held Towson to 43 points, which was the lowest by an opponent in a win since 2019. The Tigers were held to 26.7% FG shooting.
• Landon Glasper topped A&T offensively in both games last week, scoring 21 at Elon and 19 vs. Campbell. He’s third in the CAA and 28th nationally with 19.8 points per game,
• N.C. A&T out-rebounded Campbell, 40-28, after having a -12.0 rebound margin during non-conference play, but was beaten 53-30 on the glass at Elon.
•Trazarien White scored a career-high 33 points at Towson and is averaging 26.8 ppg over his past four games. He’s three points shy of 1,000 for his career. White ranks second in the CAA and 11th nationally with 20.9 points per game.
•UNCW returns to Trask Coliseum for the first time since Dec. 10 when it hosts Monmouth on Thursday. It will be just the 4th home game for the Seahawks.
•Chris Doherty recorded his fourth double-double of the season vs. SBU with 15 points and a team-high 12 rebounds. He leads the CAA in FG% (56.2%).
•Joe Pridgen chipped in eight points against Stony Brook to reach 1,000 points for his career.
•Tyler Stephenson-Moore scored 21 points in both games last week and went over the 1,000-point for his career vs. CofC. He’s tallied 20+ points in five of his last eight contests.
•Keenan Fitzmorris added 16 points on 7-of-8 FG shooting vs. CofC and has reached double figures in eight straight games.
• Charles Thompson set a Towson record for most career games played with 132. He grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds at Monmouth and had 13 points and 8 boards vs. UNCW to move into 20th on Towson’s all-time scoring list.
• Freshman Tyler Tejada was 3-for-3 from 3-point range against UNCW, including a game-winning trey with 0.4 seconds left.
•Trey Moss averaged 17.0 ppg last week, including a career-high 22 points vs. Drexel. He was 15-of-25 (60%) from the floor and also dished out eight assists.
• Chase Lowe recorded his 2nd double-double of the season with 18 points and a career-high 12 rebounds vs. Elon. He’s scored double digits in two of the last three games.