UNCW receives 4 votes in this week’s AP men’s basketball poll

The Top Twenty Five
By The Associated Press

The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Feb. 14, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and previous ranking:

RecordPtsPrv
1. Villanova (44) 22-3 1,601 1
2. Kansas (21) 21-4 1,578 6
3. Oklahoma 20-4 1,471 3
4. Iowa 20-5 1,349 4
5. North Carolina 21-4 1,343 9
6. Maryland 22-4 1,248 2
7. Virginia 20-5 1,188 7
8. Michigan St. 21-5 1,174 8
8. Xavier 22-3 1,174 5
10. West Virginia 20-5 1,094 10
11. Miami 20-4 1,036 12
12. Arizona 21-5 823 17
13. Iowa St. 18-7 742 14
14. Kentucky 19-6 692 22
15. Dayton 21-3 681 19
16. Oregon 20-6 529 11
17. Purdue 20-6 497 18
18. Louisville 19-6 494 13
19. Notre Dame 18-7 489 –
20. Duke 19-6 462 –
21. SMU 21-3 441 16
22. Indiana 20-6 232 –
23. Providence 19-7 125 20
24. Texas 16-9 123 24
25. Baylor 18-7 97 21
Others receiving votes: Texas A&M 90, Utah 75, Saint Joseph’s 57, Wisconsin 47, South Carolina 39, Southern Cal 38, Michigan 17, Syracuse 17, Wichita St. 14, Stony Brook 13, Monmouth (NJ) 10, California 8, Hawaii 5, UNC Wilmington 4, San Diego St. 3, Yale 3, Cincinnati 2.

(Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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RICHMOND, VA (CAA) — UNCW STAYS ATOP CAA STANDINGS: UNCW remained in sole possession of first place in the CAA at 12-2 after pushing its winning streak to a school-record 11 games with victories over Elon (86-82) and JMU (78-68) last week. The Seahawks’ two-game lead in the standings is the largest by any team this season. Hofstra also went 2-0 last week and moved into second place at 10-4. James Madison, Towson and William & Mary are tied for third at 9-5 and College of Charleston is 8-6 with four regular-season games to play. On Thursday, Hofstra hosts Towson and UNCW travels to W&M.

 UNCW’S WIN STREAK IS NATION’S 3RD-BEST: UNCW’s 11-game winning streak Is tied for the third-longest in the nation as of Feb. 15. The Seahawks trail only Stony Brook (18) and Yale (12), and are tied with Stephen F. Austin (11). The 11-game streak is a UNCW school record and is the longest by a CAA team since Delaware won 13 straight in 2014.

 CLOSE GAMES CONTINUE: Of the 50 CAA games over the past five weeks, 22 have been decided by six points or less, including six overtime contests.

 ROAD TEAMS ARE 37-33 IN CAA ACTION: Road teams have a 37-33 record thus far in CAA play. Eight of the league’s 10 teams have .500 or better road records in CAA play, including four squads that have at least five wins. All 10 teams have suffered at least one home loss in conference competition and only five have winning records. Visitors having success in CAA action continues a trend from last year when home teams finished 47-43.

 PILING UP THE WINS: The CAA is one of only seven Division I conferences to have at least five teams with 17 or more overall wins through games of Feb. 14. The others are the ACC (8), Big Ten (7), Big East (6), Pac 12 (6), A-10 (5) and Big 12 (5).

 FIVE CAA TEAMS AMONG TOP 100 IN LATEST RPI: Five CAA teams are ranked among the top 100 in the latest RPI report released by Collegiate Basketball News (rpiratings.com) on Feb. 15. William & Mary leads all CAA squads at #59, followed by UNCW at #64, Hofstra at #76, James Madison at #82 and College of Charleston at #94. The CAA is ranked #9 among the nation’s 32 Division I conferences, which is its highest ranking ever at this point in the season, and is one of only nine conferences with five teams among the top 100 of the RPI along with the American, A-10, ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac 12 and SEC.

 TOWSON’S MORSELL SETS ARENA SCORING RECORD: Towson sophomore Mike Morsell set a new SECU Arena scoring record when he poured in 34 points in the Tigers’ 99-82 victory over William & Mary last Saturday. It was the first 30-point effort by a Tigers’ player since Jerrell Benimon in 2013 and the second-most by a CAA player this season. Morsell finished 11-of-17 from the floor, including 4-of-7 from 3-point range.

 HOFSTRA’S GREEN TOPS 1,000 POINTS AGAIN: Hofstra guard Juan’ya Green became just the fourth player in NCAA history to eclipse the 1,000-point mark at two Division I schools on Feb. 7, joining former CAA standout Gary Neal (La Salle/Towson), Joe Manning (Oklahoma City/North Texas) and Kenny Battle (Northern Illinois/Illinois). With 2,173 points (1,131 at Niagara/1,042 at Hofstra), he’s currently third among active scorers in Division I. Green also leads active Div. I players in career assists (717) and is fourth in career steals (221) through games of Feb. 14. He trails only Evansville’s D.J. Balentine (2,315) and High Point’s John Brown (2,175) in points.

 TOWSON TO HOST AUTISM AWARENESS GAME ON SATURDAY: Towson will play its annual Autism Awareness game on Saturday at Noon against Elon. Tigers’ head coach Pat Skerry and Georgia Tech assistant coach Tom Herrion have helped attract national attention for the cause with the help of the NABC and Autism Speaks. Skerry’s son, Owen, has autism, which is the fastest growing developmental disorder in our society. The game between Towson and Elon will be televised live by Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic.

 BACK-TO-BACK 20-20’S FOR HOFSTRA’S GUSTYS: Hofstra sophomore Rokas Gustys became the first Division I player in six years to record back-to-back “20-20” games. He tallied a career-high 25 points and a career-best 20 rebounds vs. JMU on Jan. 16, followed by 23 points and 20 boards at Northeastern on Jan. 21. He has grabbed 20 or more rebounds four times, which is the most by an Division I player in a season since Morehead State’s Kenneth Faried had six in 2010-11. Gustys has recorded 11 double-doubles in his last 12 games and is averaging 16.9 ppg and 14.9 rpg in CAA play.

 CAA EXCELS IN NON-CONFERENCE PLAY:  The CAA turned in one of the strongest non-conference performances in conference history with the 10 squads putting together a 75-44 overall record. Making the numbers more impressive is the fact that less than half of those games were at home. CAA teams were dominant (47-8) at home and had 21 victories in true road contests, which is the 3rd-most among all conferences.

 THREE-POINT SUCCESS: Several CAA teams are among the nation’s best at scoring from the 3-point line and defending it. Elon (9.6 pg/18th), James Madison (8.8 pg/37th), Hofstra (8.8 pg/40th) and Northeastern (8.8 pg/43rd) are among Division I leaders in 3’s per game while NU (37.8%/44th) is ranked in 3-point FG%. Defensively, JMU is 6th in 3-point FG percentage defense (29.3%) and College of Charleston is 51st (31.4%). Individually, NU’s David Walker ranks 21st (3.07 pg) in 3-pointers per game and 27th in 3-point FG percentage (43.5%).

 UNCW RANKS SEVENTH IN TURNOVER MARGIN: UNCW ranks seventh nationally in turnover margin (+4.4 tpg) through games of Feb. 14. The Seahawks are forcing 15.7 turnovers per game, which ranks 19th in Division I, while committing 11.3. UNCW is also 28th nationally with 8.0 steals per game.

 HOFSTRA’S GUSTYS AMONG NATIONAL LEADERS IN THREE CATEGORIES: Hofstra’s Rokas Gustys ranks 4th nationally in rebounding (12.3 rpg), 9th in FG percentage (63.9%) and 11th in double-doubles (15) through games of Feb. 14. Hofstra’s Juan’ya Green (7.2 apg) is 5th in assists, UNCW’s Jordon Talley is 21st (3.16) in assist/TO ratio and W&M’s Terry Tarpey is 22nd (2.1 spg) in steals. Delaware’s Marvin King-Davis is 29th in double-doubles (11) and 40th in rebounding (9.2 rpg).

 College of Charleston

•  Went 1-1 last week, falling 56-52 to JMU before beating Elon, 66-62. Have won six of their last eight games.

•  Jarrell Brantley averaged 15.0 ppg and 8.0 rpg last week, including a team-high 20 points and 9 boards at Elon. He’s scored double digits in seven straight games.

•  Marquise Pointer scored a team-high 15 points against JMU and added 9 at Elon. He’s averaging 12.7 ppg in CAA play and has hit double figures in 11 of the last 17 games.

•  Cameron Johnson tallied 15 points on 5-of-7 FG shooting at Elon, which his 8th double-digit effort in the last 10 games.

•  Evan Bailey averaged 9.0 ppg off the bench last week and has scored at least 8 points in his past four contests.

•  CofC has limited 13 of its 14 CAA opponents to 65 points or less and is allowing just 58.1 ppg in CAA play.

•   CofC shot 53.1% from the floor at Elon, which was its 2nd-best effort in CAA play.

Delaware

•  Split games last week, topping Drexel 69-60 before losing 77-66 to Hofstra.

•  Marvin King-Davis averaged 19.5 ppg and 8.5 rpg last week, including a team-high 23 points and nine rebounds vs DU. He’s averaging 15.4 ppg and 9.4 rpg in CAA play and went over 500 rebounds for his career.

•  Kory Holden tallied a team-high 23 points and 7 assists vs. Hofstra. He has a CAA-best 11 20+-point efforts and has reached double figures in 19 of his last 21 games.

•  Anthony Mosley had 11 points and 7 rebounds in both contests and has 12 double-digit efforts in the past 15 games. He’s averaging 13.3 ppg in CAA play.

•  Devonne Pinkard had 10 points vs. DU and has hit double digits in 4 of the last 5 games.

•  Cazmon Hayes contributed 13 points and 7 rebounds in the Drexel victory.

•  UD tied a season-high by shooting 50% vs. DU and had 5 double-figure scorers for the first time since Nov. 20 vs. Iona.

Drexel

•  Suffered setbacks to Delaware (69-60) and Northeastern (70-60) last week.

•  Forward Rodney Williams averaged 16.5 ppg on 76.5% FG shooting last week, including a career-high 23 points at NU. He’s averaging 12.5 ppg in CAA play.

•  Sammy Mojica scored a team-high 16 points vs. UD and added 13 at NU. He was 8-of-17 from 3-point range in the 2 games and is averaging 12.0 ppg over his past 6 contests.

•  Kazembe Abif contributed 11 points and a team-high 7 rebounds at UD. He’s scored double figures in 6 of the past 8 games.

•  Rashann London scored 12 points and didn’t commit a turnover in 35 minutes at UD. He added 8 points at NU.

•  Drexel had one of its best shooting efforts of the season at NU, hitting 52.2% from the floor.

•   Drexel only turned the ball over five times at Delaware and seven times at NU.

Elon

•  Dropped four-point decisions to UNCW (86-82) and CofC (66-62). Five of their nine CAA losses have been by 4 points or less.

•  Tyler Seibring tied his season-high with 18 points at UNCW and followed with 17 points vs. CofC. He was 14-of-19 (73.7%) from the floor over the two games.

•  Steven Santa Ana tallied a career-high 20 points in 20 minutes vs. CofC. He hit 8-of-11 shots, including 4-of-5 from three, and scored 11 straight points in one stretch.

•  Dmitri Thompson scored 12 points at UNCW and is averaging 13.8 ppg over his past six contests.

•  Luke Eddy added 15 points against UNCW. It was his 14th game in double figures.

•  Christian Hairston tallied 14 points on 5-of-7 FG shooting in just 17 minutes at UNCW.

•  Tanner Samson is Elon’s career 3-point leader with 313 and has 71 treys this season.

•   Elon leads the CAA with 9.6 treys per game.

Hofstra

•  Earned back-to-back road wins at W&M (86-80) and Delaware (77-66) last week.

•  Juan’ya Green posted double-doubles at W&M (13 pts/12 ast) and UD (19 pts/12 ast). He’s scored double figures in 25 of 26 games, has eight 20+-point efforts and leads the CAA in assists (7.2 apg).

•  Rokas Gustys had a career-high 25 points and 15 rebounds at W&M and 18 points and a career-high 21 rebounds at UD. He has 11 double-doubles in the last 12 games. He ranks 4th nationally in rebounds (12.3 rpg) and 9th in FG% (63.9%). He’s had 10+ boards 20 times and has 15 double-doubles.

•  Ameen Tanksley averaged 16.5 ppg last week. He has reached double figures in 25 of 26 contests and 14 in a row.

•  Denton Koon had 13 points in both games last week and shot 52.9% from the floor. He’s scored double figures 19 times.

•   Brian Bernardi hit three treys and scored 13 points at W&M. He has made a team-high 69 threes on 39.2% shooting this season.

James Madison

•  Went 1-1 on the road last week, beating CofC (56-52) but falling to UNCW (78-68).

•  Ron Curry scored a team-high 16 points at CofC, but missed the UNCW game with a knee injury. He’s reached double digits in a league-best 18 straight games and has topped the 20-point mark nine times.

•  Junior forward Tom Vodanovich went 6-of-9 from the floor and scored a season-high 17 points at UNCW.

•  Winston Grays came off the bench to score a season-best 15 points at UNCW. He drained 3-of-4 from 3-point range.

•  Joey McLean scored six points in the final 31 seconds to secure the victory at CofC and had nine points at UNCW.

•  JMU out-rebounded CofC 37-34, marking the 16th time it’s won the battle of the boards. The Dukes are 14-2 in those games.

•  JMU held CofC and UNCW under 40% FG shooting and tops the league in FG% defense and 3-pt FG% defense in CAA games.

UNCW

•  Increased their school-record win streak to 11 after beating Elon (86-82) and JMU (78-68) last week. Reached the 20-win mark for the first time in eight years.

•  Craig Ponder averaged 16.0 ppg last week, including a team-high 19 points vs. JMU. He’s hit double digits in 4 straight games.

•  Denzel Ingram scored 18 points against Elon. He’s reached double digits in nine of his past 10 contests.

•  Chris Flemmings posted his 4th double-double (17 pts/11 reb) vs. JMU. He’s averaging 18.4 ppg in CAA play and has scored double figures in 14 of the last 15 contests.

•  Jordon Talley scored a team-high 19 points vs. Elon, including hitting six free throws in the final 1:52, and followed with 15 points on 6-of-8 FG shooting vs. JMU.

•  C.J. Bryce added 10 points vs. Elon. He’s tied for the lead in scoring among CAA rookies.

•  Devontae Cacok pulled down a team-high eight rebounds in just 11 minutes vs. Elon.

Northeastern

•  Ended a six-game slide with consecutive victories over Towson (47-44) and Drexel (70-60) last week.

•  David Walker averaged 19.5 ppg last week, including a team-high 21 points vs DU. It was his 10th straight game in double digits and his 11th with 20+ points. He was 5-of-6 from 3 vs. DU and tied the NU season record for treys with 83.

•  Quincy Ford added 16 points vs. Drexel and has scored double digits in 21 of 23 games. He became the 11th player in NU history to go over 1,500 career points.

•  Jeremy Miller averaged 9.0 ppg last week on 7-of-8 FG shooting. He’s shooting 51.9% from the floor and has drained 24 threes.

•  T.J. Williams has reached double digits in 6 of his past 8 contests.

•  Zach Stahl added nine points and a team-high six rebounds against Drexel.

•  NU has made 10 or more treys in 14 games this season, including 11-of-21 vs. Drexel.

 

Towson

•  Went 1-1 last week, losing 47-44 to Northeastern before beating W&M, 99-82.

•  Mike Morsell scored a career-high and Arena record 34 points vs. W&M on 11-of-17 FG shooting, including 4 treys. He has 14 double-figure efforts in the last 16 games.

•  John Davis recorded his 2nd double-double of the season with team-highs of 18 points and 10 rebounds against NU.

•  William Adala Moto tallied 14 points vs. W&M and has scored double digits in 19 of the past 22 games.

•  Towson out-rebounded NU 40-25 and is a CAA-best +7.5 in rebound margin, which also ranks 22n nationally. The Tigers have beaten 12 straight foes on the glass.

•  Timajh Parker-Rivera had 11 rebounds vs. W&M and is now 8th on the school’s all-time rebounds list with 642.

•  Byron Hawkins had 18 points and 6 assists vs. W&M after missing the past two games with an injury.

William & Mary

•  Lost back-to-back games for the first time this season to Hofstra (86-80) and Towson (99-82).

•  Omar Prewitt scored a team-high 25 points against Hofstra and 20 points at Towson. He’s scored 20+ points 11 times this season, including the past four games.

•  David Cohn had 13 points and 5 assists in both games last week. He’s averaging 12.1 ppg and 5.6 apg in CAA play.

•  Daniel Dixon, who had 15 points at Towson, tops W&M with 60 treys on 36.8% shooting.

•  Terry Tarpey had 15 points and 8 rebounds at Towson. He’s scored double digits in 10 of his last 12 games, ranks 4th in the CAA in rebounds, 1st in steals and 2nd in blocks.

•  Connor Burchfield hit 2-of-4 treys vs. HU and is shooting 61.1% (22-36) from 3 in CAA play.

•  Sean Sheldon is shooting 59.6% from the floor for the season.

•   Freshman Hunter Seacat had a career-high 8 points against HU and 5 points at Towson.