CAA Men's Basketball

CAA Men's Basketball Report | Jan. 9, 2023

CAA Men's Basketball Report | Jan. 9, 2023

Catch up on the CAA Men's Basketball weekly news, notes and awards.

Jan 10, 2023 by FloHoops Staff
CAA Men's Basketball Report | Jan. 9, 2023

Catch up on the CAA Men's Basketball weekly news, notes and awards.

SCHEDULE AND RESULTS

Wednesday, Jan. 4
Charleston 92, North Carolina A&T 79 *
UNCW 81, Elon 66 *

Thursday, Jan. 5
Towson 64, Drexel 58 *
William & Mary 69, Northeastern 66 *
Hofstra 67, Hampton 51 *
Stony Brook 67, Monmouth 56 *

Saturday, Jan. 7
Drexel 67, Monmouth 35 *
Hofstra 75, William & Mary 62 *
UNCW 66, North Carolina A&T 61 *
Northeastern 79, Hampton 63 *
Charleston 75, Delaware 64 *
Towson 67, Stony Brook 55 *

Wednesday, Jan. 11
Charleston at UNCW * (FloHoops), 7 p.m.
Towson at Delaware * (FloHoops), 7 p.m.
North Carolina A&T at Elon * (FloHoops), 7 p.m.
Hampton at William & Mary * (Cox [Va.], FloHoops), 7 p.m.
Monmouth at Hofstra * (FloHoops), 7 p.m.

Thursday, Jan. 12
Drexel at Stony Brook * (CBSSN), 7 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 14
Drexel at Northeastern * (FloHoops), noon
Delaware at Hofstra * (FloHoops), 2 p.m.
Stony Brook at North Carolina A&T * (FloHoops), 2 p.m.
Monmouth at Towson * (CBSSN), 3 p.m.
Elon at Charleston * (FloHoops), 4 p.m.
William & Mary at UNCW * (CBSSN), 5 p.m.

Monday, Jan. 16
Hofstra at Towson * (NBCSW, FloHoops), noon
William & Mary at 22/24 Charleston * (FloHoops), 5 p.m.
Delaware at Northeastern * (NESN, FloHoops), 6 p.m.
Elon at UNCW * (FloHoops), 7 p.m.
North Carolina A&T at Hampton * (FloHoops), 7 p.m.

* - CAA game

WEEKLY AWARDS

CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Aaron Estrada, Hofstra

Redshirt Senior | Guard | Woodbury, New Jersey / St. Benedict’s

Estrada averaged 20.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 6.0 assists per game in a 2-0 week to get Hofstra to 3-1 in CAA play. The defending CAA Player of the Year tallied 20 points, seven rebounds, and five assists while playing all 40 minutes of Thursday’s win at Hampton and followed with 20 points, four rebounds, and seven assists in a Saturday victory at William & Mary. Estrada shot 55% from the field and 45% from three-point range.

CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Nicolas Timberlake, Towson

Graduate Student | Guard | Braintree, Massachusetts / Kimball Union

Timberlake contributed 22.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per contest as Towson won both games to improve to 2-1 in league action. He rattled off 24 points on 9-of-15 shooing while grabbing five rebounds in Thursday’s victory over Drexel and notched 20 points, six rebounds, and six assists in Saturday’s win at Stony Brook. Timberlake led the way in scoring in both games for a Towson team missing two starters from its backcourt.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

Duncan Powell, North Carolina A&T

Redshirt Freshman | Forward | Dallas, Texas / DeSoto

Powell averaged 12.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game against the top two teams in the league standings to repeat as the Rookie of the Week. The Dallas native contributed 20 points and six rebounds on Wednesday against No. 23 Charleston on 7-of-14 shooting and 3-of-6 from three and tallied five points, five rebounds, and three steals Saturday vs. UNCW.

2022-23 CAA MEN’S BASKETBALL WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS

Player of the Week

Nov. 14: Nicolas Timberlake, Towson
Nov. 21: Aaron Estrada, Hofstra; Ryan Larson, Charleston
Nov. 28: Cam Holden, Towson
Dec. 5: Jyáre Davis, Delaware; Jordan Nesbitt, Hampton
Dec. 12: Jameer Nelson Jr., Delaware
Dec. 19: Jyáre Davis, Delaware
Dec. 26: Maleeck Harden-Hayes, UNCW
Jan. 2: Amari Williams, Drexel
Jan. 9: Aaron Estrada, Hofstra; Nicolas Timberlake, Towson

Rookie of the Week

Nov. 14: Amar’e Marshall, Hofstra
Nov. 21: Amar’e Marshall, Hofstra
Nov. 28: Amar’e Marshall, Hofstra
Dec. 5: Jack Collins, Monmouth
Dec. 12: Amar’e Marshall, Hofstra
Dec. 19: Noah Ross, UNCW
Dec. 26: Max Mackinnon, Elon; Jared Turner, Northeastern
Jan. 2: Duncan Powell, North Carolina A&T
Jan. 9: Duncan Powell, North Carolina A&T

NEWS AND NOTES

World Colliding 

The week will begin with a showdown of the nation’s two longest winning streaks, as Charleston visits UNCW. 

Charleston (16-1) has won 15 straight games, with the only loss this season coming to North Carolina, while UNCW (14-3) has been victorious in 13 straight, with its only setbacks coming against North Carolina, Oklahoma and UConn. 

The Cougars begin the week at No. 22 in the AP poll and No. 51 in the NET, while the Seahawks are No. 86 in the NET.

Q&A 

CAA teams hold eight wins that qualify as Quad 1 or Quad 2 in the NET. 

UNCW’s victory over North Texas in the Bahamas puts a Q1 win on the Seahawks résumé, while Hofstra has three Q2 wins (Iona, San Jose State, Princeton), Charleston (Kent State, Virginia Tech) has two and Delaware (Princeton) and North Carolina A&T (Hofstra) each have one.

The CAA went 6-2 against both the Sun Belt and MAAC, 8-3 against the A10 and 7-3 against the SoCon this winter, in addition to wins over the ACC and American. 

Continue To #RankCharleston

Charleston is No. 22 in this week’s AP Top 25, as the Cougars are the first CAA team ranked in the AP poll since Navy in January 1987. George Mason was ranked in the coaches’ poll in 2006 and 2011, along with VCU in 2011. 

Charleston’s 16 wins - the most in the nation - include six over NCAA Tournament teams and four defending conference champions (ACC, A10, CAA, SoCon), a title in the Charleston Classic and the lone setback at preseason No. 1 North Carolina.

Thirteen For The Seahawks

UNCW has won 13 straight games, including Saturday’s victory over North Carolina A&T. 

The Seahawks have climbed 111 spots in KenPom, won the Baha Mar Hoops event and defeated a member of The American during the streak. 

UNCW shot 48.2% in its first four league games, while holding opponents to 41.3% with a +10.5 rebounding margin.

Drexel Getting Defensive

Drexel’s 59.4 points per game allowed ranks 14th nationally, and the Dragons have held their opponents under 60 in all nine victories with two opponents - UT Arlington and Monmouth - kept under 40. 

The Dragons allowed 51.3 points per game in their first four league contests and outrebounded their opponents by 10.8 boards per game.

Delaware Duo Producing

Delaware is 6-3 in its last nine games, including victories over Davidson, Delaware State, Siena, Princeton, Rider and Elon. Jameer Nelson Jr. and Jyáre Davis have combined for eight 20-point efforts in that stretch.

We Like A Challenge

Three CAA teams rank among the top 50 most-challenging nonconference schedules, according to the NET. 

Hofstra has played the 25th-toughest non-league slate in the nation, while North Carolina A&T ranks 36th and UNCW is 41st. NET calculations factor in results against Division I opponents.

Eye On The Prize

CBS Sports Network is the home of 18 CAA Men’s Basketball games this winter, including the semifinals and title game of the CAA Championship. 

The 15-game regular season package includes at least one game for every CAA team and will feature John Fanta and Dave Ryan as play-by-play broadcasters. Tarik Turner, Terrence Oglesby and Dr. John Giannini will be the analysts. 

Fanta also will join Karlie Smith for a weekly #CAAHoops breakdown on CAASports.com and @CAABasketball on Twitter.

Keeping The Minutes

Five of the top 16 players nationally in minutes per game are CAA guards. 

Hofstra’s Aaron Estrada has played 38:12 minutes per game, which ranks second in the nation, while Stony Brook’s Tyler Stephenson-Moore is third at 37:44. They’re joined by Towson’s Cam Holden (36:36) and Nicolas Timberlake (36:24) and Hampton’s Deuce Dean (36:28).

AND-ONES

One thing to know about each #CAAHoops team

• Charleston’s 16 wins, .941 winning percentage and 15-game winning streak lead the nation.

• Aleks Novakovich returned to the floor for Delaware on Saturday after missing the last 50 games, dating back to the start of last season, due to injuries.

• Drexel’s Amari Williams ranks in the top 50 nationally in the rate of both blocks (8.5%) and steals (4.2%) of possessions in his time on the floor.

• Elon’s Sean Halloran is seventh in the nation in free-throw percentage at 93.2%.

• Deuce Dean has been on the floor for 92% of Hampton’s total minutes, a rate that places him eighth in the nation.

• Hofstra’s 12 blocks Saturday were the Pride’s most since swatting 12 in a February 2010 Bracketbusters game against Rider.

• Jakari Spence’s 31.9% assist rate when on the floor for Monmouth ranks in the top 50 nationally and second among CAA players.

• North Carolina A&T’s Kam Woods ranks third in the CAA and in the top 50 nationally at 18.6 points per game after averaging 27 in two games last week.

• UNCW reached a program record with its 13th-straight victory Saturday. It is the team’s second consecutive season with a winning streak of at least 12 games.

• The Huskies’ bench has contributed a nation-leading 47.5% of the team’s minutes this winter.

• Stony Brook will play a nationally televised home game Thursday for the first time since hosting Vermont in February 2020.

• Towson’s 6.2% block rate ranks 23rd nationally, with Charles Thompson leading the team individually at 6.3%.

•  Gabe Dorsey’s seven made three-pointers Saturday were the most by a William & Mary player since November 2018.