FanHouse Charron Fisher

There's a long history of coaches using their postgame press conference to call out referees. After a tough loss, justified or not, they'll pin the blame on a bad call here or there. Usually, they'll get slapped by their conference or league for their outspokenness. What happens when it's a coach's wife who explodes, though?

Late in yesterday's game at Siena, the Loyola Greyhounds were granted possession and a timeout to the consternation of Saints coach Fran McCaffery. After the timeout, Loyola hit a three to send the game to overtime, where they prevailed 83-76. Before coach McCaffery could get to the podium for the postgame press conference, someone else commented on the controversial call -- his wife.

"Here's your headline: 'We got hosed,' " Mrs. McCaffery told reporters. "Will Bush is a horrendous official."

The coach had to shush her several other times during his comments as well. It's not the first time Margaret McCaffery has injected herself into the action. Both husband and wife were ejected from a game against Hofstra a couple of years ago. If she really wanted to get to the hear of Siena's loss, though, she would have wondered why her husband's team fell down eight in the first four minutes and handed back a seven-point edge with six minutes to play. Those gaffes wasted 37 points from Edwin Ubiles and cost Siena a chance at first place in the league.

There's a very light slate of games around the country this evening and all of them are mid-majors, which should be a good thing for teams looking to gain some exposure. Sadly, few of the games feature anybody all that interesting but that's alright because then you've got no excuse to not watch Siena at Niagara at 9PM. The games on ESPNU and everything, so you needn't be going over the falls in a bucket to catch it.

It should be worth your time for Charron Fisher all by his lonesome. He's the leading scorer in all of Division-I at 27.4 a game and throws in nine and a half rebounds for good measure. He can score any way you like and in the Purple Eagles' uptempo offense, he never lacks opportunities. They spur that offense by being the best rebounding team in the MAAC and that could swing the tide in their favor this evening.

Siena, a smart but slower and more deliberate side, will likely be without Alex Franklin for the sixth straight game. The Saints have lost three of those five and really miss Franklin's rebounding and 15 points a game. Without him on the inside, they'll have to rely on hitting a bunch of threes and slowing down Fisher. That should prove to be too tall an order and give Niagara a leg up on the conference title.

Xavier finished up one of the best weeks in the school's history by routing Auburn 80-57 in Alabama on Sunday. That made them 3-0 for the week with all three wins coming via blowout and coming against Big Six competition. What better way to round into form for Atlantic 10 play? The wins should restore the Musketeers to the Top 25 and should erase any doubts raised by losses to Arizona State and Tennessee.

The Auburn win actually represented a bit of a come-down after the Kansas State and Virginia thumpings. They didn't reach 100 points and only had five players score in double figures instead of the seven they had in each of those games. Those cosmetic differences can't diminish how well Xavier's playing right now. They were 16-of-26 from three for the second straight game, adding another dimension to an already dangerous offense, and recorded assists on all 15 of their field goals in the first half.

Drew Lavender had a lot to do with each of those highlights. He hit five threes and picked up five assists. The latter isn't an overwhelming number but is indicative of how good the 5'7" sprite is at running an offense which operates at an insanely high level. They are the most efficient team in the nation and Lavender is the biggest reason. We'll have a full A-10 preview before conference play kicks off Wednesday but here's a preview - Xavier will be at the top.

The rest of the winners and losers:

Vanderbilt and UMass can both put up points in a hurry and they didn't disappoint in Nashville yesterday. Shan Foster hit eight threes to become Vandy's all-time leader in made longballs and the Commodores improved to 15-0 in a 97-88 home win. While the Minutemen couldn't continue the A-10's upset string they did cast some doubts about the long-term fitness of VU.

Ricky Harris, Chris Lowe and Gary Forbes had their way with the Commodore defense and scored 25, 22 and 22 points, respectively. Their drives to the lane were unimpeded and their threes thrown up without a hand in the face, two things the Commodores desperately need to change if they hope to contend for SEC honors. Give Kevin Stallings credit, though, he realized that the one chance he had, with UMass up nine in the second half, was shifting to a zone that forced them to shoot from deep. Harris was 5-of-10 from three but his mates were 3-of-14 and Vandy ran away behind Foster's dead-eye shooting.

It wasn't like the Minutemen weren't guarding him. He was hitting with hands in his face and still finished with 32 points. The defense was keying on him, to its detriment, as A.J. Ogilvy was open inside all day, drawing fouls and finishing with 25 of his own. UMass hung with a good team but their lack of stopping power is going to cost them in A-10 play.

Elsewhere on the mid major hardcourts:

Other than the A-10, which will try to pull their upsets in the SEC this weekend after doubling down on ACC beatings last night, the mid major conferences are into their conference seasons. None are deeper into league play than the Southern Conference which has teams with as many as five games under their belt. That makes it one of the easier ones to project, election-style, at this early date.

Davidson, to no one's surprise, is 3-0 and, after dominating Georgia Southern 92-67 last night, looking like a sure bet in the Western Division. GSU has played well this season but were overwhelmed by Stephen Curry and there doesn't appear to be a SoCon team that can hang with the Wildcats. Playing up out of conference hurt their bottom line but it looks to have had the right effect on their play.

In the East, Chattanooga and Elon have broken from the gate with aplomb. The Mocs are 4-0 after holding off Wofford 85-78 last night. Wofford made an astounding 17 three-pointers and led by 12 in the first half but Stephen McDowell made six of his own to turn the tide. Elon also has four wins although they lost to Chattanooga, leaving them a half-game back. They scored the first eight points of the second half to take their first road win of the year, 72-63 against The Citadel. Still, each team will need to catch Davidson at their worst to harbor hopes of the Big Dance.

Elsewhere on the mid major hardcourts:

One of the best moves the Horizon League has ever made was their decision to welcome Valparaiso to the fold this season. The Crusaders helped the conference to a 5-1 mark in games played Sunday and they are 10-1 after routing Chicago State 90-61. The vowel obsessed Samuel Haanpaa hit 10 three-pointers and finished with 32 points to lead Valpo to their eighth straight victory. The Finnish sharpshooter and the rest of Homer Drew's crew will have to be at their best over the next two weeks to keep the winning streak alive. They play at Wisconsin and then travel to Chapel Hill on December 30 in games that could go a long way toward deciding how many Horizon clubs make the Big Dance.

Butler will certainly be one of them. A.J. Graves shook off his recent struggles and buried seven threes of his own to lead the #19 Bulldogs to a 79-68 win over Florida State. The win, technically a neutral siter despite being in Indianapolis, puts the loss to Wright State well into the rear-view. Those Raiders had another impressive win, coming back from 16 down to beat Miami of Ohio 58-57. Illinois-Chicago beat DePaul for Windy City bragging rights while their Land of Lincoln compatriots at Loyola knocked off Northern Illinois to round out a great day for the Horizon.

The rest of the winners and losers after the jump.