FanHouse Pat Calathes

It will be tough for Saint Joseph's to top the 2004 season when they finished the regular season undefeated and nabbed a first seed in the NCAA tournament. When all is said and done, however, Phil Martelli might end up being just as proud of this year's edition. They've won 11 of their last 12, have climbed into contention for the A-10 crown and, with yesterday's thumping of Villanova, can strut around Philly with their heads held high.

The 77-55 rout was Nova's first Big 5 loss since 2004 and their fifth straight loss overall. The Wildcats are going to have to turn it around fast if they'd like to qualify for the Big East tournament, let alone the NCAA one. They can't shoot, turn the ball over in bunches and have no leadership to guide them through the tough times.

The Hawks, on the other hand, just added another feather to their rapidly filling cap of tournament worthiness. As usual, it was Pat Calathes who led them to victory. He scored 20 points, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked three shots. Another senior, Rob Ferguson, scored 20 as well and the experienced Hawks overwhelmed the reeling Wildcats from the opening tip.

SJU fans even got in on the fun. They were waving signs that read "Even Tim Donaghy bet on SJU," reminding the losers of their infamous graduate and the easy to see coming win.

Wins over big-time nonconference opponents earned teams like Dayton and Rhode Island a lot of headlines in the first two months of the season. Each flew to the top of the RPI and into the Top 25 before getting cooled off by A-10 opposition. The Saint Joseph's Hawks, on the other hand, lost to teams big (Gonzaga) and small (Holy Cross) while navigating their way through a challenging early schedule. Once league play started, though, they've been a bear.

Three road wins, including last night's 61-59 victory at GW, highlight a 5-1 start that has them tied for the league lead and thinking about dancing for the first time since 2004. The reasons for their success are very similar to the reasons for co-leader Xavier's. They are well rounded team that does everything well.

Pat Calathes scores 18 points and grabs eight rebounds a game, throwing in a flair for the dramatic as well. His shots have beaten Temple and GW in the last two games and his 45% three-point shooting stretches defenses beyond their limit. Ahmed Nivins controls the paint and scores 14.5 a night on 63% shooting. Iowa State transfer Tasheed Carr missed four games with injury but returned last night with six assists. That's what the point guard's averaging per game, in addition to 11 points and five rebounds.

Xavier 68, Fordham 50 - After beating St. Bonaventure this week, Sean Miller wasn't happy with the way his team played defense. Yesterday, though, he had no reason to be upset. The Musketeers shut out the Rams for seven minutes and set a new low in points allowed on the season. Up six at the half, the X-men put the game away with a 16-4 run to start the second half. C.J. Anderson and B.J. Raymond combined for 11 of the points and Raymond led the team with 20 points overall. Bryant Dunston, Fordham's impressive big man, had 19 points and 11 rebounds but couldn't overcome a keyed up Musketeer defense.

Rhode Island 80, Duquesne 78 - The Rams narrowly avoided a second straight loss to start conference play thanks to Jimmy Baron's late heroics. Baron hit a fadeaway jumper with three seconds left to put the Rams up one after Reggie Jackson missed a big free throw. Jackson led the Dukes with 19 points while the Rams got another huge game from Will Daniels. He tied a season-high with 28 points and added 11 rebounds. Kahiem Seawright also had a big game for URI. He scored nine points, grabbed 10 caroms and blocked four shots.

Day one of the Atlantic 10's conference season was a good one. So good, in fact, that they didn't even let the start of league play stop them from knocking off another ACC school. Charlotte went into Clemson and whipped the Tigers 82-72 to even their record against the conference to 2-2 on the season. While that's a good thing for the A-10 and the Niners, it's a bad thing for those of us who wrote that Charlotte's inconsistency has made them a little disappointing this season. At least we saved ourselves by pointing out Leemire Goldwire's skills. He had 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead the upset.

On the league front, there was a dandy of an opener in Dayton where the #22 Flyers played host to #20 Rhode Island in a thriller. The Rams cut a 13-point Dayton lead to four with 90 seconds to play but Marcus Johnson nailed a three on the next trip downcourt and the home team escaped 92-83. Brian Roberts was also huge down the stretch for Dayton. Despite the full attention of the Ram defense that forced him into seven turnovers, Roberts scored nine points in the final two and a half minutes to keep his team in front.

That defense was a key for Rhode Island all night. They forced 18 turnovers overall but it came with a downside.