PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Xander Rice, Monmouth

Graduate Student | Guard | West Long Branch, N.J. / The Patrick School

Rice had a massive week offensively for Monmouth, averaging 29.7 points per game over three contests with 26 or more in all three. The guard from Central Jersey scored 29 on 11-of-12 shooting in Monday’s win over Northeastern, tallied 26 on Thursday at UNCW, and a career-high 34 on Saturday at Charleston. Rice shot 60% from two and from three on the week, going 15-for-25 from both areas of the floor, and made his final 11 shots of Monmouth’s nationally televised win over Northeastern.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

Tyler Tejada, Towson

Freshman | Guard | Teaneck, N.J. / Teaneck

Tejada averaged 12.5 points per game in a 1-1 week for Towson that included an overtime victory over Stony Brook. The guard from North Jersey scored 16 in the win over the Seawolves and added nine in Saturday’s game at Northeastern. For the week, Tejada shot 50% (8-16) overall and 4-of-7 from distance.

NEWS AND NOTES

DRAGONS BREATHING FIRE

Drexel is off to a 5-0 start in CAA play for the first time in its league tenure after Saturday’s 89-69 win at Elon. The Dragons’ five-game start to league play is its best since opening its America East schedule 5-0 in 1996-97.

Drexel has recorded a scoring margin of +19.0 points, rebounding margin of +8.6, and shot 51.9% while holding its opposition to 37% in the five-game stretch that has inclueded the last three on the road.

FLYING HIGH IN THE LOWCOUNTRY

Charleston is on a nine-game winning streak after defeating Monmouth, 94-83, on Saturday. It’s tied for the fifth-longest active streak nationally. The Cougars have won 11 of 12, with their only loss since Nov. 17 to nationally ranked FAU.

HOME IS JUST ANOTHER WORD FOR WIN

Home teams have gone 18-10 in the early portion of conference play. CAA teams went 52-12 (.813) at home in non-conference play; 13 of 14 teams won at least one home game.

HEN-CINNATI

Delaware bounced back from a 10-point deficit in the first half to down Xavier, 87-80, on Dec. 5. The Blue Hens shot 50% and turned the Muskeeters over 17 times while receiving a career night from Jalun Trent (27 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists.

STATEMENT SATURDAY

Drexel and UNCW took down AP Top 25 opponents on Dec. 2 with Drexel holding off No. 18 Villanova, 57-55, and UNCW powering past No. 12 Kentucky, 80-73. It marked the first time in league history that two CAA teams defeated Top 25 opponents in the same day. The CAA holds wins over the Big East (2x), Big 12, and SEC in 2023-24.

CHECKING THE NET

Drexel leads the CAA with a NET of 105 in the latest update. Charleston (110), UNCW (120), Hofstra (123) and Delaware (129) are close behind. Drexel, UNCW, and Delaware each hold a Q1 win, while Charleston has one Q2 win.

TROPHIES

Drexel and Hofstra were winners of their multi-team events with the Dragons taking both games in the Market Street Challenge and the Pride sweeping the three-game bracketed Gulf Coast Showcase. Hofstra’s Tyler Thomas took MVP honors in Florida after averaging 30.3 points per game in wins over Buffalo, Wright State, and High Point.

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 vs. East Carolina, Hofstra vs. South Florida) and one vs. the Big 12 (Monmouth at West Virginia) and SEC (UNCW at Kentucky).

TURN UP THE VOLUME

Hofstra’s Tyler Thomas, North Carolina A&T’s Landon Glasper, and Monmouth’s Xander Rice have combined for 12 of the CAA’s top 25 scoring performances this year with four each.

Thomas’ 40 points against High Point are the most in the CAA this year, while Thomas and Glasper have scored 30+ points three times and Rice twice. Thomas’ 22.8 points per game rank fourth nationally, Rice is 11th at 20.7, UNCW’s Trazarien White is 18th at 20.3, and Glasper is 27th at 19.9.

ALMOST HEAVEN, CENTRAL JERSEY

Monmouth made a statement in the season’s opening week with a 73-65 victory over West Virginia in Morgantown. Graduate transfer Xander Rice scored 30 points in his second game playing at Monmouth for his father, King Rice, who defeated a high-major opponent for the ninth time at the helm of the Hawks program. The victory was the CAA’s first over a school in the Big 12 at the time of the matchup since VCU’s Elite Eight win over Kansas in 2011.

WHOLE LOTTA WINS

The longest-tenured head coach in the CAA, Northeastern’s Bill Coen tied Jim Larranaga for first in conference history with his 183rd league win (conference games + CAA Championship) on Saturday.

Towson’s Pat Skerry ranks sixth on the list with 116, 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.

One Thing To Know About Each CAA Team

Campbell

Anthony Dell’Orso scored the final six points of Saturday’s win and scored his most points in his four career double-doubles (29) while tallying a career-high 13 rebounds.

Charleston

Charleston’s nine-game winning streak is tied for sixth nationally behind Utah State (15), Samford (15), Grand Canyon (12),  Dayton (10), and Memphis (10).

Delaware

Gerald Drumgoole, Jr. averaged 18.0 points per game on the week for Delaware with 20 in the win at Campbell and 16 at UNCW.

Drexel

Drexel has scored 50+ points in the first half twice in its first five CAA games with 55 vs. Hampton and 53 at Elon.

Elon

Elon has made 10 or more three-pointers seven times this season after sinking 11 against Drexel.

Hampton

Kyrese Mullen just missed his league-leading 10th double-double vs. W&M, finishing with a team-high 22 points and nine rebounds. He leads the CAA with 9.7 rpg and ranks eighth in scoring (15.5 ppg).

Hofstra

Darlinstone Dubar has been in double figures in 18 straight games and grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds Saturday.

Monmouth

Xander Rice is averaging a league-best 27.5 points per game in CAA games with 21, 29, 26, and a career-high 34 in his first four.

North Carolina A&T

Jason Murphy contributed nine points, nine rebounds and three blocks vs. Drexel. He’s averaging 7.5 points and 8.3 rebounds over his past four games.

UNCW

UNCW went 13-for-13 at the free-throw line in Sunday’s win over Delaware.

Northeastern

Luka Sakota returned after missing two games due to injury and scored a team-high 19 points vs. Hofstra and 18 to lead the Huskies vs. Towson.

Stony Brook

Saturday’s win over William & Mary featured four lead changes over the final 2:05, with the final one coming on Aaron Clarke’s deep three-pointer with 25 seconds remaining.

Towson

Towson set a new school record by winning its 15th straight home game vs. Stony Brook. The Tigers are 7-0 at TU Arena this season.

William & Mary

Sean Houpt was 5-of-6 from three on Saturday and is shooting 42.1% from distance in conference play