NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The Atlantic 10 Conference has named Butler senior Andrew Smith its men’s basketball Player of the Week and Xavier freshman Semaj Christon its Rookie of the Week. The awards were announced Monday for games played during the week of Jan. 7-13.
Smith helped Butler begin the conference season with back-to-back roads wins at preseason conference favorite Saint Joseph’s and Dayton. The center recorded his second double-double this season and the sixth of his career with 24 points and 10 rebounds at Saint Joseph’s. A Zionsville, Ind., native, he had 14 points and six rebounds in the final 20 minutes to help Butler secure the road win. Smith then helped the Bulldogs overcome the loss of leading scorer Rotnei Clarke with 13 points, four rebounds, four assists and a blocked shot at Dayton. He had a key 3-point field goal and a pair of free throws in the final 6:20 to help the Bulldogs stave off a Dayton comeback attempt. Butler improved to 10-0 this season when Smith scores in double-figures.
Christon, a Cincinnati native, averaged 18.5 points per game in a pair of conference-opening wins for Xavier. Christon scored 16 points on 7-of-15 (.467) shooting in the win over Temple. He followed that with 21 points and seven assists versus George Washington. He shot .692 (9-of-13) versus the Colonials The guard also tallied two rebounds in each game to go with 4.5 assists per game and 1.0 steals per game, while shooting 57.1 percent from the field.
Charlotte’s Pierria Henry scored 20 points against La Salle and grabbed 10 rebounds versus Rhode Island in a 2-0 week for the Niners … Last week’s Rookie of the Week Willie Clayton had an 11 point, 13-rebound double-double in Charlotte’s win over Rhody … Kevin Dillard averaged 15.0 points in Dayton’s two games last week, including shooting 6-of-7 at the line (.857) … Freshman Dyshawn Pierre had 14 points for Dayton and nine rebound for Dayton versus Butler and he averaged 8.5 rebounds in the Flyers two games last week … Duquesne freshman Derrick Colter was one assist shy of a double-double, tallying 17 points and nine assists against Fordham … Chris Gaston turned in a pair of double-doubles last week, including an 18-point, 10-rebound effort that led Fordham to a conference-play opening win over Duquesne… Lasan Kromah averaged a team-best 13.0 points on 71 percent shooting (10-14), tallying 14 points for George Washington in a win over St. Bonaventure … Tyreek Duren led La Salle with 13.5 points and 6.0 assists per game in the Explorers’ split week, including a 15-point, seven-assist, seven rebound game in the win over Richmond … Chaz Williams of UMass had a 22-point, seven assist, six rebound game against Fordham while averaging 16 points, seven assists and six rebounds in the Minutemen’s two games …Saint Louis’ Rob Loe averaged 18.5 points in two games for the Billikens, recording a 17-point, 11- rebound double-double at Temple … Anthony Lee had a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double against Saint Louis to lead Temple to its first win, following a 15-point outing at Xavier …VCU’s Treveon Graham was a perfect 10-for-10 in free throws in a 24-point performance versus Dayton and he was one rebound shy of a double-double in a 17-point, nine-rebound effort against Bona … Brad Redford scored a career-high 21 points on a career-high seven made threes to help Xavier to a win over George Washington.
