At the risk of tempting The Fates to rule against the CAA, I must point out that the 2009-2010 season, The Year of Irony, rolls on. In the past we compared this year and some incredible coincidence to that of the storied 2005-06 year. We’re not saying anything other than the set up is nice, but it’s still amazing to consider.

And Saturday’s action kept it going: In the 05-06 season, ODU was rolling along and went into the Patriot Center and was bludgeoned, 66-47. I remember that game because Craig Littlepaige (head of the Selection Committee) was in attendance, sitting in between Tom Yeager and Tom O’Connor.

BOXSCORES

Mason 71, ODU 55

VCU 91, The Dub 57

W&M 48, Hofstra 47

Georgia State 70, Towson 61

Nor’easter 73, James Madison 61

Delaware 62, Drexel 58

WHAT WE LEARNED
1. Trey Hampton can read subliminal blog callouts. After a CAA: LAMM prompting, he went 9-10 from the field and scored 22 points and had four blocks, dominating soft Towson in the paint. Joe Dukes had a winners 13/10/7 stat line. Hampton went 8-for-8 with 16 points last time out against Georgia Southern, and over the last three games is 21-25 from the field. He is the fourth different Panther to top the 20-point mark this season, along with Dukes, Trae Goldston and Xavier Hansbro.

2. NU needs Matt Janning to take more shots, and Chase Allen to make more shots–at least from beyond the arc. Janning hit just 2-6 threes, and Allen swished 4-5. It’s important because Janning took more and Allen had a higher percentage. That’s the way it oughta’ be for NU to play well offensively.

3. Showing your opponent itself in a mirror is a winning strategy. Mason out ODU’d ODU. Rebounding (36-30), defense, all of it. In the stretch the Monarchs usually take out an opponent, Mason took them out with a combination of precise offense, and solid box outs. Mason only committed seven team fouls for the entire game and held ODU to 42% shooting. BTW, Gerald Lee needs to grab more than three rebounds, especially in big games.

WHAT WE VERIFIED
1. Luck favors the bold, and officials cannot escape controversy. Hofstra’s Nat Lester rebounded a miss as time waned, and was clearly fouled as he attempted a gamewinner against The Fightin’ Pugs. One official whistled the foul, but another waved it off. While Lester, Greg Washington, and Chaz Williams pleaded their case, the third official came in, agreed with the latter ref, and called game over.

Hofstra coach Tom Pecora chased after the referees as they walked off the court and said afterward: “That’s not what I saw out there.”

2. College basketball is a game of runs. Pick your run. There were a lot of different numbers: 22-4, 30-4, etc. But Delaware somehow put it to Drexel in a big way spanning the half. A 33-20 Drexel lead became a 51-37 deficit, prompting me to exclaim from the driver’s seat “they’re losing?” (The Dragons recovered to tie the game at 56-56 with 1:39 left–a 19-5 run.)

In DeeCee, Mason was trailing ODU 41-40 with 15:00 to play and went on an 18-4 run. NU opened 9-0 on JMU. And of course VCU/UNCW was one giant 40-minute run.

3. Athletic size is the difference for William & Mary. Ken Brown gives Danny Sumner an alter ego who can match up physically with CAA guards. While everyone is focused on tight cuts and a hybrid system, don’t you forget Brown can guard Charles Jenkins (only two free throw attempts Saturday), and that is something few CAA teams can boast. At 6-8 and possessing a shooter’s touch, Sumner still needs to be reckoned with despite his slump.

Throw all of those factors into a basket, and you have David Cone in his prime. Nothing overly dominating, but when you take the whole arsenal you have a Cy Young winner. Or maybe it’s the mustache.

WHAT WE DON’T KNOW
1. Home cooking on tap this year? Other than last season, home teams have generally thumped the roadies. On Saturday, home teams were 5-1. We could be seeing the return of “win at home, steal a few on the road, and don’t play Friday.”

2. The effects of rest on the four-in-eight grind. VCU had 10 players on the floor for between 12-19 minutes, and NU went deeper and for more bench minutes and scoring than any other Huskies game this year. NkemO was the only Huskies starter to play more than 27 minutes. These two squads play tonight. Side note: Julius Wells played all 40 minutes, in Boston, for JMU.

3. Give Em Hell Denzel Bowles apparently gave someone some hell that doesn’t suit up for a JMU opponent. He was a “healthy scratch” for the NU game.

BOXSCORE FLUNKIES
1. Ken Brown only scored three points for William & Mary–his winning three point play with 17 seconds left. However it was his strip and steal of Chuck Jenkins with 57 seconds that led to a Danny Sumner dunk and a tie game at 45-45 that was the biggie. You have to be in position to win, and if Jenkins scores, it’s game over for Hofstra.

2. Despite another poor effort from the field, Delaware’s Jawan Carter nailed four free throws in the final 25 seconds (and 10-12 overall) to lift the Hens to the victory over Drexel.

3. Johnny Williams played a solid 13 minutes against ODU and the big front line of the Monarchs. Mason needs beef, and his five points, four rebounds, block, and steal were needed, and impressive.

INTERESTING STATS

1. UNCW missed 29 of its first 31 shots against VCU and fell behind 43-13 and at one point 77-31.

2. Cam Long had eight points, four assists and four turnovers. Mason wins, but that’s not a long term recipe for success.

3. Jawan Carter shot 2-9 and 0-3 to stay in his slump.

4. In 11 games, VCU has had six different leading scorers. Eight players have scored in double figures during a game, and eight are averaging at least 7.2 points. (Thanks to Tim Pearrell of the RTD.)

5. Per Jerry Beach: “The Dutchmen played a brilliant defensive game, limiting the Tribe to less than 50 points three days after it went into College Park and racked up 87 in routing Maryland. The Tribe entered Saturday as one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the nation yet was just 3-of-16 from beyond the arc and shot just 36 percent overall.” Now read that as a Pugs fan.

MY FAVORITE THINGS
1. Baptiste Bataille scored 11 points and had five assists in 25 minutes in the NU victory over JMU.

2. Marcus Kitts, a guy you may have to look up to see who he plays for, hit 5-6 field goals for the Pugs. Kitts has bided his time and taken punishment a a flop, but is blossoming this season. Good for him.

3. We go again tonight.

BEST COACHING QUOTE
“I’ve been in the league long enough to know how difficult it is,” Tony Shaver told the NY Times. “A lot of people think if you beat a Wake Forest, it automatically equates into lots of CAA wins, and I respect the league so much I know how difficult that will be. But I am very eager to see how we do.”