Atlantic 10 Basketball: Observations from first month of 2018-19

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 09: Virginia Commonwealth Rams fans cheer against the Rhode Island Rams during the first half in the Quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 9, 2018 in Washington, DC.(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – NOVEMBER 23: Luwane Pipkins #2 of the Massachusetts Minutemen dribbles against Jazz Johnson #22 of the Nevada Wolf Pack during the championship game of the 2018 Continental Tire Las Vegas Holiday Invitational basketball tournament at the Orleans Arena on November 23, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Nevada defeated Massachusetts 110-87. (Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images) /

UMass is a possible dark horse

Underneath the current top-4 (Davidson, Dayton, VCU, Saint Louis), there is a sizeable mix of teams that could plausibly contend for the A10 title. Duquesne, Rhode Island, St. Joe’s, and UMass have all been inconsistent, but they’ve shown that they’ll likely able to run with anybody on any given night.

Of all of those teams, however, UMass is the only one that has multiple good wins (vs. Southern Illinois and at Providence). The Minutemen do have a few questionable losses (Harvard and Holy Cross) and one inexcusable one (Howard), but their ceiling has been just as promising as their floor has been disappointing.

There’s no doubt that Matt McCall has the raw talent on his roster to make the Minutemen competitive; Luwane Pipkins should be one of the A10 Player of the Year favorites, and Carl Pierre and Curtis Cobb can light it up on any given night. It was unknown, however, if they’d have the chemistry or identity with so many new transfers and freshmen added into the mix. While there undoubtedly have been growing pains and head-scratching performances, it looks like the Minutemen are starting to click.

Next. A-10 Power Rankings. dark

They are 4-2 in their last six, their most recent win being a tough 20-point comeback on the road against Providence. If they can follow that performance with a win at Temple on Wednesday, the aforementioned top-4 may have to become a top-5.

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