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Atlantic 10 Basketball: 2020-21 power rankings heading into conference play

By Benjamin Zacher

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 15: The Atlantic 10 logo on the court before the game between the George Washington Colonials and the Richmond Spiders at the Charles E. Smith Athletic Center on January 15, 2015 in Washington, DC. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 15: The Atlantic 10 logo on the court before the game between the George Washington Colonials and the Richmond Spiders at the Charles E. Smith Athletic Center on January 15, 2015 in Washington, DC. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images) /
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Davidson Wildcats  Kellan Grady Nicole Sweet-USA TODAY Sports
Davidson Wildcats  Kellan Grady Nicole Sweet-USA TODAY Sports /

5. Davidson Wildcats

  • 2020-21 record: 5-4 overall, 1-1 A-10
  • Previous ranking: 6th

The Wildcats were one bucket away from owning the best win of anyone in the A-10, falling to Texas in the Maui Invitational back in November – and they continue to be an impressive surprise in the conference, having gone 3-2 since last month’s rankings.  Among those are blowout wins over Georgia Southern and Vanderbilt and an A-10 opening win at URI, as well as a bad loss to Charlotte.

Their most recent outing – an 80-74 home loss to Richmond – may have ceased any potential of an at-large bid for Davidson, but the Wildcats still have the talent needed to win the conference.  Like Dayton, they have not gotten much consistent production from their bench – their sixth-man averages 3.8 points per game – but their starting five, where each player averages at least 26 minutes a game, has been stellar.

The three-man tandem of Hyunjung Lee (17.4 ppg), Kellan Grady (16.7 ppg), and Carter Collins (14.2 ppg) – all of whom shoot at least 43% and average at least 3.8 rebounds – headline a Davidson squad that maintains one of the most efficient offenses in college basketball – the 24th-best, to be exact.  All the while, the Wildcats play the 352nd slowest tempo in Div. I.

That slow, methodical style of play allows for the Wildcats to earn quality shots and take care of the ball.  They rank 39th in effective field goal percentage (55.4%) while turning the ball over on just 17.7% of their possessions, the 87th-best mark.  Subsequently, they shoot well from the floor, with a 36.3% (79th) clip from long-range and a 56.3% mark from inside, which ranks 36th.  They are a mixed bag defensively, however, coming in at 111th on 3P% defense (31.6%) but 255th in 2P% defense (53.2%).

After their disappointing loss to Richmond, the Wildcats will have an opportunity to rebound with two pivotal outings – one on Tuesday at Duquesne and another on Friday, when they host Dayton.

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