Atlantic 10 Basketball: St. Bonaventure on top in latest power rankings

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 10: The Atlantic 10 Logo on a basketball during the game between the St. Bonaventure Bonnies and the Davidson Wildcats during the Semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 10, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images) /

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Kellan Grady Davidson Atlantic 10 Basketball (Photo by Tony Quinn/ISI Photos/Getty Images) /

3. Davidson Wildcats

2020-21 record: 10-5 overall, 6-2 A-10
Previous ranking: 5th

It feels like an eternity ago that Davidson only lost to Texas by two at the Maui Invitational, but fast forward to now – and the Wildcats are one of the lone A-10 teams to not have a bad smudge on their conference record. Likewise, Bob McKillop’s crew have taken care of business against A-10 teams below them – and hence why they end up third here.

Davidson’s lone conference losses have come at home to Richmond and Dayton, the latter in overtime. Why Davidson is ahead of Richmond in these rankings – despite the Spiders owning the head-to-head – is because, again, Davidson does not own a loss to a sub-100 A-10 team – whereas Richmond does to La Salle. Instead, the Wildcats have dismantled Duquesne, Saint Joseph’s, La Salle, and Fordham – all by double-digits – as well as a key road win at URI.

Most recently, the Wildcats overcame a slow start to pick up a crucial road win at UMass on Sunday. Behind a blistering 64.7% clip, the Wildcats were led by reigning conference player of the week Kellan Grady, who – after pouring in 24 points behind seven three-pointers against Fordham – tallied 22 points (5-6 2PT, 3-5 3PT, 3-5 FT) to go with six rebounds and five assists at UMass.

What has made the Wildcats so deadly is their play on the offensive end. They rank first in conference play in 2P% (58.2%) as well as effective FG% (55.5%), and feature four different players who average double-digits in A-10 play. Their ability to have players outside of Grady step up and produce offensively has been big for them – that much was proven against UMass when Hyunjung Lee – a 13.7 point scorer for the season – was the catalyst for Davidson overcoming UMass’ one-point – and final – second-half lead, scoring all eight of his points in a 22-10 run for Davidson.

Davidson has the talent needed to win the A-10 Tournament, and the biggest game of their A-10 schedule looms in the nearby future. The Wildcats will close out January with a home showdown against St. Bonaventure on Saturday.

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