Beltway Basketball Beat: Eagles get crucial conference win

Dave Preston is an AP Top 25 voter. Read his ballots here.

With 31 (for the most part) regular season games and conference schedules ranging from 14 to 20 dates, sometimes you don’t know what the pivotal matchups are until weeks — or even months — later.

That was not the case Monday night at American University’s Bender Arena. The Eagles (10-8, 3-2 Patriot League) hosted preseason favorite Navy (12-6, 4-1) roughly 10 months after they beat the Midshipmen to advance to the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

The matchup came at a pivotal moment for an AU team slipping in the standings after its come-from-ahead loss at Colgate and home humbling against Holy Cross. But the Eagles set the tone early on defense and held the Mids to 4-14 with 11 turnovers in the first half while limiting them to 17 points before intermission.

The Eagles also won the battle of the boards against the Patriot League’s top rebounding team. And they held off multiple charges in the second half thanks to timely baskets from Greg Jones (a career-high 23 points) and Wyatt Nausadis (17 off the bench).

It’s just one game and there’s plenty of basketball left, but the 65-51 win had the feel of a champion serving a contender a notice that the Midshipmen might be tied for first place, but they’re still chasing American.

“It’s important, because we know everybody coming into tonight was obviously watching what Navy was going to do; they’re at the top of the standings,” Eagles coach Duane Simpkins said. “And then for this to be the first nationally televised game for Patriot League play was really important. Everybody’s watching us tonight, so that’s pretty cool. It’s one game, but it is a good one.”

Three of AU’s next four games are on the road, starting with Sunday’s trip to Army.

Starting five

Up top: Michigan’s home loss to Wisconsin drops the Wolverines out of the top spot on my AP ballot (and that was after a two-point win at 0-5 in the Big Ten Penn State). Arizona and Iowa State run 1-2 and it’s a shame the two Big 12 schools won’t meet until March 2 in their only regular season showdown (the Cyclones have since lost to fall from the ranks of the unbeaten).

Major variances from the consensus poll: I have No. 19 Florida at 23 this week and unranked Saint Louis at No. 20.

Toughest omissions: Georgia, Utah State, Saint Mary’s and Seton Hall. Small school shoutouts: Miami (Ohio) and George Mason.

Going inside: Howard (10-8, 1-2 MEAC) snapped a three-game slide while posting its first conference win of the winter by dominating Delaware State 84-58 on Monday night. If the Bison are going to continue their climb up the standings, their defense that allows the fewest points per game in the MEAC needs to continue its recent roll: the other night they tallied 21 points off 15 Hornet turnovers while holding DSU to 37% shooting.

They also need leading scorer Bryce Harris to return to his pre-Christmas form: since Dec. 25 the senior guard has averaged 7 points and 5 rebounds per game while shooting 30% from the field and 1-9 from 3-point range. Bryce gets his first chance Saturday at North Carolina Central, and in his most recent game against the Eagles he scored 23 points in a HU win.

Perimeter pass: George Mason (17-1, 5-0 Atlantic 10) not only leads the conference, but the Patriots’ last four games have seen the school beat the Rams of Rhode Island, Fordham and VCU, as well as the Ramblers of Loyola Chicago.

Last Saturday’s 86-80 win over VCU was a rematch of last March’s Atlantic 10 Tournament Championship Game, and this win meant more than just continuing the best start in program history.

“Every game’s going to be a bear. Everyone’s fighting for their lives in conference play. Anybody can beat anybody anywhere and I just thought our intensity level was so high,” coach Tony Skinn said.

“We had so many moments where the game could have got out of hand, but we stayed poised and guys just went out there and made plays. And they’re going to be able to watch that and see the ‘winning whys’ and I think that’s going to help us tremendously.”

Mason’s next bear? Monday afternoon against George Washington.

Who’s open: Five games into the ACC season, you can certainly call Virginia Tech (13-5, 2-3 ACC) snake-bitten. The Hokies’ three league losses are all by one possession and in each game their opponent took the lead for good by hitting a 3 with under 10 seconds left.

Jan. 3 Wake Forests’ Nate Calmese buried a basket with six seconds showing on the clock, last week it was Ebuka Okorie’s 3 with three seconds left for Stanford that delivered defeat, and Wednesday SMU’s Boopie Miller hit a half-court heave at the buzzer.

Bonus points for the game operators at Moody Coliseum in Dallas that had flames shooting out of the backboard after the made basket. If Tech has to deal with many more of these last-second shots, their season might wind up going down in flames (although not literally). The Hokies face Notre Dame at noon Saturday and I’ll be watching right before 2 p.m. — just in case.

Last shot: Saturday, Georgetown (9-8, 1-5 Big East) has a high noon showdown against No. 3 UConn (17-1, 7-0). Five of the Huskies’ seven league wins have come by double digits, and they lead the conference in shooting, stopping the 3 and defensive field goal percentage. They’re also fresh from a 69-64 win over a pesky No. 25 Seton Hall, while the Hoyas are dealing with an 86-83 overtime loss at Creighton. This one saw the Hoyas’ game-winning basket fail to beat the buzzer at the end of regulation. I’ll see you courtside.

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