Georgia State

Saturday at 3:30 p.m., the Georgia Dome, Atlanta. Records: Villanova, 5-2 overall, 3-1, Colonial Athletic Association; Georgia State, 1-6, 1-3. Radio: ESPN-950(AM). Coaches: Andy Talley(28th season, 195-118-1; 223-136-2 overall); Georgia State, Bill Curry, third season, 10-19; 93-124-4 overall). Series: This is the first meeting. Three Things to Watch Villanova is averaging 258.6 yards rushing per game, led by Kevin Monangai's 661 yards, 5.6 average, and 8 TDs. Georgia State is allowing 212.7 yards rushing per game so look for the Wildcats to continue to prosper on the ground.

GEORGIA STATE is leaving the Colonial Athletic Association for the Sun Belt Conference, school officials announced Monday. The school will begin playing a conference schedule for the 2013-14 academic year. Villanova and Delaware are in the CAA for football; Drexel and Delaware play CAA basketball. Georgia State has been a CAA member since 2005, although it did not have an active football program until 2010. The team will join CAA football for 2012, in what will turn out to be its only season.

Georgia State came into its game with Drexel as one of the top-ranked defensive teams in the Colonial Athletic Association, but Jamie Harris quickly made a mockery of that. Penetrating at will, Harris had 21 points by halftime, and the junior guard from New York City made sure that Drexel wouldn't start CAA play with two road losses. Bouncing back from Saturday's disappointing performance at Delaware, the Dragons built a 20-point lead late in the first half and defeated the Panthers, 72-57, last night at the GSU Sports Arena.

Drexel coach Bill Herrion sees a pattern developing, and he doesn't like it. "I'm frustrated in our season," said the Dragons' first-year coach, after being thrashed by Georgia State, 75-59, last night in the first game of the Mount St. Mary's Holiday Tournament. Drexel will play Maryland-Eastern Shore tonight in the consolation game. Mount St. Mary's beat Maryland-Eastern Shore, 88-69, in the second game. As has been the case nearly all season, Drexel (1-6) played a close first half, only to be blown out by a run in the second half.

Georgia State coach Rod Barnes took a look at the statistics after his team's 64-47 loss to Drexel last night and locked in on the rebounding category. The Dragons had outrebounded his team by 21 in the Colonial Athletic Association game at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. "We got 24 rebounds, and they got 25 offensive rebounds," Barnes said as he shook his head. "That's basically the case in point. Obviously, you're not competing in some kind of way. " Drexel, which took the floor as the hottest team in the CAA, claimed its sixth consecutive win and improved to 11-8 overall, 7-3 in the league.

Just when it looked as if Drexel had found its hot hand, Georgia State found one of its own. Tramayne Hawthorne's second-half shooting display helped give the Dragons a seven-point lead, but Leonard Mendez answered with 10 straight for the Panthers to give them a lead they never gave up in a 64-58 win last night. Drexel (9-13, 2-8 Colonial Athletic Association) trailed for most of the first half, but charged back early in the second on the shoulders of Hawthorne, who came out of the half with only two points but hit four three-pointers early to spark the Dragons to a 15-3 run. That stretch put Drexel up, 49-42, with less than 10 minutes on the clock, and the Panthers knew they had to do something different.

A pair of scoring-challenged teams met last night in a Colonial Athletic Association game at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. Host Drexel, which had dropped seven of nine games in which it put fewer than 60 points on the scoreboard, used perhaps its most impressive rally of the season to gain control in the second half. But the Dragons still had to withstand a late run by Georgia State to claim a 58-51 victory. The teams totaled 43 points during the first 20 minutes. The Panthers were down by five at halftime.

WHEN IS THIS Drexel season ever going to end? Barring some March transformation, the answer is the CAA Tournament in Richmond. The good news is that the 3-20 Old Dominion team that blew out the Dragons in their own gym Thursday night is not eligible to play in the tournament. Neither is Georgia State and its fabulous freshman, R.J. Hunter (64 points in his last two games). They are both off to Conference USA next season to play football, so they are not allowed to play in the tournament.

There was no need for a half-court heave on Saturday. Drexel's defense made certain it wouldn't come to that again. The Dragons gave their best defensive performance of the season in a 68-57 win over Georgia State at the Daskalakis Center. Drexel's latest victory isn't likely to make any national highlight reels - as did their previous win, a 55-52 defeat of Hofstra on Frantz Massenat's 50-foot buzzer-beater. But for a team trying to overcome a poor start by grinding out conference wins, it may end up being more important because of how it was accomplished.

* Temple gets some CBS run Sunday afternoon at Kansas. The Owls were great against the Syracuse zone 2 weeks ago on ESPN, but KU will challenge them on defense as Duke did. Kansas is top 10 in offensive (1.16 points per possession) and defensive (.85 PPP) efficiency. * After his perfect game at Drexel on New Year's Eve (6-for-6 from the field, 2-for-2 from the arc, 5-for-5 from the foul line), St. Joe's C.J. Aiken's line from the last two games is: 41 points, 17 rebounds, 10 blocks, 12-for-15 overall, 4-for-4 from three and 13-for-14 from the foul line.

ATLANTA - The turbulence the first 2 months of the season for Drexel was left behind in a poised and efficient 6-minute stretch to start the second half Wednesday night at Georgia State. The Dragons, who came into their first Colonial Athletic Association game of the season with a 4-8 record, played like a team not worried about straightening itself out. Drexel made six of its first eight shots after intermission, a four-point halftime lead grew to 10 points, and the Dragons rolled to a 77-60 victory.

IS ANOTHER team really ready to challenge Duke and North Carolina's dominance atop the Atlantic Coast Conference? Which controversial announcer is ESPN wisely protecting? And who is Josh Thompson and why is he dunking over his parents? It doesn't matter who the next president is, the annual 50 things to know about college basketball is what this country really needs. 1 Steven Adams, a center for Pittsburgh, is the Big East's preseason freshman of the year. The 7-footer out of New Zealand is a mystery to many of the league's insiders.

Thanks to Saturday's 49-24 win at Georgia State, Villanova is 6-2 and tied for first place with New Hampshire in the Colonial Athletic Association with a 4-1 mark. The Wildcats, vying for a Football Championship Subdivision playoff berth, also are ranked in both the FCS coaches poll and the Sports Network FCS poll for the first time this season. Villanova made its debut in the coaches poll at No. 23 Monday after being in the "receiving votes" category last week. The Wildcats are 19th in the Sports Network FCS poll after being ranked 24th last week.

ATLANTA - Villanova scored on runs, a pass, a punt return and an interception return just in the first half, as the No. 24 Wildcats poured it on Georgia State en route to a 49-24 win. The backbreakers came just 18 seconds apart. Coming out of a Georgia State field goal that got the Panthers (1-7) on the board at 21-3, Villanova marched 66 yards, and Kevin Monangai capped it off with a 12-yard touchdown run that put the Wildcats (6-2, 4-1 CAA) up 28-3. Then, on the first play of the ensuing possession, Eric Loper intercepted Georgia State quarterback Ben McLane and returned it 32 yards for a touchdown that put it out of reach by halftime.

Saturday at 3:30 p.m., the Georgia Dome, Atlanta. Records: Villanova, 5-2 overall, 3-1, Colonial Athletic Association; Georgia State, 1-6, 1-3. Radio: ESPN-950(AM). Coaches: Andy Talley(28th season, 195-118-1; 223-136-2 overall); Georgia State, Bill Curry, third season, 10-19; 93-124-4 overall). Series: This is the first meeting. Three Things to Watch Villanova is averaging 258.6 yards rushing per game, led by Kevin Monangai's 661 yards, 5.6 average, and 8 TDs. Georgia State is allowing 212.7 yards rushing per game so look for the Wildcats to continue to prosper on the ground.

November 9   at Kent State   7 15   Illinois State   7 17   at Penn   4 Anaheim (Calif.) Classic 22   St. Mary's   4:30 23   Xavier or Pacific   3:30       or 6 25   Georgia Tech, Cal, Rice or Drake   TBA December 1   Rider   noon 4   at Tennessee St.   TBA 8   at Princeton   2 16   at Fairfield   4 22   Davidson   8 31   St. Joseph's   4 January 2   at Georgia State   7 5   Towson   4 8   Northeastern   7 12   at James Madison   4    19   at William & Mary   2 23   at Hofstra   7 26   Georgia State   noon 28   Delaware   7 31   at George Mason   7 February 2   at Northeastern   6 7   Old Dominion   7 10   James Madison   7 14   George Mason   7 18   Hofstra   7 21   at Delaware   7 23   at Towson   noon 28   at Old Dominion*   7 March 2   UNC Wilmington   7 9-11   CAA Championship Richmond, Va.