Charlotte probably had its most significant week since joining the Atlantic 10 five years ago, beating Saint Louis at home and winning at Richmond and at La Salle to become a surprise contender for the title.

Assessing the top teams in the conference, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, known for his deadly accurate NCAA tournament projections, said: “Charlotte has rarely played to its perceived talent level since it’s been in the league. This week could turn out to be a watershed week for them.”

The 49ers, 14-5 overall and 4-1 in the conference, won back-to-back league road games for the first time since 2005-06. They were 0-8 away from home in the A-10 last season while finishing 11-20 overall.

“We’ve stolen some games,” coach Bobby Lutz said. “If you look at our stats, we’re not that impressive except in the win column, and that’s the one that matters.”

Charlotte, which hosts league-leader Temple on Wednesday, has gotten a lift from freshman power forward Chris Braswell, who was named A-10 rookie of the week for the third time this season after averaging 15.3 points and 10.3 rebounds in the three wins.

“He’s kind of like an old heavyweight fighter,” Lutz said. “At the start of the game, he’s not always at his best, but as the game goes along, he gets better and better. For a freshman, that’s a pretty good thing for a coach to have.”

Majerus speaks out

Saint Louis coach Rick Majerus didn’t back down from his comments about preferring his team find another league. Citing travel concerns and missed class time for his players, Majerus believes the A-10 is a bad fit for the Billikens.

Asked on the coaches’ teleconference Monday whether he’d still feel strongly about the excessive travel if Saint Louis were in the Big East, he said: “You wouldn’t have the money issues. You’d be chartering all your flights. And you’d have some relief where you’re going to DePaul, Cincinnati, Louisville, Marquette, Notre Dame and then Pitt.

“I have no issue with the league except it’s an East Coast league. Look, the offices are in Newport News, Va. The supervisor of officials (Jim Satalin) is in Syracuse. The league tournament is in Atlantic City and the league meetings are in Naples, Fla. ... The problem is we’re in St. Louis, and there’s an arch there called The Gateway to the West.”

Explorers banged up

La Salle has been beset by injuries, derailing what was supposed to be a breakout year.

Senior guard Kimmani Barrett, who was averaging 13.3 points this season, will have foot surgery and will miss six to eight weeks. Another senior guard, Rueben Guillandeaux, who averaged 10.1 points last year, has missed most of the season with a foot injury.

The Explorers were picked to finish fourth in the A-10 based on a strong senior class that also includes all-league performer Rodney Green and another double-figure scorer in Yves Mekongo Mbala.

“This was a special group of seniors that have taken this program from a tough spot to where expectations were high, and not being able to fulfill those expectations is really hard,” coach John Giannini said. “It’s probably the hardest year I’ve had in coaching.”

Freshman leads way

Forward Chris Gaston of Fordham leads all freshmen nationally in scoring (17.3) and rebounding (10.4).

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2125 or dharris@DaytonDailyNews.com.