UMass was in a pair of one-point games last week. And when asked if there were any similarities between the two, coach Derek Kellogg said, “Yeah, the heart rate of everyone involved.”

The blood pressure of coaches, players and fans in the Atlantic 10 may be spiking this year because of the amount of competitive games. Unlike past seasons, the bottom rung of the league is no longer populated by pushovers.

“I think we’re getting accustomed to being in these tight games, especially in this conference,” said Kellogg, whose team beat La Salle and lost to Charlotte. “The parity and the amount of good teams have just lent itself to a lot of good, tough games. I think you’re going to see a ton of games come down to the last play.”

Underscoring the balance in the league, St. Bonaventure, which was picked to finish 11th, has road wins over preseason favorite St. Joe’s and Temple.

“It has to be wonderful for fans,” St. Joe’s coach Phil Martelli said. “I think the basketball public, even if you’re not a fan of one of the Atlantic 10 teams, they understand what this league is about. They probably get great joy out of it. And then you have coaches up all night, tossing and turning and trying to figure out ways as you look at the game ahead of you — sometimes not even to WIN the game, but just score enough in the game so it’s not embarrassing on a national level.”

Dayton was on the losing end of one of the rare blowouts in the A-10 in an 81-52 defeat at Saint Louis on Wednesday. None of the Flyers’ four league losses before that, though, was by more than eight points.

“That’s what the Atlantic 10 is about right now,” UD coach Archie Miller said. “I think anyone who saw the schedule when it came out, it doesn’t matter who’s on deck. There’s great teams here.

“Eighth or ninth place is one game or two games behind the third-place team. It’s going to be like that the whole way. If anyone is looking for a pacifier or a break in the schedule, it’s not happening.”

Scoring force: Temple’s Khalif Wyatt, a 6-4 senior guard, is emerging as the front-runner for A-10 player of the year honors. He detonated for 34 points, making 7-of-14 threes, in a 70-69 loss Saturday at St. Joe’s.

He’s averaging a league-high 18.6 points overall and 21.9 in the conference.

The Owls’ Dionte Christmas was a three-time scoring champ from 2006-09, but the 6-5 guard was more of a one-dimensional player.

“Dionte was a jump-shooting kind of guy. Khalif is more of a scorer than a jump-shooter,” Temple coach Fran Dunphy said. “Not only is he a good scorer, he’s probably our best play-maker as well. Not probably, he is.

“The biggest issue Khalif always fights is the other end of the floor, where he’s got to be a better defender for us to be as good as we can be. But as far as an offensive performer is concerned, he’s very, very good.”

Showing growth: Rhode Island has lost four straight games, but the defeats were by one to George Washington, three to Fordham, six to VCU and seven to Butler.

First-year coach Danny Hurley, who had a major rebuilding job after taking over for the fired Jim Baron, is earning the admiration of his peers, even if the results aren’t showing up in the won-loss column.

“Danny Hurley is doing a phenomenal job up there with those guys,” VCU coach Shaka Smart said. “Every single night, they are in the game with a chance to win late in the game.”

At Butler, the Rams, who went 7-24 last season and are 6-14 this year, were down just four with one minute to go but couldn’t pull off the shocker.

“If we keep putting ourselves in position where we’re in the hunt and have a chance to win, eventually we’re going to get our breakthrough,” Hurley said. “I’m impressed with the resiliency our guys have shown against the better teams in this league — and it’s obviously one of the best leagues in the country.”

RPI update: The A-10 is ranked seventh nationally in conference RPI standings, sandwiched between the Pac-12 and SEC. Ten teams are ranked in the top-100. Butler has an RPI of 14, La Salle 30, UMass 47, VCU 50, Charlotte 54, Temple 55, St. Louis 56, Xavier 71, Richmond 75 and St. Joe’s 79.

Dayton is 12th in the league at 119.

The Big East leads the way with 13 top-100 teams, while the Big Ten also has 10.