PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle men's basketball team will begin its Atlantic 10 schedule on Wednesday evening at Charlotte.

La Salle Explorers (10-3, 0-0 A-10) vs. Charlotte 49ers (12-2, 0-0 A-10)
Wednesday, January 9, 2012 | 7:30 PM | Halton Arena
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Game Notes
La Salle | Charlotte

Last Time Out
The Explorers bounced back from from a loss at Miami by defeating Penn, 74-57 at Gola Arena on Saturday afternoon behind 17 apiece from Tyreek Duren and Ramon Galloway. The Blue and Gold forced 21 Quaker turnovers and held Penn to a 36 percent (22-61) clip from the field in the contest.

All-Time Series
The 49ers hold a 5-3 edge over La Salle historically, with the Explorers winning the last two matchups and three of the last four. Last season, Duren posted a game-high 22 points (6-10 FG, 8-8 FT) in a comfortable 85-72 victory at Gola Arena.

Coach's Corner
Head Coach Dr. John Giannini on…

Tyrone Garland's continued impact:
I like him offensively and always have. I'm going to stay on him defensively as I stay on all our guys. I just think that's always the key to your season. Games are going to come when you make or miss shots. Offense comes and goes with the best of teams but your defense has to be something that you count on. Tyrone's been such an outstanding offensive player throughout his life that we have to make sure that defense is a huge part of his identity.

Preparing for the A-10 gauntlet:
The competition takes a step up. [The A-10 is] one of the best conferences in the country and certainly we've played a couple of top-50 teams and we've played top-100 teams but now we're doing that virtually every night. You have to be better fundamentally and you have to be better in terms of effort. You're playing teams with more size so you have to be more physical. I don't think it's ever wise for a coach to change what they've been working on since last offseason barring catastrophic results. I think you have to get better at everything you do. I think the competition demands it.

His expectations for Charlotte:
They're big, they're strong, they're athletic, they're deep, and they're playing great defense. They have a point guard with great intangibles and it's always great to have a guy who you trust with the ball like that. The point guard's also an outstanding defender so he kind of sets the tone both offensively and defensively.

Scouting the Explorers
La Salle's backcourt continues to thrive on both sides of the ball, boasting three players in double figures (Galloway – 17.8 ppg, Duren – 15.3 ppg, Garland – 14.7 ppg) while ranking in the top 20 nationally in turnovers/game (11.3) as a team. Galloway's scoring totally continues to lead the A-10 while his three point field goal percentage (.476) and three point field goals/game (3.33) rank in the top-15 nationally.

Garland has been a difference maker in his six games this season since ending his year-long transfer hiatus from Virginia Tech. The junior leads the team's guards in field goal percentage (.464) while contributing 18 assists and nine steals as well. The Explorers have scored at least 74 points in four of six games since he entered the rotation.

Jerrell Wright (10.7 ppg, 6.3 rpg) and Steve Zack (6.8 ppg, 6.7 rpg) continue to mature in their sophomore seasons, forming one of only three A-10 frontcourts to have more than one rebounder in the conference's top-15. In addition, they form one of only two conference tandems to rank in the top-10 in blocks/game (Zack – 1.4 bpg, Wright – 1.3 bpg). Wright registered his second double-double of the season in Saturday's win over Penn, with an efficient 10 point (3-4 FG, 4-7 FT), 11 rebound outing.

Senior guard Sam Mills' 35.8 minutes/game ranks second in the conference.

Scouting the 49ers
Charlotte has won three of its last four, most recently knocking off UNC Asheville 71-63 in overtime. The 49ers have an unblemished home record (8-0) this year and posted an impressive road win at Davidson (73-69) on December 5.

A stout defense and exceptional rebounding was the recipe for Charlotte's 12-2 non-conference mark, aided by an A-10 best field goal percentage defense (.368, 15^th nationally). The 49ers also rank in the top three in the conference in three point field goal percentage defense (.308) and rebounding margin (+3.8).

Senior forward Chris Braswell paces the 49ers in scoring (12.5 ppg), blocked shots (1.1 bpg), and is the team's second-leading rebounder (6.2 rpg). Sophomore guard Pierria Henry is averaging 3.07 steals/game, which ranks fifth in the country.

The 49ers have six players that average at least 3.1 rebounds/game.

Up Next
La Salle returns to Gola Arena on Saturday against Richmond at 2 PM. The day will mark the Explorer's Birthday and all children under 12 get in free.