PHILADELPHIA – Coming off two straight victories, the La Salle men's basketball team will visit #10/14 Villanova on Sunday afternoon in its first Big 5 matchup of the season. A limited number of tickets are available for $25 each through the La Salle ticket office on Friday by calling 215-951-1999 or emailing tickets@lasalle.edu.
La Salle Explorers (5-4, 0-0 Big 5) at #10/14 Villanova Wildcats (9-0, 2-0 Big 5)
Sunday, December 15, 2013 | 2:30 PM | The Pavilion
TV: Fox Sports 1 (pbp: John Sadak, color: Ron Thompson)
Radio: 990 AM WNTP
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Game Notes
La Salle | Villanova
Last Time Out
The Explorers beat Stony Brook 65-57 in a neutral site matchup at Madison Square Garden last Saturday. The Blue & Gold trailed by nine at halftime , but rebounded to outscore the Seawolves 43-26 in the second half to score the eight-point victory. The Explorers got to the free throw line early and often against Stony Brook, creating a 33-9 advantage in attempts for the game, while sinking 25 for a 75.8 percent clip. The big men led the way for the Explorers with Jerrell Wright netting a game high 21 points, while Steve Zack collected his fourth consecutive double-double game with 11 points and ten rebounds.
Last Time Versus Villanova
The Explorers scored a 77-74 overtime victory over the Wildcats in last season's Big 5 opener at Tom Gola Arena. Ramon Galloway led all players with 26 points while also swiping five steals. Tyreek Duren stole the show in the second half and overtime, netting 19 of his 23 points including the game-winning backdoor layup with :18-seconds remaining in the overtime period. Steve Zack pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds in the contest.
Scouting the Explorers
La Salle ranks third in the Atlantic 10 in free throw percentage (.722), third in assist/turnover ratio (1.3), and fourth in turnover margin (+3.22). Senior Tyreek Duren is largely responsible for the Explorer's ball security, racking up 32 assist against 12 turnovers, good for third-best in the A-10. He also comes in third in the conference in steals/game (2.1) and second in minutes/game (37.8). Duren ranks second on the team in scoring at 13.6 points/game.
Junior Steve Zack has been the man of late, recording four straight double-doubles. He has five on the season which leads the A-10 and is 11th nationally. The four straight double-doubles marks the longest active streak nationally.
His 9.3 rebounds/game are good for third in the conference, as are his 2.1 blocks/game. Zack is fourth on the Explorers in points/game (10.2) and is averaging 12.5 ppg over his last four.
Senior Tyrone Garland leads the team in scoring (16.3 ppg) and is tied for ninth in the conference. He has recorded 10+ points in every game this season. He is shooting 37 percent from the field but has converted 9 of his last 21 attempts (43%).
Junior Jerrell Wright is the squad's third leading scorer at 12.4 points/game and is second in rebounding (6.1). He is shooting 53 percent from the field, best on the team and ninth-best in the conference.
Scouting the Wildcats
Villanova has gotten off to 9-0 start, which includes an impressive run through a loaded field to win the Battle 4 Atlantis championship. The Wildcats knocked off then #2-ranked Kansas and then #23-ranked Iowa en route to the championship. The impressive run saw the Wildcats rocket up the early season polls. Villanova enters Sunday's contest ranked 14th in the USA Today Coaches Poll and 10th in the AP Poll. They sit atop the new-look Big East, boasting the only undefeated record in the conference.
The Wildcats run for Big 5 supremacy in 2013-14 got off to a flying start last week as they shellacked Penn by 23-points (77-54) at home and beat Saint Joseph's by 30-points (98-68) on the Hawks home court. Villanova will look to go 3-0 to begin the Big 5 slate for the first time since the 2010-11 campaign in Sunday afternoon's contest against the Explorers.
This year's installment of the Wildcats attacks the boards with vigor. They lead the Big East conference and rank twelfth nationally in rebounding, pulling down an average of 43.4 rebounds per game. They also are adept at scoring the basketball, ranking second in the conference with an average of 83.0 points per contest.
The Wildcats are led by the inside-outside combination of senior swingman James Bell and redshirt junior forward JayVaughn Pinkston. Pinkston leads the team in scoring and ranks fifth in the conference, averaging 17.8 points/game, while also collecting in 5.3 rebounds/game. Bell is right on Pinkston's tail, averaging 17.6 points/game, while adding a team leading 7.3 rebounds/game, both ranking sixth best in the conference for there respective categories.
Point guard Ryan Arcidiacono has had a somewhat of a slow start to his sophomore season, after a sterling freshman season for the Wildcats. He is averaging a shade under double figures in scoring, averaging 9.2 points/game. He still has been an excellent distributor for the Wildcat offense, ranking tied for second on the team with 29 assists, while possessing a strong 2.9 assist-turnover ratio. Senior guard Tony Chenault leads the Wildcats with 30 assists on the season, while possessing the best assist-turnover ratio in the Big East at 5.0.
Up Next
The Explorers will host Wagner on Thursday, December 19 at 7 PM.
