PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle men's basketball team will visit Miami on Sunday at 3:00 PM in its final contest before the turn of the calendar. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN3.com (link provided below). 

La Salle Explorers (6-5) at Miami Hurricanes (6-5)
Sunday, December 22, 2013 | 3:00 PM | BankUnited Center

Radio: 990 AM WNTP
Live Video  | Live Audio (FREE)
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Game Notes
La Salle | Miami 

Last Time Out
The Explorers sprinted to a 21-7 lead right out of the gate and cruised to an 80-54 victory over Wagner on Thursday evening at Tom Gola Arena. The frontcourt tandem of junior Jerrell Wright (17 points, 7 rebounds) and junior Steve Zack (12 points, 17 rebounds, four blocks) paced the Explorers, who outrebounded the visitors 50-29.

All-Time Series
The Explorers hold a 9-5 all-time record against Miami. The teams met last season in Coral Gables with Miami scoring a 76-59 win over the Blue & Gold. The Explorers led by six at the half, but the Hurricanes turned on the offense in the second session, shooting 55% from the field, to snatch away the victory.

Scouting the Explorers
La Salle shot a season best 43 percent (9-21) from behind the arc in its win over Wagner. Senior Sam Mills went 3-5 from long range and ranks fifth on the Explorers with 7.5 points/game and has buried a team-high 15 threes on the year. He will be playing Sunday's game just 45 minutes away from where he grew up in Sunrise, Fla.

Senior Tyreek Duren went 3-6 from behind the arc vs. Wagner and is averaging 12.5 points/game. He ranks in the top-10 in the Atlantic 10 in assists/game (3.5), free throw percentage (.784), steals/game (2.0), assist/turnover ratio (1.9), and minutes/game (37.2). His minutes/game marks ranks fifteenth nationally.

Junior Steve Zack had a career game vs. the Seahawks with 17 rebounds and 12 points and now has six double-doubles on the season including five of his last six games. He ranks third in the A-10 in rebounds/game (8.9). Classmate Jerrell Wright has also been hot of late, scoring 58 points over his last three games. He ranks second on the squad in scoring at 13.5 points/game.

Senior Tyrone Garland continues to pace the Blue and Gold in the scoring department, averaging 14.7 points/game. He yanked down a season-high five rebounds against Wagner. 

 
Scouting the Hurricanes
Miami is coming off an extremely successful 2012-13 season, which witnessed them amass a 27-6 regular season record en route to an ACC championship and a run to the Sweet 16. 
 
The Hurricanes got back on the winning track Thursday evening, taking down Savannah State 68-51. Senior forward Donnavan Kirk led four players who scored double-figures, narrowly missing a double-double with collecting 15 points and nine rebounds. Senior guard Rion Brown added 13 points and dished out five assists.
 
Brown has been the straw that stirs the drink for Miami. He has stuffed the stat sheet through the team's first eleven games this season. He leads the Canes in scoring and assists, while ranking second on the team in rebounding. Brown has averaged 13.3 points/game, while pulling down 6.0 rebounds/game and dishing out just over three assists.
 
Senior guard Garrius Adams compliments Brown in the backcourt. He is averaging 11.1 points/game, while he pulls down a shade over five (5.1) rebounds per contest.
 
Senior forward Donnavan Kirk leads the frontcourt for the Hurricanes. He is averaging 9.5 points/game, while leading the Canes in rebounding average (7.0). His 7.0 rebounding average is the 13th best mark in the ACC.

Up Next
La Salle will visit the Palestra to take on Penn on January 4 at 7:00 p.m.