PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle men's basketball team will look to return to its winning ways when it hosts VCU on Saturday at noon at Tom Gola Arena. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.

VCU Rams (15-4, 3-1 A-10) at La Salle Explorers (11-7, 3-1 A-10)
Saturday, January 25 | 12 PM | Tom Gola Arena 

TV: ESPN2
Video: WatchESPN
Radio: 990 AM WNTP (Kale Beers, Rich Prendergast)
Audio Web Stream: Click Here (FREE)

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Game Notes
La Salle | VCU

Last Time Out
It was a long an arduous road trip for the Explorers, as they had to brave winter storm Janus to get to Olean, N.Y. for their Wednesday night matchup against St. Bonaventure. The snowstorm, which dropped over a foot of snow in the Philadelphia region, threw a wrench in the Explorers travel routine. The Blue and Gold struggled to find their rhythm offensively against the Bonnies, dropping their first Atlantic 10 game of the season 66-51. The loss dropped the Explorers into a six-way tie for second place behind Saint Louis.
 
Last Year's Matchup
The Explorers played VCU for the first time with both schools members of the Atlantic 10 last season. The Blue and Gold pulled the 69-61 upset of the Rams at the Siegel Center, capping a fantastic week of play which helped propel the Explorers to the NCAA Tournament. Ramon Galloway paced all scorers with a season high 31 points, knocking down 4-of-8 three-pointers and 9-of-10 from the charity stripe. Tyreek Duren added 16 points and three assists in the contest.
 
Coach's Corner
Head Coach Dr. John Giannini on...

...The role of D.J. Peterson:
I can't give him enough credit. Any coach would love to have a guy who is a high level defender and who does not turn the ball over and who makes his open shots rather than force things. Again, a lot of those things – defense and shot selection don't jump out on the stat sheet. But he's a winner.

Scouting the Explorers
La Salle is 12-2 since the beginning of the 2012-13 season after a loss, including 7-1 last season and 5-1 this season. Additionally, the Blue and Gold has won 11 of its last 12 A-10 games at Gola Arena.

The Explorers have clamped down defensively in conference play, ranking second in the A-10 in scoring defense (64.0 ppg). Conference opponents are shooting just 40 percent from the field and 22 percent from deep against La Salle.

Offensively, the Blue and Gold are shooting 36 percent from behind the arc in A-10 games, fourth in the conference. La Salle's +4.5 scoring margin ranks fourth.  

Scouting the Rams
VCU enters Saturday's matchup with an overall record of 15-4 and a 3-1 mark in Atlantic 10 play. The Rams have seem to have hit their stride after a rough showing at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, in which they dropped two of three games. With their 80-66 victory at Dayton on Wednesday evening, VCU has won seven of eight and eleven of thirteen dating back to the early season tournament. Their lone conference loss came by ten points at George Washington.
 
As has been the Rams calling card since head coach Shaka Smart took over the reins of the program in 2009, the team plays stifling defense. They rank third in the Atlantic 10 holding teams to just 64.9 points/game. VCU is tops in the conference in both steals/game (12.4) and turnover margin (+7.79).
 
On area where the Rams can be exploited is the offensive glass. VCU ranks last in the conference on the defensive glass, pulling down an average of 21.9 defensive rebounds per game.
 
Junior guard Treveon Graham paces the VCU backcourt. He leads the team and ranks ninth in the conference in scoring average, netting 15.1 points/game. He is also extremely active attacking the glass, ranking 12^th in the A-10 with 6.6 rebounds/game.
 
Junior guard Briante Weber joins Graham in the backcourt. He is the Rams best creator on both the offensive and defensive ends. He leads the team and ranks seventh in the conference averaging 4.2 assists/game. He also has swiped an astounding 71 steals thus far this season, which leads all of the NCAA in the category.
 
Senior forward Juvonte Reddic leads the frontcourt. He is second on the team in scoring, averaging 11.6 points/game. He also paces the Rams and ranks seventh in the Atlantic 10 in rebounding, averaging 7.7 rebounds/game.  
 
Up Next
The Explorers will play next at George Washington on Wednesday, January 29 at 7 PM. That game will be broadcast live on SNY and on The Comcast Network on tape delay at 9 PM.