Men's Basketball | December 1, 2014

PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle men's basketball team returns to Tom Gola Arena to host the No. 10/9 Villanova Wildcats on Wednesday with tip scheduled for 8:30 p.m. on CBSSN.  

Villanova Wildcats (6-0, 0-0 Big 5) at La Salle Explorers (4-2, 0-0 Big 5)
Wednesday, December  3 | 8:30 PM | Tom Gola Arena

TV: CBS Sports Network (Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas, Jon Rothstein) | CBSSN Channel Finder
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Game Notes
La Salle | Villanova

Last Time Out
La Salle dropped two games at the Barclays Center Classic to #8/7 Virginia and Vanderbilt over Thanksgiving weekend. The Explorers trimmed a 20-point deficit to four with 1:12 to go in the second half but weren't able to get any closer in the 64-56 loss. Redshirt sophomore Jordan Price scored a game-high 20 points. La Salle fell to Vanderbilt 68-55 on the second day of the Classic. Senior Jerrell Wright had 19 points, including 13 in the second half, to pace the Explorers.

Scouting the Explorers
Defense has been a strong point for La Salle (4-2) this season as the Explorers limit opponents to 58.7 points per game (third in the A-10) and a 38.2 field goal percentage (fourth in the league). 

Redshirt sophomore Jordan Price continues to pace the Explorers offensive efforts with 17.7 points per game, and has scored in double figures in four of six games in 2014. Price put up a game-high 20 points in the loss to Virginia after dropping a career-high 31 points against St. Francis Brooklyn on Tuesday. He leads the Big 5 and is second in the A-10 in scoring.

Zack (sixth) and Wright (seventh) rank among the A-10's top rebounders, combining to average 15.7 rebounds per game. Wright is second on the team in scoring at 11 ppg, and has tallied a pair of double-doubles this season.

Scouting the Wildcats
The No. 10/9 Villanova Wildcats enter Tom Gola Arena undefeated (6-0) on the year and coming off the Progressive Legends Classic title after beating no. 14 VCU and no. 19 Michigan last week in Brooklyn. The Wildcats return 78% of last season's scoring on a team that went 20-14 before losing to the future national champion Connecticut in the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
 
Redshirt junior Dylan Ennis and sophomore Kris Jenkins have both drastically increased their scoring output compared to last year. The two lead the team averaging 12.5 and 10 points per game respectively after combining to average nine points per game last season. Seniors Darrun Hilliard and JayVaughn Pinkston also return after averaging over 14 points per game apiece last season.
 
Pinkston has used a complete game as he also is averaging 6.3 rebounds per game in the early going. Junior Daniel Ochefu leads the team by averaging 7.8 rebounds per contest and also has notched nine blocks so far on the season. Junior Ryan Arcidiacono returns after starting all but one contest last season and has led the team with 24 assists. The team as a whole is shooting 45.0 percent from the field but has limited opponents to a 40.0 percent clip. Ennis is the primary deep ball threat with 13 threes already on the season.

All-Time Series
The Explorers and Wildcats have met 63 previous times with Villanova holding a 36-27 advantage in the all-time series. The two Big 5 rivals matchups have gone down to the wire recently with two of the previous three meetings needing overtime to decide a winner. The 2012 matchup was a 77-74 for La Salle as Ramon Galloway and Tyreek Duren both notched over 20 points in the win.

Up Next
The Explorers play another Big 5 opponent as they take on the Temple Owls in The Palestra Saturday, Dec. 6, with tip scheduled for 12 p.m. on ESPNnews.