Men's Basketball | February 17, 2015

PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle men's basketball team welcomes instate rival Duquesne to Tom Gola Arena for a Wednesday matchup with tip scheduled for 7 p.m.

La Salle Explorers (14-11, 6-6 A-10) vs. Duquesne Dukes (8-15, 3-9 A-10)
Wednesday, February 18 | 7 PM | Tom Gola Arena
 
TV: American Sports Network (locally on Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia); pbp: Tim Neverett, color: Tim Scarborough
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Game Notes
La Salle | Duquesne

Last Time Out
La Salle charged back from an eight point first half deficit but ultimately fell 77-69 to Davidson on Saturday afternoon. The Explorers used a 10-0 run that spanned halftime to erase the eight point first half deficit and give the hosts the lead. However, the Wildcats scored 13 of the final 17 points to seal out the tight win. Jordan Price led four Explorers in double figures with 22 points. Price has now scored at least 20 points in three straight games and in four of the past five contests.

All-Time Series
La Salle leads the all-time series 40-30 over Duquesne. The Explorers have won four in a row over the Dukes including both meetings last season. Steve Zack recorded double-doubles in both meetings between the two including a 16 point, 16 rebound performance at Gola Arena. La Salle has defended its home court against Duquesne winning 11 of 16 matchups at Gola Arena between the two.

Scouting the Explorers
The Explorers enter Wednesday night's game as winners of four of their last six games, including a double-overtime upset of No. 20/22 VCU last Wednesday.

Jordan Price was named Co-Atlantic 10 and Big 5 Player of the Week thanks to 34 points and 18 rebounds in the win over the Rams and another 22 points in Saturday's loss to Davidson. The redshirt sophomore is now second in the league in scoring with 17.5 points per game behind only Saint Joseph's DeAndre' Bembry (17.5 ppg).

Steve Zack and Jerrell Wright combine for a serious presence in the paint for the Explorers. Zack ranks fifth in the conference by pulling down 9.0 rebounds per game and fifth in blocks at 1.8 per game. Wright, meanwhile, ranks in the top 25 with 11.9 points per game (22nd), 6.4 rebounds per game (13th), 2.8 offensive rebounds per game (8th), and a 50.9 field goal percentage (12th).
 
The Explorers rank third in scoring defense, limiting A-10 teams to 61.5 points per game and a 41.9 shooting percentage. Those numbers go down to 55.7 and 34.9, respectively, in La Salle's six conference wins. 
 
Scouting the Dukes
Duquesne enters the matchup having split their two games last week. The Dukes picked up a midweek win against George Washington, 78-62 before falling at Massachusetts over the weekend 82-74. In their win four Dukes players finished in double figures including Micah Mason who went for 24 points shooting 9-15 from the field and 4-7 from three point range.

Duquesne's offense is one that shares the ball effectively while also taking pride in their ball protection. The Dukes rank fourth in the conference with 13.8 assists per A-10 game while also ranking fourth in the conference in assist to turnover ratio at 1.2.

Junior Guard Derrick Colter enters the game 15th in the conference in points per game. The Forestville, Md. native is averaging 13.0 points per league game. He also is sixth in assists per game at 3.5 and is seventh in the conference shooting 41.2% from behind the arch against Atlantic 10 opponents. Senior Dominique McKoy has made the most of every shot he has taken as he ranks third in the conference in field goal percentage shooting .576 in league play.

Up Next
La Salle hits the road to start a two game road swing with a trip to Saint Louis with tip scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on Sunday and TV coverage on NBCSN.