Men's Basketball | February 3, 2015

PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle men's basketball team looks to win its third straight as it welcomes the Richmond Spiders to Tom Gola Arena for a 6:30 p.m. tip on Thursday night. National television is available on NBCSN.

La Salle Explorers (12-9, 4-4 A-10) vs Richmond Spiders (12-9, 5-3 A-10)
Thursday, February 5 | 6:30 PM | Tom Gola Arena
 
TV: NBCSN (pbp: Mike Corey, color: Dalen Cuff)
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Game Notes
La Salle | Richmond

Last Time Out
Redshirt sophomore Jordan Price led all scorers with 24 points while classmate Cleon Roberts added 20 as La Salle pulled away from St. Bonaventure on Saturday night, 66-56, at the Reilly Center. Senior Jerrell Wright added 12 points and six rebounds while fellow senior Steve Zack grabbed a game-high 14 boards. La Salle held the Bonnies to just 33.9% shooting from the field and a 2-for-18 (11.1%) showing from long range.

All-Time Series
The two programs are neck and neck in the all-time series with Richmond holding a narrow 15-14 advantage. La Salle has a 9-5 lead in home games and the two have split the ten career matchups held at Tom Gola Arena. 

Scouting the Explorers
La Salle enters the game allowing the second fewest points per game in Atlantic 10 play, allowing conference opponents just 58.0 points on per game. Furthermore, the Explorers have limited opponents to just 50.8 points per contest in their four conference wins. The Explorers have also taken care of the ball during conference play, averaging a 1.62 turnover margin per Atlantic 10 game.

Cleon Roberts has emerged as a scoring threat since the start of conference play. The sophomore leads the team averaging 13.0 points per game in Atlantic 10 play, an increase of nearly five points from his non-conference scoring average of 8.1 points per game.

Roberts also checks in at fourth in the conference in three-point percentage, converting 46.3 percent of his attempts from behind the arc. Roberts also ranks in the top ten in steals, averaging 1.8 per Atlantic 10 game, and free throw percentage shooting 84 percent from the charity stripe against conference foes.

The Explorers front court has come into form since the start of conference play. Both Steve Zack and Jerrell Wright rank in the top 10 of offensive rebounds per Atlantic 10 game, averaging 2.8 and 2.5 offensive rebounds per game, respectively. Zack is also fourth in blocks per game, averaging 2.1 blocks per contest.

Explorer Notes
• La Salle is allowing just 60.7 ppg., which is the best since the 1949-50 Explorers allowed 54.8. The Explorers rank fourth in the A-10 and 54th nationally in scoring defense.

• La Salle is 67-3 when leading with five minutes to play since the beginning of the 2011-12 season, including winning the last 15 games.

• In its last three games at Gola Arena, La Salle has allowed 48 (SJU), 49 (FOR) and 50 (GW) points. The Explorers have won all three games.

• La Salle's defense, in terms of shooting percentage has either been really good, or really not. In 11 of the 21 games, La Salle has held opponents in the 30s (and are 10-1 in those games). In seven games, the opponent has shot above 50% (La Salle is 1-6 in those games). Just three times has an opponent shot in the 40s.

• Steve Zack is one of three players in the nation with at least 40 blocks and 43 assists.

• Cleon Roberts has made a three-pointer in 15 of his last 16 games and is shooting 35-for-75 (.467) from long-range during that span. He has moved up to fifth place in the A-10 in three-point shooting (.430).  It is the highest by an Explorer since Ramon Galloway shot .442 in 2011-12 and it would rank eighth in La Salle history if the season ended today.

• Jerrell Wright became one of nine Explorers to score 1,300 points and grab 700 rebounds in a career on January 14. He is now 13th in La Salle history with 762 rebounds.

Scouting the Spiders
Richmond enters Thursday's matchup coming off a big win over crosstown rival No. 14 VCU on Saturday. The Spiders upended the Rams 64-55, giving VCU its first conference loss this season and just its second home loss since January 2013.

Senior Kendall Anthony led the way in scoring for the Spiders, finishing with 22 points on 6-of-15 shooting while going 9-11 from the free throw line. The 5'8" Anthony ranks fourth in the Atlantic 10 averaging 17.4 points per league contest. He is also in the top ten in the league in three point percentage, shooting 42.9 percent from outside in league games. Junior Terry Allen has proved to be a threat offensively as well averaging 14.3 points in Atlantic 10 play. 

The Spiders as a team rank second in the league averaging 8.3 three pointers per game against league opponents. They have also been effective at limiting second chances for opponents with a defensive rebounding percentage of 70.9 against A-10 foes. Richmond has taken care of the ball in conference play as they lead the league in assists to turnover ratio at 1.6.

Up Next
La Salle hits the road for a two game road swing beginning with a Sunday afternoon matchup at Massachusetts with tip scheduled for 4 p.m. and TV coverage available on CBSSN.