Men's Basketball | February 6, 2015

AMHERST, Mass. – The La Salle men's basketball team will look to avenge an earlier Atlantic 10 loss to the Minutemen as it heads to Massachusetts for a 4 pm tip this Sunday with TV coverage available on CBSSN.

La Salle Explorers (13-9, 5-4 A-10) at Massachusetts Minutemen (13-9, 6-3 A-10)
Sunday, February 8 | 4 PM | Mullins Center
 
TV: CBSSN (Jason Horowitz, Chris Walker) 
Radio: WNTP 990 AM | Live Audio
Live Stats 
Live Tweets @GoExplorers | Text Alerts
 
Game Notes
La Salle | UMass
 
Last Time Out
La Salle never trailed as they defeated Richmond 64-62 on Thursday evening at Tom Gola Arena. The win was the Explorers third straight and their fourth in the past five games. "I love our toughness, they made a run which we thought they would and our guys hung in there," said head coach Dr. John Giannini. "They challenged us and our guys responded." La Salle's (13-9, 5-4 A-10) balanced attack proved too much for the Spiders (12-10, 5-4 A-10) down the stretch as four Explorers finished in double figures, paced by 15 points from senior Jerrell Wright. Senior Steve Zack recorded his third double-double this season, pulling down a game-high 11 rebounds to go with 10 points.

All-Time Series
UMass got the better of the Explorers earlier this season with a 71-65 win at Tom Gola Arena in early January. The win gives the Minutemen a 17-14 advantage in the all-time series, including a 9-6 record against the Explorers at the Mullins Center. UMass took a 79-67 win at home last season despite 16 points from Jerrell Wright and 10 points off the bench from Khalid Lewis.

Scouting the Explorers
La Salle is allowing just 60.8 ppg., which is the best since the 1949-50 Explorers allowed 54.8. The Explorers have limited opponents to just 53.0 points per contest and a 36.4 shooting percentage, including only 23.7 percent from behind the arc, in their five conference wins.

Cleon Roberts has emerged as a scoring threat since the start of conference play. The sophomore ranks third on the team averaging 12.0 points per game in Atlantic 10 play, an increase of nearly four points from his out of conference scoring average of 8.1 points per game.

Roberts also checks in at fifth in the conference in three-point percentage, converting 44.2 percent of his attempts from behind the arch. He ranks in the top ten of steals, averaging 1.7 per Atlantic 10 game, and free throw percentage shooting .806 from the charity stripe against conference foes.

Senior Steve Zack has solidified himself as a force on the boards in conference play, pulling down double-digit rebounds in his last four games. The senior also ranks fourth in the conference averaging 2.0 blocks per game. La Salle has also limited second chances for opponents ranking second in the conference in defensive rebounding percentage hauling in 72.8% of rebounds on the defensive end.

Scouting the Minutemen
Massachusetts enters the game riding a three-game winning streak of its own after a 78-72 win at Fordham on Wednesday night. The Minutemen erased a six-point halftime deficit thanks in part to junior Trey Davis' 21 points after the break. UMass has won their past three games by narrow margins, winning by an average of four points per game.

The Minutemen rank second in the conference with 13.2 offensive rebounds per game, paced by Cady Lalanne's 3.8 offensive rebounds per contest (3^rd in the league). The senior also ranks fourth in the conference averaging 2.0 blocks per conference game. Lalanne has proven efficient offensively, ranking in the top ten in conference play with a 53.7 field goal percentage.

Davis has helped fuel the Minutemen offense throughout the season, leading the team and raking 19th in the conference with 12.1 points per conference matchup. Davis also leads the team in assists with 3.6 per contest and three-point field goals (1.8). The guard has done all this while also taking care of the ball, ranking sixth in the conference in assist to turnover ratio at 2.0.

Up Next
La Salle heads south for a Wednesday night matchup at #18 VCU with tip scheduled for 7 pm from the Siegel Center. TV coverage will be available on CBSSN.