Men's Basketball | January 19, 2016

PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle men's basketball team takes a break from Atlantic 10 play to close out its non-conference schedule as it participates in the Philadelphia Big 5 Doubleheader on Wednesday at The Palestra. The Explorers will square off against Temple with tip at 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.

La Salle Explorers (5-10, 0-2 Big 5) vs. Temple Owls (9-7, 1-1 Big 5)
Wednesday, January 20 | 7 PM | The Palestra

TV: CBS Sports Network (Tom McCarthy, Steve Lappas, Evan Washburn)
Live Audio | Live Stats 
Live Tweets @GoExplorers 

Game Notes
La Salle | Temple

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Last Time Out
La Salle was able to cut the Rhode Island lead to just five late in the second half, but the Rams were able to close out the contest with a 73-62 victory. Jordan Price had 20 points to pace the Explorers while Johnnie Shuler added a career-high 16 points. Price and Shuler both played all 40 minutes with Price shooting 8-for-13 from the field and Shuler hit five three-pointers for the second straight game.

All-Time Series
This will be the 116^th all-time meeting between the two Big 5 rivals. This will be the third straight season that the teams have played at The Palestra after not playing each other there since 1989. The pair has faced off 32 times at the "Cathedral of College Basketball."
 
Scouting the Explorers
• Tonight's doubleheader is in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Philadelphia Big 5. Saint Joseph's and Penn play in the nightcap. It is the first Big 5 doubleheader at the Palestra since December 4, 2004. Penn defeated La Salle, 78-67, and Temple edged Villanova, 53-52 that day. Doubleheaders at the Palestra were a regular occurrence during the Big 5's heyday.
 
• Jordan Price is currently 14th in the nation in scoring at 21.9 points per game. He is second in the Atlantic 10 behind Jack Gibbs of Davidson.
 
• Jordan Price is one of three players in the nation to average at least 21.0 ppg., 5.0 rpg. and 3.0 apg.
 
• Rohan Brown (knee injury) and Yevgen Sakhniuk (sickness) have not appeared in a game since December 22 versus Miami.  La Salle played with seven scholarship players in the past six games. The seven scholarship players are comprised of two juniors, three sophomores and two freshmen.
 
• La Salle has compiled a 314-176 (.641) mark at the Palestra. The building served as the Explorers home court from 1955-56 until 1988-89. La Salle has played at least one home or neutral site game at the Palestra the past five seasons and 14 of the last 15 seasons.
 
• Johnnie Shuler has averaged 15.5 ppg. and 5.0 three's per game in his past two contests. He is shooting 10-for-20 (.500) from three in those two games and has played all 80 minutes.
 
• Playing with seven scholarship players and trying to avoid foul trouble, the Explorers have slowed the pace offensively. La Salle had 57 possessions vs. Dayton, 60 vs. Richmond and 56 vs. Rhode Island. The slowest team in the nation is Denver, which averages 63 possessions.
 
• Johnnie Shuler is ranked seventh nationally in minutes per game (37.6) and is second in the A-10.  La Salle has three players in the top seven in minutes per game in the A-10 (Shuler, Roberts, Price).

La Salle-Temple Connections
Temple head coach Fran Dunphy is a 1970 graduate of La Salle. Dunphy was a four year letter winner for the Explorers and captained the team during his senior season. He led the team to a 23-1 record during his junior campaign. He also served as an assistant at La Salle from 1979-80 and 1985-88.
 
La Salle Director of Operations Matt Bloom spent four years as a student manager under Dunphy at Penn.

Temple walk on Mike Robbins and La Salle junior BJ Johnson were teammates at Lower Merion High School. During Robbins senior campaign and Johnson's junior year they lead the team to a 21-2 record and the Central League title.    
 
Scouting the Owls
• Temple has won three of its last four, grabbing wins over #23/24 UConn, East Carolina, and Cincinnati, while dropping a last second 67-65 decision at Memphis.

• The Owls have beaten two Top 25 opponents on the road this season, #22/23 Cincinnati on 12/29 and #23/24 UConn on 1/5). This is the first time Temple has achieved this since 1998.

• Head coach Fran Dunphy is just five wins away from surpassing former Owl coach John Chaney and becoming the all-time winningest coach in Philadelphia Big 5 history.  

• Temple has taken care of the ball all season long. The owls are ranked second in the nation in fewest turnovers per game at 9.4. They have recorded single digit turnovers in nine of 16 games so far this year.    
 
• Senior Quenton DeCosey leads Temple in scoring at 15.8 points per game. This ranks him fourth in the American Athletic Conference.     

Up Next
La Salle hosts Saint Joseph's on Saturday at Tom Gola Arena with tip slated for 4 p.m. and TV broadcasts on CSN Philadelphia and the American Sports Network.