Men's Basketball | January 31, 2017
PHILADELPHIA - The La Salle University men's basketball team looks to get back on track on Wednesday evening when it hosts Massachusetts at Tom Gola Arena. Tipoff is at 7:00 p.m., with all of the action available online via the Atlantic 10 Digital Network and GoExplorers.TV. Tickets are also available by calling 215-951-1999 or by visiting goexplorers.com/buytickets. A pre-game reception will once again be held at The Compass at the Student Union on campus, beginning at 4:30 p.m.
NEWS & NOTES
•The Explorers have dropped their last three contests, with the last two coming by a combined four points.
•Most recently, Saint Joseph's guard Lamarr Kimble hit the eventual game-winning shot with just under 16 seconds left to give the Hawks a 73-72 win.
•Senior Jordan Price, who scored a team-best 21 points, had an opportunity at the end of the second half but his short hook rolled off the rim.
•Price needs just nine points to become the 22nd player in La Salle basketball history to score 1,500 points for a career.
•The Explorers also received a solid game from junior point guard Amar Stukes, who scored 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor and added a team-high five assists.
•Over its recent three-game skid, La Salle's offense has been struggling to the tune of 37.0 percent shooting and 29.9 percent from three-point range.
•In contrast, during the five wins prior to the start of the recent streak, the Explorers clipped the nets at 52.0 percent and shot 44.7 percent from deep.
•Stukes has been extremely efficient on the offensive end since his career-best 22-point outing against Rhode Island, averaging 12.3 points and 3.8 assists while shooting 59.5 percent from the field and 90.6 percent from the free throw line over the six-game span.
ALL-TIME SERIES
•The Minutemen have won six of the last seven matchups between the two teams in a series that dates back to 1971, and leads the overall series by a 20-15 margin.
•La Salle's lone win during that period came in the opening round of the 2015 Atlantic 10 Tournament at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
•Jordan Price had 28 points in that game, including 14-of-18 from the free-throw line.
•The two teams have split 12 meetings at Gola Arena (6-6).
•Last year, UMass swept the home-and-home including a 74-67 win in Philadelphia.
SCOUTING UMASS
•Similar to La Salle, Massachusetts enters the contest on Wednesday on a three-game losing skid.
•The Minutemen lost a close 76-74 decision to George Mason on Saturday.
•Of the seven A10 losses that UMass has incurred, five of them have come by five points or less.
•Individually, Donte Clark leads a trio of scorers in double figures at 13.4 ppg.
•Rashaan Holloway is shooting 61.8 percent from the field and averaging 11.1 ppg, while Luwane Pipkins is at 10.6 ppg.
AMAR AMAZES
•Junior point guard Amar Stukes has been helping the team win in a variety of ways throughout the 2016-17 campaign.
•Despite his 6-2 frame, Stukes is third on the team in field goal percentage at 49.5 percent.
•The Philadelphia native also ranks third on the squad in free throw percentage at 81.7 percent, leads the Explorers in assists (3.8 apg) and is second in steals with 24.
•Stukes' scoring average has risen from 5.8 ppg last year to 8.1 ppg this season, and he has been averaging 9.1 ppg on 52.5 percent shooting in league play.
•In eight A10 games, Stukes is converting a conference-best 90.9 percent of his free-throw attempts.
