Men's Basketball | November 17, 2017

UNCASVILLE, Conn. - La Salle will play its first games away from the City of Brotherly Love this weekend as it travels to Connecticut to take part in the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament. The Explorers will open the four-team, two-day mini-tournament against No. 20 Northwestern on Saturday, Nov. 18 at Mohegan Sun Arena. A digital broadcast will be aired on ESPN3, beginning approximately at 2:30 p.m. 

NEWS & NOTES
•The Explorers went 2-0 in the campus-game portion of the event, including its most recent 81-73 win over South Alabama on Thursday.
•Senior B.J. Johnson continued his impressive play to begin the 2017-18 year, scoring 22 of his game-high 30 points in the opening half.
•The 6-7 forward also pulled down 11 rebounds to record his third straight double-double.
•La Salle built a 20-point halftime lead against the Jaguars and led by as many as 23 points before the visitors used hot three-point shooting to pull to within five in the second stanza.
•Sophomore Isiah Deas had 15 points against USA, including an important three-pointer that helped stem the tide.
•The Explorers outrebounded their opponent by a 38-30 margin, marking the third consecutive game they have done so. 
•In addition to Johnson, sophomore Saul Phiri also had a double-double against South Alabama with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while adding four assists and a pair of steals.
•The double-double was the second straight for Phiri, who grabbed a total of 21 rebounds all of last season.
•Graduate student Amar Stukes had a solid overall floor game, scoring eight points and dishing out five assists while committing just one turnover.
•La Salle committed 10 turnovers, a season low, while shooting 16-of-17 from the free throw line (94.4%).
 
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
•Northwestern, who advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time a season ago, most recently dropped a 92-88 decision to Creighton on Wednesday. 
•The Wildcats are 2-1 on the year, and are led by Bryant McIntosh (19.0 ppg, 6.3 apg).
•La Salle leads the all-time series against NU, 2-0, with the last game between the two schools coming in 2000.