Men's Basketball | February 24, 2017
AMHERST, Mass. - The La Salle University men's basketball team closes out February with a road trip to Massachusetts on Sunday, Feb. 26. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m., and will be televised locally on CSN Philly. An audio broadcast of the game is also available online, with play-by-play announcer
Kale Beers and analyst Steve Degler bringing you the call via the TuneIn Radio App.
NEWS & NOTES
•The Explorers enter the contest with an 8-7 record in Atlantic 10 play with three games left in the regular season.
•Sophomore
Pookie Powell scored a team-high 14 points in a 67-56 loss to Rhode Island on Tuesday evening at Gola Arena.
•The Rams limited the La Salle offense to 35.8 percent shooting and a 3-for-15 performance from three-point range.
•Four players in all reached double figures in scoring, with junior
Amar Stukes (13), junior
B.J. Johnson (12) and senior
Jordan Price (10) joining Powell.
•Stukes went 7-for-8 from the free throw line and dished out three assists without turning the ball over in 36 minutes of play.
•On the year, the 6-2 guard has recorded four games in which he has been turnover-free while playing 25 minutes or more.
•The three three-point field goals made was a season low in a single game in 2016-17 and the fewest in a contest since the 2014-15 season.
ALL-TIME SERIES
•The Explorers picked up an 88-78 win over the Minutemen on the first day of the month, snapping a four-game losing skid in the series.
•The Minutemen still leads the all-time series by a 20-16 margin.
•
B.J. Johnson had 28 points and 11 rebounds while
Jordan Price added 21.
•The Explorers shot 59.1 percent from the field in the second half and 24-of-26 (92.3%) from the free-throw line for the game.
•UMass was led by Rashaan Holloway (19 pts.).
•Last year, UMass swept the home-and-home including a 74-67 win in Philadelphia.
SCOUTING MASSACHUSETTS
•Massachusetts led George Washington at halftime on Thursday evening, but the Colonials outscored the Minutemen, 45-27, en route to handing UMass a 83-67 loss.
•The defeat drops the Minutemen to 13-15 overall and 3-12 in Atlantic 10 play.
•Rashaan Holloway, who led the team with 19 points in its first meeting with La Salle, averages 10.9 points and 6.4 rebounds a game.
•Massachusetts has lost eight of its last nine games.
MUCH IMPROVED
•La Salle has bounced back from a down 2015-16 season and holds a winning record in '16-17.Â
•Overall, the Explorers have improved on last year's record by +7.5 games, which is the 20th-best turnaround in the country.
•La Salle is tied with Auburn, Illinois State, Rutgers, San Jose State, TCU and USC Upstate.
•Minnesota has the biggest turnaround of any team in NCAA Division I men's basketball at +14.5.
•In addition to the men's team, the La Salle women have made a +12.0 improvement from last year and as of Feb. 24, La Salle is tied with UCF for the top gains made in by a college basketball school at +19.5.
Â
