Men's Basketball | March 8, 2017
PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The La Salle University men's basketball travels across the state of Pennsylvania for the 2017 Atlantic 10 Tournament. The Explorers, who are the No. 8 seed in the event that will be held in Pittsburgh at the PPG Paints Arena, will take on ninth-seeded Davidson in a second round game on Thursday, March 9 at 12:00 p.m.
NBC Sports Network will have live coverage of the game. Fans can catch all the action in high definition via NBC Sports online at
NBCSports.com/Live, or through the NBC Sports app which is available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire.
An online audio broadcast of the game will also be available via the Tune In Radio App and Stretch Internet. Play-by-play commentator
Kale Beers and former La Salle assistant Rich Prendergast will be on the call.
NEWS & NOTES
•La Salle went 9-9 during the conference regular season and picked up a 66-54 win over Fordham in the final regular season game on March 4.
•Junior
B.J. Johnson recorded a game-high 19 points and narrowly missed his fourth double-double of the year with nine rebounds.
•Senior
Jordan Price, who played in the final home game of his La Salle career, scored 10 points and added nine boards while classmate
Cleon Roberts pitched in with 11 points.
•The team snapped a three-game losing skid with the win that saw the Explorers shoot 59.1 percent from the field in the second half.
•Strong defense also contributed to the win, as Fordham shot just 33.3 percent from the field and were outrebounded by a 39-26 margin.
•Junior
Amar Stukes failed to score a point against the Rams but did dish out 10 assists, becoming the first La Salle player to record double-digit dimes since Ramon Galloway against Saint Joseph's on Feb. 16, 2013.
•Stukes is also just the ninth player in college basketball this season to have a 0-point, 10-assist performance, and is the only one to additionally record seven or more rebounds (7).
•Earlier this season on Jan. 19, La Salle defeated Davidson at Tom Gola Arena by a 91-83 margin to improve to 5-1 in Atlantic 10 play.
•The win included a 29-point effort from
Jordan Price and a 19-point outing from
B.J. Johnson, while
Pookie Powell added 14 points and
Amar Stukes had 12.
•The Explorers shot 57.4 percent from the floor in the game against the Wildcats.
•La Salle is 4-2 all-time against Davidson, including a pair of losses in A10 Tournament play.
•A win in the quarterfinal round would ensure a winning season for the fourth time in the last six years.
•The 2017 Atlantic 10 Tournament is the 20th that a La Salle men's basketball team will be playing in since joining the league back in 1996.
SCOUTING DAVIDSON
•The Wildcats are the No. 9 seed by virtue of an 8-10 record in Atlantic 10 play.
•First team All-A10 guard Jack Gibbs and second-team forward Peyton Aldridge headline Davidson's attack.
•Gibbs leads the conference in scoring at 22.0 points per game, while Aldridge ranks third at 20.6.
•Over their last six games, the Wildcats are 3-3 but have dropped two of those games in overtime to Dayton and Rhode Island.
•Davidson will be taking part in its third Atlantic 10 Tournament, and sport a 3-2 record in those first two events held in Brooklyn, N.Y.
•Two of those wins have come against La Salle (67-66 in quarterfinals in 2015; 78-63 in second round in 2016)
•In 2015, a buzzer beater by Tyler Kalinoski dashed an upset bid by the ninth-seeded Explorers against top-ranked Davidson, who would go on to earn an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament.
CRAZY 8's
•La Salle has been the No. 8 seed in the Atlantic 10 Tournament three other times (2001, 2009, 2014) since joining the league in 1996.
•The Explorers defeated Fordham, 86-67, at the Spectrum in Philadelphia in 2001 before falling to top-seeded Saint Joseph's.
•In 2009, Saint Louis' Kwaimain Mitchell hit a layup at the buzzer to pick up a 62-60 overtime win over the Explorers.
•Three years ago, Jerrell Wright scored a then-career high 26 points but it was not enough as St. Bonaventure picked up a 82-72 win in Brooklyn at Barclays Center.
•Overall, No. 8 seeds are 18-24 in Atlantic 10 Tournament action and have never advanced to the finals.
•Eighth-seeded teams have moved on to the semifinals four times, including two of the last five years (UMass in 2012, St. Bonaventure in 2015).
•Duquesne in 1985 and Saint Joseph's in 1991 are the two other No. 8 seeds to advance to the semifinal round.
LOOKING BACK AT THE NON-LEAGUE
•As is the case every season, La Salle put together a challenging non-league schedule in 2016-17.
•At least two teams that the Explorers faced will receive automatic bids into the NCAA Tournament in 2017.
•Florida Gulf Coast (Atlantic Sun) has already clinched a bid with its tournament championship, while Bucknell and Lehigh square off for the Patriot League title on Wednesday.
•Texas Southern won the SWAC regular season championship and is the favorite to earn the league's automatic bid, while Villanova also won the Big East regular-season title and is ranked No. 2 in the latest Associated Press Poll.
•Mercer fell to eventual SoCon champion E. Tennessee State in the quarters of its tournament, while Drexel and Delaware were knocked out of the Colonial Athletic Association tournament.
MAGIC NUMBERS
•La Salle is a perfect 7-0 this season when registering 18 or more assists in a game.
•The Explorers are interestingly 6-2 on the year when they make 14 or fewer free throws, and hold the same record when hitting 10 or more three-pointers.
•When making 26 or more field goals, La Salle is 13-3 in 2016-17.
•La Salle is 12-1 this season when shooting 45.8 percent or better, and 7-0 in Atlantic 10 games when accomplishing the feat.
•Finally, La Salle is 10-2 this year when shooting 40.0 percent or better from three-point range.
