Men's Basketball | November 20, 2018

FULLERTON, Calif. - The La Salle men's basketball team heads west for its next three games this week, beginning with a Thanksgiving Day matchup against Miami (Fla.) at the Wooden Legacy Tournament in California. All games of the event will be held at Titan Gym on the campus of Cal State Fullerton.

The contest against the Hurricanes will begin at 2:30 p.m. ET (11:30 a.m. PT) and will be broadcast live nationally on ESPNU. An audio broadcast featuring the Voice of the Explorers Kale Beers will be available courtesy of the TuneIn Radio App and Stretch Internet.

NEWS & NOTES
•La Salle and Miami (Fla.) also met last season in a neutral-site contest, with the Hurricanes taking a 57-46 decision from the Explorers at Santander Arena in Reading, Pa.
•The Explorers lead the all-time series, 9-8, but Miami has won the last four contests.
•Fresno State and Northwestern will play for the right to take on the winner of La Salle/Miami in a winner's bracket game on Friday, Nov. 23 at 2:00 p.m. ET (11:00 a.m. PT).
•The losers will square off at 4:30 p.m. ET (1:30 p.m. PT). Seton Hall, Grand Canyon, Hawaii and Utah are the other four teams taking part in the event.
•This past Saturday, La Salle dropped an 89-84 decision to city foe Drexel at Tom Gola Arena.
•Graduate student Pookie Powell scored 21 points for the second consecutive game while grabbing seven rebounds, all of which came on the defensive end.
•For the first time this season, the Explorers won the battle of the boards (37-35), but the Dragons went to the free-throw line 40 times (converting 34).
•Another grad student, transfer Cheddi Mosely, had his best game in Blue & Gold, scoring 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting.
•La Salle drained 11 three-pointers and shot nearly 50 percent from deep (11-24, 45.8%).
•Freshman Ed Croswell paced the team with nine rebounds while classmate Jared Kimbrough added seven. The duo combined for nine offensive boards.
•Junior Traci Carter dished out a season-high six assists and hit his average with three steals.
•The inside trio of Croswell, Kimbrough and sophomore Miles Brookins went a combined 8-for-9 from the field and totaled 19 points and 18 rebounds.

ABOUT THE WOODEN LEGACY
•The Wooden Legacy was formed in June 2013 when the John R. Wooden Classic was merged with the Anaheim Classic, which was an eight-school bracketed event played for six years (2007-2012) at the Anaheim Convention Center.
•Nine of the 11 Anaheim Classic/Wooden Legacy winners have gone on to earn NCAA Tournament bids, with West Virginia advancing to the 2010 Final Four.
• With the exception of  Miami (Fla.), the other seven schools will be competing in their first Wooden Legacy event.  
•Miami won its last two games in the 2013 Wooden Legacy after losing their opening contest in overtime.
•Grand Canyon, Miami, Seton Hall and Utah competed in the 2018 postseason, with Miami and Seton Hall earning bids to the NCAA Tournament.
•The Utes were selected to compete in the 2018 National Invitation Tournament, while Grand Canyon participated in the College Insider Tournament.

EXPLORING THE WEST COAST
•La Salle will be making its first appearance in the Pacific time zone since its magical run to the 2013 Sweet Sixteen.
•The Explorers squared off against Wichita State in Anaheim, Calif., at Staples Center in the NCAA Tournament on March 28, 2013.
•The Shockers jumped out to a 16-point halftime lead and defeated La Salle, 72-58.
•The last regular season game that La Salle played out west came on Dec. 21, 2002 at the University of Southern California (L, 89-63).
•Altogether, La Salle is 12-20 in the Pacific Time Zone, 4-2 in Hawaii and 2-0 in Tokyo, Japan.