Men's Basketball | November 30, 2018

PHILADELPHIA - La Salle and Villanova renew a Big 5 rivalry that dates back to the 1933-34 season at The Palestra on Saturday, Dec. 1. The game will air live nationally on ESPN2 and is scheduled to tipoff at 3:00 p.m. An audio broadcast of the game will be available via the TuneIn Radio App and will feature the Voice of the Explorers, Kale Beers. Tickets are also still available and can be purchased at goexplorers.com/buytickets or by calling 215-951-1999.

NEWS & NOTES
•Head coach Ashley Howard, in his first season at the helm of the Explorers, will square off against a team on Saturday that he knows very well.
•Howard served as an assistant coach under Villanova head coach Jay Wright for five seasons, helping the Wildcats to a pair of national championships.
•The Explorers return to Philadelphia this weekend after a tough west-coast trip over Thanksgiving weekend.
•La Salle faced a pair of Power 5 schools in Miami (Fla.) and Northwestern, with the third and final game coming against a Grand Canyon team that was picked to finish second in the Western Athletic Conference and has advanced to postseason play in each of the last three years.
•Graduate student Pookie Powell averaged 15.3 points per game and went 19-for-21 from the free-throw line in the three games at The Wooden Legacy.
•Powell has accumulated 963 points over his two-plus seasons with La Salle, and stands just 37 points from becoming the 57th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point plateau.
•Sophomore Miles Brookins, playing in front of family and friends from his nearby hometown of Santa Ana, Calif., registered his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds 
•The rims were unfriendly to the Explorers during their extended stay on the West Coast, as they shot just 36.1 percent from the field over three games and 20.0 percent from three-point range.
•La Salle turned on the full-court pressure for the majority of The Wooden Legacy, taking away 22 steals over the three games and forcing opponents into 55 turnovers (18.3/game).
•Redshirt junior Traci Carter had six of those steals in California and is averaging 2.6 per game, tied for the Atlantic 10 lead (tied for 18th nationally).
•Freshman Jared Kimbrough had back-to-back double-figure games against Miami (Fla.) and Northwestern, and currently leads the team in rebounding at 5.4 per contest.

SCOUTING VILLANOVA
•The Wildcats won three straight games at the AdvoCare Invitational in Orlando, Fla. last week, earning the title with a victory over 13th-ranked Florida State, 66-60.
•Sophomore forward Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree was named the Tournament MVP after tallying 11 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots against the Seminoles.
•Phil Booth and Eric Paschall are the top two scorers for the Wildcats, averaging 16.6 and 14.1 points per game, respectively.

SERIES HISTORY
•The game is the 68th between La Salle and Villanova, with the Wildcats holding a 40-27 advantage.
•Villanova has won the last five games, including in 2016-17  when the teams played at the Palestra.
•Villanova has a 22-game winning streak against Big 5 foes and will be playing its first game against a city school this year, while the Explorers are 0-1 in Big 5 play in '18-19 (L, 67-75 at Temple; 11/6).