Men's Basketball | March 11, 2020

BROOKLYN, N.Y. - La Salle and Davidson square off in an Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Tournament game for the fourth time in six years on Thursday evening at Barclays Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m., with the game airing live on NBC Sports Network.

NEWS & NOTES
•Two of the prior three postseason meetings between the two schools have taken place at the home venue of the NBA's Brooklyn Nets.
•The contest is the third of four second-round games scheduled for Thursday, with the winner of the matchup advancing to take on No. 2 Richmond in the quarterfinals.
•The Explorers are looking to build on a promising finish to the season that saw them win four of their last six regular-season games. 
•In the finale at Saint Joseph's, six La Salle players scored in double figures in a thrilling 78-77 win over the rival Hawks.
•Freshman Ayinde Hikim netted a team-high 15 points while classmate Christian Ray recorded his first career double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
•Junior guard David Beatty extended his string of consecutive double-figure scoring games to six with 11 points.
•Beatty is averaging 12.3 points per game during that stretch and is currently leading a balanced La Salle attack at 10.7 points per game.

SCOUTING DAVIDSON
•The Wildcats are led by the All-Atlantic 10 backcourt of Kellan Grady and Jon Axel Gudmundsson. 
•Grady, a junior, was a Second Team All-A-10 selection after averaging a team-high 17.2 points per game.
•Last season's A-10 Player of the Year, Gudmundsson led Davidson in assists (4.3 apg) while ranking second on the team in scoring (14.5 ppg).

LA SALLE CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Atlantic 10 Tournament Record: 11-22
Record in A-10 Tournament Opening Round: 1-1
Record in A-10 Tournament Second Round: 9-10
Record in A-10 Tournament Quarterfinals: 1-10
Record in A-10 Tournament Semifinals: 0-1
Record in A-10 Tournament Finals: 0-0

HISTORY vs. DAVIDSON IN A-10 TOURNAMENT 
2017 Second Round (at PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, Pa.)    L, 73-82
2016 Second Round (at Barclays Center, Brooklyn, N.Y.)    L, 63-78
2015 Quarterfinal Round (at Barclays Center, Brooklyn, N.Y.)    L, 66-67

3's ARE KEY
•A subplot to Thursday's second-round game between La Salle and Davidson is the three-point line.
•The Wildcats rank second in the Atlantic 10 in three-point shooting at 36.8%, behind only No. 3 Dayton (37.1%).
•On the other hand, the Explorers are second in the league in three-point percentage defense, allowing opponents to shoot 30.0%.
•In the only meeting of the season between the two schools, La Salle held Davidson to 6-of-19 from three (31.6%), but struggled offensively beyond the arc (2-for-16).

DEAS APPROACHING 1,000
•Senior Isiah Deas enters Thursday just 16 points away from 1,000 for his career, currently sitting at 984.
•Should Deas reach the milestone, he would become the program's 58th player to score 1,000 points as an Explorer.
•Most recently, Pookie Powell became a member of the 1,000-point club last season.
•Deas currently ranks third on the team in scoring with 9.9 points per game and has scored in double figures 14 times this season.

ATLANTIC 10 TOURNAMENT - #7 vs. #10
•All 14 Atlantic 10 teams will have the slates wiped clean beginning Wednesday, when the Atlantic 10 Tournament begins in Brooklyn, N.Y.
•La Salle is seeded 10th for the second time in its history, earning a double-overtime win over St. Bonaventure at the Reilly Center in 2011. 
•The Explorers went 1-1 in their lone conference tournament as a No. 10 seed, eventually falling to second-seeded Temple in Atlantic City, 96-76.
•Overall, La Salle has played in the 7-10 game three times, owning a perfect 3-0 record.

La Salle in Atlantic 10 Tournament - 7 vs. 10 Game
2008 - #7 La Salle 82, #10 Duquesne 79 (Atlantic City, N.J. • Boardwalk Hall)
2011 - #10 La Salle 75, #7 St. Bonaventure 73 (2OT) (Olean, N.Y. • Reilly Center)
2012 - #7 La Salle 80, #10 Richmond 72 (Philadelphia, Pa. • Tom Gola Arena)

ALL-TIME SERIES - DAVIDSON LEADS 7-3
•This will be just the 11th all-time meeting between La Salle and Davidson.
•The first meeting between the Explorers and Flyers was in 2009, an 84-70 win for La Salle at the Charleston Classic.
•This marks the fifth time the two teams have met on a neutral site, with the Wildcats holding a 3-1 record.
•Included in that are three straight Atlantic 10 Tournament contests in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
•In this season's matchup, held in North Carolina, Davidson jumped out to a 10-0 lead en route to a 74-49 win.
•Junior David Beatty had 10 points off the bench for the Explorers, who shot just 2-for-16 from three-point range.
•Kellan Grady, a Second Team All-Atlantic 10 selection, had 22 points for the victors.