Men's Basketball | February 15, 2021

PHILADELPHIA - After a week-long layoff, the Explorers will play their third consecutive road game when they visit Saint Louis Tuesday night for a nationally televised Atlantic 10 matchup. The game will air live on CBS Sports Network, beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET. Rich Waltz and Tim Doyle will have the call. 

NEWS & NOTES
•La Salle will be looking for its first win at Saint Louis since 2011 after snapping a five-game drought against the Billikens with an 82-75 home win earlier this season.
•However, the Explorers have suffered a pair of setbacks since that victory on Feb. 3, most recently falling on the road to St. Bonaventure, 86-73, last Tuesday.
•Sophomore Sherif Kenney scored a career-high 22 points in the defeat, shooting 5-for7 from the field and 4-of-5 from three-point territory.
•It was the fifth straight game in which La Salle's leading scorer set a career-high mark for points.
•Freshman Jhamir Brickus also put up a career best with 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc.
•The Explorers led the Bonnies early on, holding a 22-13 advantage midway through the first half, but St. Bonaventure flipped the switch from there and went in front by double digits at halftime.
•The Bonnies led by as much as 18 before the Explorers got back within 10 with 2:40 remaining, but that was as close as it would get.
•St. Bonaventure shot lights out, making 60.9 percent of its shots from the floor and 64.3 percent of its three-pointers.
•On the flip side, La Salle committed a season-low six turnovers in the game.
•Senior David Beatty added 12 points off the bench and sophomore Christian Ray had a near-double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds.

SCOUTING SAINT LOUIS
•The Billikens have bounced back since falling at La Salle, currently on a three-game winning streak with victories over St. Bonaventure, Rhode Island and Fordham.
•Saint Louis stands at 10-3 overall, 3-2 in the Atlantic 10 and 9-1 at home.
•Javonte Perkins (17.8 ppg) and Jordan Goodwin (15.1 ppg) rank sixth and 13th in the Atlantic 10 in scoring, respectively, for the top scoring team in the conference.
•Goodwin, a guard, leads the A-10 with 10.2 rebounds per game, while Yuri Collins leads the league with 6.4 assists per contest.

COUNT ON KENNEY
•Sophomore Sherif Kenney has steadily improved his scoring as the season has progressed, averaging 14.7 points over the last six games.
•Kenney has proven to be the top scoring option for the Explorers, leading the team with 10.4 points per game, a steady improvement from his 7.6 average as a freshman. He's been even stronger in Atlantic 10 play, scoring 11.2 points per contest in league play.
•The D.C. native scored a career-high 22 points the last time out at St. Bonaventure on 5-of-7 shooting (4-5 3PT) and had three steals over a career-high 36 minutes.
•That scoring effort trumped his previous career high achieved only three games earlier at VCU, when he tallied 20 points, four assists, five rebounds and four steals.
•The 6-4 guard was also on point in the win at Richmond with a team-high 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting (2-3 3PT, 5-6 FT), and then knocked down a career-high 13 foul shots on his way to another 17-point effort in the Feb. 3 win over Saint Louis.
•Against reigning A-10 champion Dayton, the D.C. native had 14 points, 12 in the second half, as the Explorers downed the Flyers for the first time at UD Arena in 21 years.
•Three days later, Kenney poured in 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting in a 37-point win over Fordham, leading to Philadelphia Big 5 Player of the Week on Jan. 4.

RELIABLE RAY
•Sophomore Christian Ray has been as reliable as they come this season, showing a balanced game with efficient shooting, consistent rebounding and strong defense.
•Ray has been a key contributor as of late, scoring in double digits three times and averaging 10.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game over his last six contests, including 13.5 points and 10.0 rebounds over the last two games.
•The Gap, Pa. native nearly posted double-doubles in each of those games, putting up a career-high 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting (2-3 3PT) with nine rebounds at Fordham before posting nine points and 11 rebounds at St. Bonaventure.
•In last month's win at Richmond, Ray had 11 points and eight rebounds, and followed that with 15 points, six boards and three steals in the next game against Rhode Island.
•The 6-6 guard leads the team in rebounding with 5.2 boards per game and is pulling down 6.2 rebounds per contest in Atlantic 10 play, while shooting 52.3 percent from the floor on the season, including 53.8 percent in A-10 competition.

JIGSAW PUZZLE
•Freshman guard Jhamir "Jig" Brickus has added another two-way presence in the Explorers' backcourt, starting in all but three games at point guard.
•Brickus has been one of the toughest defenders in the Atlantic 10 this season, averaging 1.8 steals per game, which is tied for eighth best in the league.
•The Coatesville, Pa. native scored in double figures in each of his first three career games and has done so nine times this season, and he is knocking down 50.0 percent of his shots from the field.
•The 5-11 guard leads the team with 3.3 assists per game and dished out a career-high 10 assists in the Jan. 2 win over Fordham.
•Brickus began his career by being named to the Lapchick All-Tournament Team after averaging 10.5 points per game on 9-for-11 (81.8%) over his first two career games.
•He opened his La Salle career by coming off the bench to shoot 5-for-6 from the floor for 11 points at St. John's in his debut and followed with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting vs. Saint Peter's the next day.