Men's Basketball | January 25, 2022

PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle men's basketball team faces its second-straight Atlantic 10 foe inside of Tom Gola Arena at the TruMark Financial Center, playing hosts to the UMass Minutemen on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.
 
The Explorers (6-10, 1-5 A-10) take on the Minutemen (8-10, 1-5 A-10) in their annual Coaches vs. Cancer game. For over 25 years, the Coaches vs. Cancer program, in collaboration with the National Association of Basketball Coaches, has united coaches and fans nationwide to help the American Cancer Society defeat a common enemy – cancer. The La Salle coaching staff will be laced up in Adidas Ultraboost 22s in recognition of the special event.
 
 
NEWS & NOTES

• Wednesday's midweek matchup at Tom Gola Arena inside the TruMark Financial Center will be the last before a two-game road stretch, the Explorers making multiple trips south to face Davidson and George Washington over the coming week.
• La Salle enters its 11th game played inside Gola in its 17th game of the season, 14 of those coming inside the city of Philadelphia and 15 inside the state of Pennsylvania.
• The Explorers look to break their misfortunes this season in Wednesday games, entering the UMass battle at 0-3 on the year.
• La Salle looks to break a two-game losing streak, falling in tough outcomes to Rhode Island on the road and a home bout against Richmond after securing their first win in A-10 play against Philly rivals Saint Joseph's.
• Wednesday's game will be the fourth for the Explorers in the span of 10 days, the rest of the conference schedule seeing no more than three days in between contests.
• The last time the Explorers hit the court, they saw themselves trailing by two points to Richmond at the halftime break. Turnovers and a cold streak to begin the half quickly saw the Spiders jump out ahead, never relinquishing their multiple possession lead.
• Clifton Moore returned to his brilliance in the Atlantic 10, securing a 19 point, 12 rebound effort for his fourth double-double in his last five games. Moore has scored in double figures in the last six contests.
• Jack Clark also added double figures in the loss, scoring 11 of his 13 points in the first half before cooling down. The redshirt junior also finished with eight boards.

 
SCOUTING UMASS

• UMass comes into the matchup at Gola with an 8-10 record, also sharing a 1-5 tally in conference play. The Minutemen split a home and away series with Saint Louis to grab their only A-10 win, but headed back to the STL and lost in their biggest margin of the season in a 90-59 defeat.
• The Minutemen are one of the most elite three-point shooting teams in the country, ranking ninth in the nation in three point field goals made (10.6 per game) and fourth in the nation in three point percentage, knocking down an blazing 40.2% of their attempts from range.
• Four different Minutemen shoot above 40% from three that have taken at least 25 attempts on the year. Noah Fernandes (16.0 ppg), Rich Kelly (12.7 ppg) and C.J. Kelly (12.4 ppg) combine for 45.7% on their attempts from deep. Fernandes also leads the team with 83 assists and 23 steals.
• Trent Buttrick also adds double figures, tallying 11.7 points per game and a team-high 5.5 rebounds.

 
MOORE BUCKETS

• Clifton Moore has proven himself to be a menace on the defensive side of the ball, ranking 26th in the nation in blocks with 2.56 blocks per game.
• With six blocks against Army West Point, Moore recorded the most blocks in a game since November 20, 2010 when Aaric Murray recorded nine in a 79-74 win over Morgan State. The six blocks is fourth-most in program history.
• Moore put up a highlight reel in defeat to Fordham, knocking down 12-17 attempts from the field for 26 points, besting his career-high by 11 points. The Ambler, Pa. native also added a season-high eight rebounds, five blocks and two steals. It was the third time this season Moore recorded 5+ blocks.
• In Moore's previous five games, the Ambler native has averaged 18.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.6 blocks. Moore's 21/12 effort against VCU was the first double-double of his career, setting a career-high in rebounds. He produced his second-straight 10/10 performance of his career the next time out, tallying 17 and 10 against St. Bonaventure. The Ambler native again tallied a double-double against St. Joe's, garnering the third-straight of his career with a 16/10 performance against the Hawks.
• His fourth double-double came in the span of five games, putting 19 points on Richmond and tied a career-high with 12 rebounds on 9-12 shooting.
• Moore has scored in double-figures in his last six games, eight times in his last 10.

 
A-10 LEADERS

• Clifton Moore has been a force since starting A-10 play. Fifth in the league in scoring heading into the matchup with UMass, Moore is averaging 18.2 points per game against conference foes. The forward has also grabbed 55 rebounds in his last six games, good for third in the league at 9.2 per contest. Moore is shooting 58.4% from the field in that span, the 5th-best mark in league play of those who have taken 30+ attempts. Moore has taken the most field goals (77) in league play, only Gibson Jimerson eclipsing the 70+ mark.  Known more for his rim protection entering the season, Moore has 15 blocks in his last six games, the fifth best average in the Atlantic 10 at 2.5 per game.
• Khalil Brantley and Anwar Gill stepped up in the backcourt, even with the return of Brickus to the lineup. Gill ranks 15th in league play with 3.2 assists per game, Brantley following just behind at 17th with a 2.8 average. The two combined for 15 assists against the Bonnies.

 
JACK OF ALL TRADES

• For the first time in his career, Jack Clark registered a double-double in the season opening loss against Sacred Heart. His 12 point, 11 rebound contest was the 15th time registering double figure scoring and the third time with 10+ rebounds. Clark joins Christian Ray as the only other Explorer to record a double-double, the junior with four in his career.
• The fourth-year man regained his rhythm after an early season slump, going 6-9 from the field for 18 points and eight rebounds in a rout over FDU.
• Clark produced his best game of the season in a Philly matchup, taking over with 21 points against St. Joe's to tie a career-high in points. Clark scored 18 of his 21 in the second half, also adding six rebounds in the rivalry win.
• Clark nearly tallied his second double-double of the year, scoring nine points and adding nine boards in his output at Rhode Island.
• The Cheltenham native produced a 13 point, eight rebound effort against Richmond, 11 of his 13 points coming in the first half.

 
PHILLY LIVIN'

• The Explorers spent their nonconference campaign in and around the city of Philadelphia. Only playing three road games before A-10 action, the Explorers traveled no further than Lewisburg, Pa. for any of their away trips.
• The Fordham Rams broke a five-game win streak inside Tom Gola Arena, the only other loss coming in the home opener in overtime to Sacred Heart. Since then, the Explorers have went on a four-game losing streak at home in conference play.
• La Salle left the city for just the third time in its opening 15 games to start the season when it travelled to Rhode Island. The two-game home stand will make it 14 times in 17 games that have been played in the city of Philadelphia.

 
SERIES HISTORY

• UMass holds a lead in the 45th matchup, tallying a 26-18 record against the Explorers.
• La Salle has lost its last four matchups against the Minutemen, last winning in a two-game sweep over UMass in the 2018-19 season, the first year under the Howard tenure.
• Last season, the Explorers succumbed to two double-digit losses, losing both at home and in Amherst.
• Prior to the current two-game losing streak at home, the Explorers knocked off three straight inside Gola against UMass.
• Tre Mitchell scored 37 points inside Gola in last year's edition of the matchup, UMass outscoring the Explorers by 18 in the second half en route to an 85-66 victory.
• La Salle is 2-4 against the Minutemen under Coach Howard.