Men's Basketball | February 15, 2022

PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle men's basketball team faces Saint Louis for the second time in three games, facing the Billikens at Chaifetz Arena for the second of four-straight road games for the Explorers.
 
The game is slated for Wednesday, February 16 with an 8 p.m. ET tip, 7 p.m. locally. The game can be caught on ESPN+ or by joining Kale Beers on the call on the GoExplorers website.
 
NEWS & NOTES

• The Explorers and Billikens meet for the second time in eight days when Saint Louis hosts a Wednesday night matchup against La Salle, playing their rescheduled matchup previously scheduled in early January inside the Chaifetz Arena.
• La Salle looks to get back in the win column, suffering a pair of setbacks after defeating George Mason inside Tom Gola Arena in TruMark Financial Center.
• The Explorers continue to search for their first win outside the city limits, all seven wins on the season coming in Philadelphia.
• La Salle continues its four-game road trip in 12 days after a bus ride down to Virginia, taking flight to Saint Louis and Massachusetts over the course of the next week. All four games are against opponents already seen in Gola this season.
• The Explorers and Spiders battled in the first half, the Explorers trailing by just three at the halftime break. Early foul trouble led to a 23-9 count in fouls, allowing Richmond to extend their lead in the second half en route to a 77-63 Spider victory.
• Clifton Moore continues to dominate in conference play, registering 17 points against Richmond last Saturday. Moore has scored in double figures in all 12 Atlantic 10 games this season.
• Jack Clark returned to his usual self in conference play against the Spiders, leading the team with 19 points. Clark has registered double-digits in eight of 12 Atlantic 10 games this season.

 
SCOUTING SAINT LOUIS

• Saint Louis returns to Chaifetz Arena for the home contest against the Explorers, coming off the back of two games in four days against St. Bonaventure, dropping the pair of games against the Bonnies. The Billikens will play nine games in the month of February, all happening in a span of 24 days.
• Saint Louis ranks 56th in the KenPom rankings, just three behind Dayton for the highest ranked A-10 team. The Billikens remain as one of the best rebounding teams in the country (27th - 39.4). Saint Louis is also very potent at the line, getting to the charity stripe at the 30th best clip in the country, tallying the 16th best free throw percentage in the country at 77.6%.
• Yuri Collins is amongst the nation's elite at the point guard position, leading the country in assists with 8.4 dimes per game. Collins also ranks 25th in steals per game, forcing 2.16 takeaways.
• Gibson Jimerson ranks near the top of the league in points, averaging 17.6 points per game in conference play. Francis Okoro adds 12.2 points and a team-high 7.7 rebounds per game.

 
BLOCK PARTY

• Clifton Moore has had an exceptional 2021-22, by far proving to be the best campaign of his career. The redshirt-senior leads the team with 57 blocks, no one else tallying in double-digits.
• Moore's 57 blocks is just 10 off of what opponents have recorded against the Explorers, only blocking 67 shots on the season.
• Moore enters into elite company, tied for the eighth best season in program history alongside Ron Barnes (1985-86). If he continues his pace of 2.6 blocks per game, Moore will finish the season near the top of the leaderboard, projected to finish with 70 blocks by the end of the regular season. The 70 blocks would be seven shy of the all-time record set by Lionel Simmons in 1987-88.
• Clifton has also entered into the top 10 in career blocks, recording 90 blocks over his two years as an Explorer.

 
SHY AT THE STRIPE

• The Explorers have often been on the wrong side of the free throw attempt margins, opponents shooting 93 more attempts over the season than La Salle.
• La Salle ranks towards the bottom in the country in free throw rate (free throws per 100 field goals), 309th in the country with just 25.3 attempts for every 100 field goal attempts taken.

 
NIGHT AND DAY, HOME AND AWAY

• A tale of two teams, the Explorers have seen different results in both day and night games, and home and away games.
• At home, the Explorers are 6-8, shooting the ball at a 42.9% clip, 34.3% from deep while holding opponents to 42.4% from the field and 35.7% from three.
• Conversely, on the road La Salle sees its average dip to 39.5% and 29.9%, opponents hitting at a rate of 45.8% and 38.8%.
• The Explorers are 6-5 in games played during the day, 1-10 in games played at night.

 
STATS OF SIGNIFICANCE

• La Salle is 0-12 when trailing with five minutes left in the game, having been unable to come back from late deficits thus far.
• Over the last five games, the Explorers have allowed their opponent to shoot over 45% in each matchup, 1-4 over that span.
• Entering the game against George Mason as one of the best rebounding teams in the conference, La Salle has now been held well under its season average in each of the last three games, averaging 30.3 rebounds compared to their season average of 37.5. The Explorers' offensive boards were halved through the span as well, averaging just over six per game the last three games.

 
MORE OF MOORE

• Clifton Moore has proven himself to be a menace on the defensive side of the ball, ranking 22nd in the nation in blocks with 2.59 blocks per game.
• Moore has scored in double-figures in his last 12 games, 13 times in his last 14. He's also recorded a block in each of his last 24 games, having recorded a block in each game this season and finishing last season with two-straight games.

 
JACK OF ALL TRADES

• Clark averaged 17.3 points over GW, Mason and Saint Louis, recording his second double-double with a 17 point, 11 rebound performance against GW.
• Clark is one of three Explorers to score in double digits against conference foes, averaging 12.3 points per game in A-10 play, adding 5.6 rebounds.
• Tallying just four double-figure games in the non-conference, Clark has tallied eight games with 10 points or more in the 12 conference games.

 
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 five-game losing streak at home in conference play. La Salle snapped its home skid with a victory over George Mason.
• La Salle only left the city just five time in its opening 21 games to start the season before beginning a four-game road swing that started February 12 at Richmond.

 
SERIES HISTORY

• The two teams meet for the second time in just three games for the Explorers, hosting the Billikens inside Tom Gola Arena on February 8.
• Falling in the earlier contest by a score of 75-57, the Explorers look to seek revenge inside the Chaifetz Arena.
• Clifton Moore and Josh Nickelberry combined for 40 points in the last meeting, shooting nearly 50% from both the field and from deep.
• The Explorers look for their first win at Saint Louis since a 78-77 win in 2011.
• La Salle is 1-6 against the Spiders under Coach Howard.