Men's Basketball | February 4, 2022

PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle men's basketball team hosts George Mason on Saturday afternoon, taking on the Patriots in A-10 action with a 2 p.m. tip. The game will also feature four new inductees into the La Salle Hall of Athletes, the group being honored at halftime.
 
Included in that group is Fran Dunphy, who holds deep roots within the Explorer program. Dunphy was part of Tom Gola's 1969 team that finished 23-1 on the season and ranked #2 in the country at the end of the year, playing alongside Larry Cannon and Kenny Durrett. Dunphy returned to the Explorer sideline as an assistant coach, coaching alongside La Salle greats Lefty Irvin and Speedy Morris while mentoring the likes of Lionel Simmons and Michael Brooks. The Hall of Athletes ceremony will be held at Edward J. '63 and Darlene P. Fierko Atrium, Founders' Hall on Saturday, February 5, the event starting at 11 a.m.
 
Saturday's game is also Rocky Day, with various themed presentations throughout the game along with pregame activities in the Mezzanine. The game can be streamed on ESPN+ and will be called by Kale Beers and Richard Prendergast. Audio only streams can be found on the GoExplorers website.
 
NEWS & NOTES

• The Explorers return home after a two-game road stint against Davidson and George Washington.
• La Salle found it hard to grab any favors on the road trip, falling in both matchups to the Wildcats and the Colonials. The Explorers remain winless outside of the city of Philadelphia on the season.
• La Salle only leave the city of Philadelphia five times in their first 21 games of the year, prepping for a two-game home stand before back on the road for four-straight A-10 battles away from Philly. The Explorers lone win on the road this season came against Big 5 opponent Saint Joseph's.
• La Salle looks to break a five-game losing streak, a drought spanning since January 17 when the Explorers knocked off the Hawks on Hawk Hill.
• The Explorers come off of a narrow loss to George Washington, a season-high of 87 points not enough in the two-point loss, allowing the most points (89) in a game all year to the Colonials.
• La Salle saw a Colonial team that shot 50% from the field for just the second time of the season, shooting a blistering 60% from behind the arc - having shot no more than 45% in any other contest.
• Jack Clark has averaged 17 points in his last three points, dropping another 17 in defeat to GW while adding his second career double-double with 11 rebounds. Clifton Moore scored 14 points, tallying double-digits for the ninth straight game while recording his fifth double-double with 10 rebounds. Five Explorers scored in double-digits, led by Jhamir Brickus' season-high 20 points.

 
SCOUTING GEORGE MASON

• George Mason enters Gola on the weekend with an 11-8 record, its four game win streak being snapped midweek with a home loss to Saint Louis in double overtime. The Patriots had one of the more impressive non-conference results in the A-10, knocking off #20 Maryland and tallying a Power Five win on the road at Georgia. The Patriots are 4-2 in Atlantic 10 play.
• Josh Oduro leads a group of four players that score in double-digits, leading the way with 17.7 ppg. D'Shawn Schwartz and DeVon Cooper add 15.7 and 12.9 points respectively, combining for 87 assists. Davonte Gaines contributes 11.2 points while securing a team-high 8.6 rebounds per game.
• George Mason is amongst the top in many offensive and defensive groups in the conference, 5th in scoring offense, defense, opponent field goal percentage and 4th in field goal percentage.

 
STEPPING UP

• The Explorers have seen a shared effort throughout the season in game leaders, a trio combining for a majority of games led with points and rebounds.
• Josh Nickelberry leads the Explorers with six games scoring a team-high, while Clifton Moore and Jack Clark trail behind with five and four games each.
• Moore has been a common denominator on the glass as well, pacing the team with seven games tallying the most karoms. Clark has secured a team-high on six occasions, Christian Ray tallying a team-best five times.

 
LIVE AND DIE AT THE LINE

• The Explorers struggled to get to the line in the month of January, seeing lopsided tallies in favor of opposition throughout the month. La Salle conceded a 155-96 deficit at the foul line the last 6 games, opponents averaging more than 22 attempts per game.
• On four separate occasion, the Explorers were on the wrong side of a double-digit margin on the line:  -22 against St. Bonaventure, -10 at Rhode Island, -15 against UMass and -13 at Davidson.
• The Explorers opened their February with a 25-17 deficit on the line against George Washington in a two-point defeat.

 
LINE CHANGES

• Coach Howard hasn't been afraid to switch up the starting five this season, having gone with eight different lineups to begin the game entering the 19th game.
• The only remaining constant has been Clifton Moore - the only player making a start in each game this season. Josh Nickelberry and Jhamir Brickus are next closes with 15 and 14 starts each.
• Nine different Explorers have registered at least three starts.

 
LEARNING TO CLOSE

• Despite a 6-13 record, the Explorers can look back to a few games that could have easily swung the balance into their favor. La Salle has held a double-digit lead in five of its losses.
• Four of those losses saw the Explorers hold their largest lead of the game in the second half, Rhode Island the only outlier in which the Explorers had their biggest margin in the opening 20 minutes.

 
STATS OF SIGNIFICANCE

• La Salle is 0-11 when trailing with five minutes left in the game, having been unable to come back from late deficits thus far.
• Fortunes haven't favored the Explorers in midweek matchups or in night games. La Salle is 1-8 in games on Tuesday-Thursday and 1-9 in games played at 6 p.m. or later. The one anomaly of both of those stats is an 81-55 rout over Fairleigh Dickinson on a Tuesday night contest.

 
MOORE IN JANUARY

• Clifton Moore has proven himself to be a menace on the defensive side of the ball, ranking 31st in the nation in blocks with 2.42 blocks per game. His 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 started his January with a 21/12 effort against VCU for the first double-double of his career, setting a career-high in rebounds.
• The redshirt senior produced his best month in his collegiate career in January, taking a next level to his game heading into A-10 play. Moore averaged 15.9 points per game in the month, grabbing 8.0 rebounds per game while recording 2.0 blocks per game. He also recorded eight assists and four steals in the seven games. Moore opened February with a 13 point, 10 rebound double-double for the fifth of his career.
• Moore has scored in double-figures in his last nine games, 10 times in his last 11.

 
JACK OF ALL TRADES

• Jack Clark registered his first career double-double in the season opener against Sacred Heart. The Cheltenham native added 12 points and 11 rebounds in the overtime loss. Only Christian Ray and Clifton Moore have also recorded double-doubles in their collegiate career.
• 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 has averaged 17 points over the last three games, recording his second double-double with a 17 point, 11 rebound performance against GW.

 
GETTIN' JIGGY WITH IT

• Jhamir "Jig" Brickus has now scored in double-digits in seven of his 17 games this season, scoring at least eight points in 12 games for a 9.1 season average.
• Brickus posted a season-best effort in the loss to George Washington, scoring a season-high 20 points while tallying seven of his eight assists 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 five-game losing streak at home.
• La Salle has only left the city just five time in its opening 21 games to start the season, next leaving in a four-game road swing starting February 12.

 
NICKEL AND DIMING 'EM

• Joining the Explorers from a two-year stint at Louisville, Josh Nickelberry surpassed his numbers during his time as a Cardinal. In 24 games, the junior registered 37 points. It took the junior just three games to record 41 points in an Explorer jersey.
• Nickelberry is one of three Explorers averaging double figures (11.3) in conference play.

 
MAMADOU ON THE MARK

• The first year Explorer produced the best game of his time on 20th and Olney, tallying a career-high 10 rebounds against FDU while scoring four points on the offensive end.
• In his first start as an Explorer, Doucoure tallied 12 points (most since his freshman season at Rutgers) and added eight rebounds in defeat to Fordham.
• Since his insertion into the starting lineup, Doucoure has knocked down 51.5% of his attempts from the field in his nine starts.

 
HIGHS AND LOWS

• The Explorers faced their two worst shooting performances of the season against Temple and Villanova, combining for 31-111 (25.2%) from the field against the Philly foes.
• The Explorers rattled off a win against St. Joe's despite shooting 26.7% from the floor in the first half. The Explorers have now shot 40% or less in eight games on the season, 2-6 when doing so.
• Despite a season-high in scoring while dropping 87 points against the Colonials, the Explorers also allowed a season-high 89 points against George Washington in defeat.

 
DEFENDING IS AN ART

• In their 2021-22 campaign, the Explorers are 5-3 when allowing less than 70 points and 1-10 when allowing 70+ points.
• La Salle held Army West Point to 58 points on 31.1% shooting, a season-low for an opponent in both categories until allowing just 55 points to FDU, holding the Knights to just 22.2% from the field in the second half.
• The 61 points against Army is the lowest the Explorers scored in a win since a Dec. 12 contest last season against Drexel, defeating the Dragons 58-48.
• The 74 points allowed to Penn is the most given up by the Explorers in a win, the first time claiming victory while allowing more than 65 points.
• In wins, the Explorers concede just 63.5 points, giving up 76.5 points in losses.

 
SERIES HISTORY

• The Explorers and Patriots meet for the 10th time in series history, Saturday's visitors holding a 7-2 advantage.
• La Salle is 2-2 all-time against the Patriots inside Tom Gola Arena. Both of the Explorers wins all-time against George Mason have come on 20th and Olney.
• The Explorers look to avenge a pair of road losses last season, falling by 30+ in both contests with George Mason in the 2020-21 campaign.
• La Salle is 1-4 against the Patriots under Coach Howard.