BOSTON – The La Salle men's basketball team heads up the eastern seaboard to face the Northeastern Huskies in its first true road game outside of Philadelphia. The Explorers will look to build on momentum after two convincing wins, including a victory over Philadelphia Big 5 rival Temple, 83-75, last Saturday at John Glaser Arena, securing a berth in the Big 5 Classic Championship this Saturday.
The game will be streamed on FloSports. The game audio will also be streamed with Kale Beers providing play-by-play. Additionally, Explorers fans can follow the team on X/Twitter @LaSalle_MBB and Instagram @LaSalleMBB.
LAST TIME OUT: La Salle 83, Temple 75
- La Salle secured what may be its most impressive win of the season on Saturday, defeating the Temple Owls, 83-75.
- Led by Demetrius Lilley, the Explorers took control early and never looked back. Temple briefly tied the game in the first half, but several impressive defensive plays from La Salle, combined with strong shooting from Corey McKeithan, allowed the Explorers to take an eight-point lead into the half.
- McKeithan's hot shooting continued into the second half, as the Explorers exploded out of the gate to build an impressive lead that grew as large as 16 points. However, Temple showed resilience, slowly chipping away at the lead and trimming it down to four points with four minutes remaining.
- Former Owl Jahlil White made his presence felt down the stretch, grabbing several key rebounds and converting two huge free throws to seal the victory for the home-standing Explorers. He recorded a double-double on the day with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
- McKeithan made the first Big 5 game in John Glaser Arena one to remember. The guard poured in 28 points, the most in a Big 5 game thus far in 2024. It was his second straight game setting a new career-high after adding 27 against Stetson.
NEWS AND NOTES
- The Explorers are a perfect 4-0 in men's basketball in John Glaser Arena. Men's and women's basketball is combined for a record of 7-1.
- McKeithan has proven to be one of the best transfer portal finds in college basketball this season. The transfer guard checks in in the top ten in the A-10 in points (19.0/4th), 3 point FGs (2.5/6th), free throw percentage (7th/.846), and assist to TO ratio (+2.4/7th) while ranking in the top 15 in several other areas. The guard is the only player in the A-10 this season with back-to-back 25+ point performances and one of 20 players in the country with three 25+ point performances this year.
- In stark contrast to last season, La Salle has been an elite rebounding team this year. The Explorers rank in the top five in the A-10 in all four major rebounding categories, including third in rebounding margin (+5.4).
- In addition to McKeithan, transfers Demetrius Lilley and White have started every game this season. Lilley is pulling down 7.6 boards per game, 6th in the Atlantic-10. If the season ended today, he would rank as the Explorers best rebounder since Ed Croswell averaged 7.6 per game in 2019-20. He added 13 points in Saturday's win over Temple.
- White has been a dynamic addition in the "point-forward" role. The graduate transfer is having the best statistical season of his career, with career-bests in both points (12.4) and rebounds (6.9) in addition to standing out on the defensive side of the ball.
- Guards Marrero and Shepherd round out the starting lineup. Shepherd scored in double figures for the third consecutive game against Temple, while locking down star guard Jamal Mashburn. Marrero set a new career-high in rebounds with six, while also tying career-highs in steals (3) and minutes (31).
SCOUTING NORTHEASTERN
- Northeastern is off to a promising 5-3 start after last season's 12-20 campaign. The Huskies began the season 5-1, but have dropped the last two to CSU Bakersfield and Vermont.
- Rashad King paces Northeastern in scoring, with 16.6 points per game. He also leads the team in assists with 4.25 per contest. Harold Woods is a force to watch on the block. The forward leads the team in rebounding (7.9) and is second in scoring (15.1).
- Bill Coen is in his 19th season, he is 287-287 as a head coach.
SERIES HISTORY AGAINST NORTHEASTERN
- Northeastern and La Salle have met four times on the court, with the first meeting coming in 1998.
- The Huskies took that first meeting, 92-85. La Salle has won the other three matchups.
- The last time the two met in Boston was a nailbiter, with the Explorers meeting 66-64 en route to the Sweet 16 in 2013. Tyreek Duren hit a buzzer-beater to win the contest.
- The two met last season in Philadelphia last November, with the Explorers winning, 79-74.
