Here's hoping that Duquesne can snap their win streak and bring them back down to earth before GW gets up to Tom Gola. I haven't broken it all down, but La Salle's got some work to do to break through the logjam and get out of the pillow fight. A loss to Duquesne gives them a lot less to play for against us.

Key for this game is to start strong. La Salle hasn't won a conference game this season when they've trailed at the half. 

La Salle Explorers (Game 2)

Date: Saturday March 2nd, 2024
Time: 2:00 PM ET
Venue: Tom Gola Arena
TV: ESPN+
Analytic Ranks: 199th (KenPom), 202nd (EvanMiya), 166th (Haslametrics)
NET Ranking: 193rd
2023-24 Projected Record: 15-16, 6-12 (T-12th in A10)

Game 1 Result: LAS 80, GW 70 (Buchanan 24 points, Bishop 17 points, Hutchinson 10 points)
La Salle Preview: Link
La Salle Record Since Last Matchup: 3-6 (Wins vs. UMass, vs. St. Bonaventure, vs. Rhode Island; Losses @ Rhode Island, vs. St. Joe's, vs. St. Louis, @ Richmond, @ Davidson, @ Duquesne)

Offensive Efficiency: 181st (KenPom), 197th (EvanMiya), 158th (Haslametrics)
Defensive Efficiency: 234th (KenPom), 231st (EvanMiya), 203rd (Haslametrics)
Pace: 182nd (KenPom), 179th (EvanMiya), 196th (Haslametrics)

Projected Starting Lineup:
Khalil Brantley (Junior; Bronx, NY) - 15.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 4.3 apg, 1.6 spg; 39% FG, 32% 3-PT, 77% FT per 35.7 mpg
      Game 1 @ GW: 20 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 1 block; 9-17 FG, 2-4 3-PT in 38 minutes.

Jhamir Brickus (Senior; Coatesville, PA) - 13.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 4.9 apg, 1.3 spg; 44% FG, 40% 3-PT, 85% FT per 36.7 mpg
      Game 1 @ GW: 19 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists; 6-14 FG, 2-5 3-PT, 5-7 FT in 35 minutes.

Daeshon Shepherd (Junior; Norristown, PA) - 10.7 ppg, 5.6 rpg; 45% FG, 30% 3-PT, 65% FT per 31.8 mpg
      Game 1 @ GW: 7 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block; 3-7 FG, 1-2 3-PT in 33 minutes.

Rokas Jocius (Sophomore; Kaunas, Lithuania) - 8.3 ppg, 5.4 rpg; 57% FG, 31% 3-PT, 48% FT per 22.2 mpg
      Game 1 @ GW: 7 points, 6 rebounds, 1 block; 3-6 FG, 1-2 FT in 19 minutes.

Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi (Freshman; Stockholm, Sweden) - 6.4 ppg, 3 rpg; 39% FG, 37% 3-PT, 63% FT per 23.1 mpg
      Game 1 @ GW: 19 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 blocks; 6-8 FG, 4-5 3-PT, 3-3 FT in 33 minutes.

Projected Bench:
Anwar Gill (Senior; Washington, DC) - 9.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 2.9 apg, 1.1 spg; 40% FG, 25% 3-PT, 76% FT per 26.2 mpg
      Game 1 @ GW: 3 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals; 1-4 FG, 1-1 FT in 15 minutes.

Andres Marrero (RS Sophomore; Caracas, Venezuela) - 7.9 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 1.2 apg; 38% FG, 39% 3-PT, 72% FT per 20.1 mpg** (has not played in La Salle's last three games; I wonder if they hold him out until the tournament at this point. If Marrero plays, the sharpshooter will probably come off the bench)
      Game 1 @ GW: 5 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist; 2-4 FG, 1-3 3-PT in 22 minutes.

Ryan Zan (RS Sophomore; Princeton, NJ) - 3.2 ppg, 2.2 rpg; 52% FG, 29% 3-PT, 60% FT per 11.4 mpg
      Game 1 @ GW: 0-1 FG in 5 minutes.

Conference Marks (A10 play only):
Assist Turnover Ratio: 1.44 Assists/TO (3rd)
Assists Per Game: 14.2 APG (3rd) (stay tuned for another passing clinic against GW's defense!)
Turnovers Per Game: 9.9 TO/G (3rd)
3-Point FGs Made: 8.3 3PM (6th)
Team Offensive Rebounds: 9.8 ORPG (6th)
Opponent 3-Point FG Percentage: 35.9% (8th)
Opponent FT Percentage: 74.6% (9th)
Team 3-Point FG Percentage: 33.6% (9th)
Team FT Percentage: 72% (9th)
Steals Per Game: 5.81 SPG (10th)
Blocked Shots Per Game: 3.31 BPG (11th)
Opponent Turnovers Per Game: 10.3 TO/G (11th)
Scoring Defense: 75.8 PPG (11th)
Combined Team Rebounds: 33.6 RPG (12th)
Opponent FG Percentage: 46.4% (12th)
Scoring Margin: -5.4 PPG (12th)
Scoring Offense: 70.4 PPG (12th)
Team Defensive Rebounds: 23.8 DRPG (12th)
Combined Opponent Rebounds: 37.3 RPG (14th) (just above GW)
Rebound Margin: -3.8 RPG (14th)
Team FG Percentage: 41.6% (14th)

Individual Leaders (A10 play only):
Scoring:
Khalil Brantley - 14.7 PPG (12th)
Jhamir Brickus - 13.4 PPG (23rd)

Rebounding:
Khalil Brantley - 5.3 RPG (24th)
Rokas Jocius - 5.3 RPG (25th)

Field Goal Percentage:
Rokas Jocius - 61% (1st)

Free Throw Percentage:
Jhamir Brickus - 87.8% (4th)
Khalil Brantley - 78.8% (21st)

3-PT Field Goal Percentage:
Jhamir Brickus - 37.8% (20th)

3-PT Field Goals Per Game:
Jhamir Brickus - 1.8 3PM (21st)
Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi - 1.8 3PM (22nd)
Andres Marrero - 1.7 3PM (24th)

Assists:
Jhamir Brickus - 4.8 APG (2nd)
Khalil Brantley - 4.3 APG (6th)

Assist Turnover Ratio:
Jhamir Brickus - 2.2 Assists/TO (7th)
Khalil Brantley - 1.6 Assists/TO (14th)

Blocked Shots:
Rokas Jocius - 0.9 BPG (16th)
Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi - 0.8 BPG (17th)
Daeshon Shepherd - 0.6 BPG (25th)

Steals:
Khalil Brantley - 1.8 SPG (4th)

Minutes:
Jhamir Brickus - 37 MPG (1st)
Khalil Brantley - 36.1 MPG (3rd)

Keys/Trends:
- La Salle has relied on efficient offensive performances in their last three wins. In these games, the Explorers have shot 47.5%, 51%, and 50.8%. That's not exactly great news for GW, who allowed LAS to shoot 49.2% in the last matchup.

- The Explorers have also shot the three ball very well in their five home games since the last GW matchup. At Tom Gola, they have shot 41.4% from distance with an average of 11 made threes made per game. That spells trouble for GW as we all know the persistent difficulties that the team has had rotating properly along the perimeter and closing out on shots. When away from home, La Salle has struggled from 3 in the four road games - going just 26.4% with an average of six threes made. The difference is glaring.

- In the last matchup, GW managed to win the rebounding battle (although by just 1). They will likely need to come out on top in this category again tomorrow. In La Salle's three most recent wins, they have won the battle of the boards in all of them.

- Can GW hold La Salle under their conference average in assists per game? That seems basically impossible given how things have gone during the losing streak. It may be even harder tomorrow given the way the Explorers have been moving the ball in the last four games. La Salle has handed out 73 assists in the last four games (18.3 apg), going 3-1 in those games (including 3-0 at home). It would take GW probably at least seven games to hit that total.

- If the jumpers aren't falling, GW will have to find a way to get to the FT line in order to generate offense. La Salle has been prone to committing fouls for much of the season but have cleaned things up a bit in their last three games. Opponents have averaged just 13 FT attempts per game over the past week and a half. Prior to that, the Explorers had committed at least 17 fouls in seven straight going back to the GW game.

- Tunde Valhberg Fasasi has finished in double figures in three of La Salle's last four games. That's something he had done just twice in the 12 conference games prior (his career performance against GW and at UMass). Can GW do a better job on him along the perimeter? In all five conference games in which Fasasi has hit double figures, he has made multiple threes in all of them.

- Daeshon Shepherd is in the midst of the best stretch of his career to date. The junior from Norristown has finished in double figures in six straight games and has made six or more shots from the field in all of them. Despite a couple of good games from distance, the majority of his damage has come from within the arc. As always, GW will also need to keep him off the glass. He's pulled down at least five rebounds in five of his last six games and he's had at least seven boards in four of the last five.

- Khalil Brantley will get his shot attempts up as the leading scorer on the team but the Bronx native has struggled a bit of late. He's shot under 40% from the field in three of the last four games. While Brantley is a threat from deep, he's not gone nuclear from the perimeter too often during conference play. He made five threes against URI last week but had not previously made more than two since mid-December. Brantley just gives so much to the team in general - he's just 6'1", but has pulled down at least five rebounds in five straight games and has given out six assists in three of the last four games that the Explorers have played. He's done well to play major minutes (3rd in A10) without fouling out. Brantley has finished with 3+ fouls in seven of the last eight contests. If GW can draw those fouls early on that would help them to build up a lead in the game.

- Jhamir Brickus had a couple daggers from distance in the last matchup between the two teams. However, he has struggled from 3 in recent games. In the past five games combined, Brickus is 7/23 (30%) from deep. He has still fared well at the line - making 14 of his past 16 free throws over this same time - but the key for GW remains contesting shots along the perimeter. Like Brantley, Brickus has been great with the ball of late with 5+ assists in four straight games.

- Anwar Gill has finished in double figures in just two conference games this year coming off the bench but is yet another guy GW will need to be aware of when boxing out. Gill has finished with at least four rebounds in six of seven games. He's never really been known for his three point shot (a career 28% from there) but he has notably made three of his last five attempts. Is this the start of a trend or just a hot streak? We'll likely find out tomorrow as he's attempted at least one three in every game since GW last faced La Salle.

- Since the GW game, Ryan Zan has returned to becoming more of a situational player for Dunphy since Rokas Jocius has returned to full health. He's seen 10+ minutes in only five of nine contests but has scored in three straight games.

- Still, the focus should be on Jocius who leads the league in field goal percentage. Jocius has taken fewer shots of late, with five or fewer attempts from the field in four of the last five games after taking 6+ in each of the five games before. I think this is a better matchup for Stretch compared to previous opponents, but hopefully CC will not keep Akingbola in the game when La Salle goes small this time around.

- To wrap things up, here's an updated list of teams with losing streaks as long or longer than GW (11 games or more). We're now down to just seven other teams. Cal Poly now owns the nation's longest streak after Mississippi Valley State finally won their first game of the year the other night. It was announced today that the Mustangs are moving on from their coach after the year ends:

Valparaiso (11 games)
VMI (11 games)
UT Rio Grande Valley (11 games)
Missouri (15 games)
Pacific (15 games)
DePaul (16 games)
Cal Poly (17 games)

Projected Score: La Salle 80, GW 76. 35% chance to win (KenPom). ESPN gives us a 25.6% chance at getting a W.
 

Bishop’s defensive effort had been embarrassing through the first 12 minutes.  His close outs have been soooo slow (I think he’s given up 4 open threes, including one where he doubled the walk on for no reason and left his man open - fortunately LaSalle is I think 1-4 when he’s failed to close out the shooter). 

And if you watch him off the ball, he’s really flat footed. Like just no energy on defense from him.

How was Schroeder ever recruited  to Oklahoma

Watched some of his games in Germany. Hoped we wouldn't recruit him. Hey, we are only down 30-18 now. What a team!

Hoopsfan23 wrote:

I want Benny to be good so bad, but he is painful to watch

Don’t think I’ve seen someone trip over their feet as much as Benny. Like watching a newborn giraffe trying to run. 

Forget Benny.  Watch James play defense.  First possession he was ball watching and let his man make a cut uncontested for an open 8 foot jumper, which he missed.

Unfortunately, big shot James is far too frequently y big turnover James  Good time out. Team was out of control and needed some coaching.

Good teams find ways to win   Bad teams find ways to lose.  GWs way to lose is giving up offensive rebounds and horrible shot selection down the stretch.

What a dunk by Sheppard.  That guy can fly.