La Salle Explorers

Date/Time: Saturday February 22nd @ 4:00 PM at The Charles E. Smith Center in Washington DC. (Happy birthday George Washington!)
Record Last Year: 10-21, 8-10 (9th in Atlantic 10)
Preseason Ranks: 218th (KenPom), 167th (Bart Torvik), 165th (Sports Illustrated), 238th (CBS)
Projected Record: 14-16, 5-13 (T-11th in Atlantic 10)
Postseason Last Year: None.

Coaching Record: Ashley Howard, 2nd year at La Salle. The Explorers have already surpassed their total number of wins from last year, but they haven't fared nearly as well in conference with the A10 considerably stronger. Howard appears to be a good hire since he is very familiar with the Philadelphia basketball scene. Before becoming head coach, Howard spent four seasons as an assistant at Drexel (his alma mater - he received a degree in communications in 2004) and five seasons at Villanova (also spent a year at Xavier so he definitely has paid his dues as an assistant). In many ways, Howard receiving the head coaching position at La Salle is a full circle moment for him. He actually began his career as an assistant at La Salle for four seasons between 2004 and 2008. The A10 is quickly becoming a league with some promising young coaches, and the Explorers are hoping Howard can find that magic that helped them reach the sweet sixteen in 2013.

All Time Record: 24-17, with us coming out on top in 4 of the past 6 meetings. In last year's ugly 59-56 road win, four Colonials finished in double figures, including DJ (14 points), Terry (12 points, 10 rebounds), Justin (11 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists, but 6 turnovers as well), and Maceo (10 points, 5 rebounds). The game was very much a tale of two halves, as we posted a dismal 14 points before halftime before coming out hot after halftime and putting up 45 in the second 20 minutes. We turned the ball over 18 times, helping La Salle to stay in the game.

Offensive Efficiency: 232nd (KenPom), 237th (Bart Torvik)
Defensive Efficiency: 122nd (KenPom), 125th (Bart Torvik)
Tempo: 121st (KenPom), 122nd (Bart Torvik)

Key Returning Players:
Isiah 'Shaggy' Deas (SR; Brooklyn, NY) 11.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.7 apg; 36% FG, 35% 3-pt, 74% FT
      Last year against us: 11 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals; 3-12 FG, 1-7 3-pt, 4-5 FT in 28 minutes.

Saul Phiri (SR; Haverhill, MA) 11.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2 apg; 39% FG, 39% 3-pt, 80% FT
       Last year against us: 2 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals; 1-8 FG, 0-4 3-pt in 34 minutes.

Jack Clark (SO; Cheltenham, PA) 9.5 ppg, 3.9 rpg; 41% FG, 41% 3-pt, 77% FT
       Last year against us: 7 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals; 3-8 FG, 1-4 3-pt in 17 minutes.

David Beatty (JR; Philadelphia, PA) 7.7 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.5 apg; 36% FG, 30% 3-pt, 80% FT
       Last year against us: 7 points, 2 steals; 3-10 FG, 1-5 3-pt in 26 minutes. 

Key Losses:
RaShawn 'Pookie' Powell (Graduated; Orlando, FL) 15 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.7 apg, 1.4 spg; 40% FG, 33% 3-pt, 85% FT
Traci Carter (Transferred to Hartford; Philadelphia, PA) 6.4 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 3.3 apg, 1.8 spg; 36% FG, 30% 3-pt, 84% FT

Comments:
Year 1 in the Ashley Howard era did not get off to the best of starts. Howard opted to test the Explorers early on which resulted in an 0-10 start to begin the year, including 0-6 against teams from Pennsylvania. It did pay off down the road though. La Salle would go on to win the Battle of the Boardwalk tournament in Atlantic City defeating Alabama A&M and Towson in consecutive games. Neither team was any good last year (you just have to see this LOWlight from the tournament to know that), but it was clearly a step in the right direction (I'm sure local bettors who trusted La Salle despite the 0-10 start ended up profiting nicely). Things continued up from there with La Salle defeating UMass in their A10 opener. In many ways, La Salle's team last year was a lot like ours this year. They were picked 12th in the preseason poll in 2018 and finished 9th, a respectable start for Ashley Howard's squad.

Year 2 got off to a much better start. Interestingly enough, all of the Explorer's three losses during OOC play were against local rivals Penn, Temple, and Villanova. La Salle came away with another OOC tournament win at the Gulf Coast Showcase in Florida, this one considerably more competitive than the Battle of the Boardwalk. La Salle defeated Murray State, Wright State, and South Alabama, preseason favorites in the OVC, Horizon, and Sun Belt respectively. The rest of their schedule wasn't exactly impressive, but they did notably beat Morgan State by 17 and we didn't so won't say anything else about that. Things haven't gone very well as the calendar turned to 2020 though. At one point, La Salle lost seven games in a row and their only wins have been to the bottom teams Fordham (twice) and St. Joe's.

La Salle likes to shoot a lot of threes, a trait Howard has taken from his time under Jay Wright at Villanova (half of their 64 attempts in last year's matchup were from deep, but they made just 5). While we haven't been as elite in defending the three point arc since conference play started, I would imagine this would be a good matchup for us defensively.

Let's start with the three point threats. David Beatty is their leading scorer who returned back home last year after a year at South Carolina. He has attempted 126 threes on the year (most on the team) making them at an okay 33% rate. With Powell's departure, his 325 attempts had to go somewhere and Beatty has embraced his higher usage role this season. Isiah 'Shaggy' Deas has taken a slight step back in the scoring department this season, but is their second best three point shooter in terms of percentage (36%). He was their only guy to finish in double figures in our matchup last year, so like Beatty, expect Deas to get the green light when it comes to firing from deep. Redshirt junior Scott Spencer, who like Beatty also came to Philadelphia from the Palmetto State (Clemson) is the best of the three from deep. He is shooting the three at a 42% clip and leads the team with 51 made on the year. He is also their best free throw shooter at 82%. He averages just 9 points a game, but strikes me as the kinds of guy who can get hot in a hurry and explode for 20 so I hope we defend him closely. Spencer is a slightly better rebounder as well than other Deas or Beatty. Senior Saul Phiri should also not be forgotten in the mix. Phiri is a respectable 35% shooter from three, and although he did struggle in last year's game, he made five threes against us his sophomore year so he remains a threat. None of these guys shoot above 40% from the field overall (Beatty is the best of the four) so we should find success running them off the line.

La Salle's sophomore tandem Ed Croswell and Jared Kimbrough are their primary guys up front. Croswell led the nation in offensive rebounding rate last year (he had two games where he pulled down 10 offensive boards!) and us keeping him off the glass will be one of the major keys to winning the game. The Explorers aren't terribly efficient shooting the ball, so they do rely on some second chance opportunities from Croswell to put points on the board. He is a pretty good finisher at the hoop (he doesn't leave the paint) at 60% and is third on the team in scoring. The Croswell vs. AT matchup should be fun to watch. Kimbrough too is a pretty decent finisher near the hoop but hasn't really had that sophomore jump after a promising freshman season - Croswell has grabbed most of the attention in La Salle's frontcourt.

Howard has received nice contributions from his freshmen class as he continues to rebuild the program. The class features two local products in Ayinde Hikim and Sherif Kenney. Hikim (Mt. Zion) has received the keys to the car in orchestrating La Salle's offense in year 1. He averages 3.5 assists per game, which is pretty good for a first year. Hikim has only made 5 threes on the year, but is a better finisher inside the arc and shoots 44% overall. Kenney is a bit more of a scorer, but like so many of La Salle's players, is just very inefficient shooting the ball. He too has had some nice moments distributing the ball in year 1. Christian Ray, who starred alongside JNJ at Haverford, has had a decent year shooting the ball (reflected in his 74% shooting from the line) but is more notably a very willing rebounder (averaging nearly five boards a game, second on the team). Finally, Brandon Stone has seen some run up front in his freshman campaign playing behind Croswell and Kimbrough. He hasn't been too efficient but has posted decent scoring and rebounding numbers in limited time.

We struggled with turnovers a bit late in the Duquesne game, and I think this matchup will be another good test for the young guys in taking care of the ball (La Salle is pretty good at forcing turnovers - they had 12 steals against us last year). While they aren't a very good offensive team, they are certainly a pretty good team on the defensive end so if we can limit the number of times we cough up the ball (and prevent fast break opportunities for La Salle) we should be in good shape. I'm sure JNJ will come in motivated to best his former teammate Ray and have bragging rights in that regard. 

Predicted Score: GW 67, La Salle 65. 58% chance to win (Bart Torvik). ESPN gives us roughly the same percent chance to win (58.4%). Let's earn our first three game win streak of the season on our first president's 288th birthday!
 

Getting crushed today by LaSalle 3 point shooting. And GW is crap at the Foul Line. Not Good.

37-21 Only down by 16 to powerhouse LaSalle at home.

Down 37-25. Leaving a ton of points by terrible foul shooting 10-18. 6 Turnovers. 31% from field. Jack and Battle not hitting 3's.  Hope they can get their heads into the game. Coach  has to make adjustments.

Since I switched to this game, GW is outscoring LaSalle by 14. My appologies to all for not watching from the opening tip.

YEEEEEEAAAHHHHHH!!!!!  LET'S GO!!!!!!!!

 

Starting to Foul. 50-45 LaSalle Scored 6 in a row.

Nelson is not a very good shooter.

Toro with a layup! No he missed.

Down 4 with 3 minutes left