Game 14 - Start of A10 Play: GMU (12-1 / 0-0) at La Salle (4-9 / 0-0) on Wednesday, December 31, at 2:00 PM.

[Patriotsince81]

Preseason predictions:
La Salle was picked to finish 13th in A10 Preseason Polls, slightly ahead of Fordham.

The game is on ESPN+.

KenPom: Gives us a 77% chance of winning.
GMU - 86
La Salle - 261
NET:
GMU - 75
La Salle - 272

History:
We are10-3 against La Salle all-time.
Tony Skinn is 2-0 against La Salle as head coach at Mason.

La Salle is currently 4-9 on the season. They are 3-1 at home, 0-5 on the road, and 1-3 at neutral sites.
The Explorers are 0-2 agains Quad 1 teams, 0-2 vs Quad 2, 0-4 vs Quad 3, and 3-1against Quad 4 teams.

Schedule: https://goexplorers.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule

Wins: Coppin St. (87-59), Monmouth (73-60), Lancaster Bible (75-46), Drexel (69-64)
Losses: Temple (90-63), Penn St. (83-69), Villanova (70-55), Hofstra (63-58), Penn (73-71), Merrimack (66-60), LIU (70-60), High Point (84-72), #2 Michigan (102-50)

Probable Starters: 12 Explorers have started games this year. Players below started their last game against Michigan on December 21.
6’5” Jaeden Marshall - 12.8 ppg - Grad Student
6’5” Ashton Walker - 8.7 ppg - Freshman
6’9” Josiah Harris - 8.2 ppg & 5.6 reb - Grad Student
6’6” Rob Dockery - 6.8 ppg & 4.5 reb - Sophomore
7’0” Bowyn Beatty - 1.1 ppg - Junior

Reserves/starters averaging double figure minutes:
6’9” Jerome Brewer - 9.4 ppg - Junior - 5 starts but has only played 8 games. Has not played since 11/25. Was supposed to return on Dec. 19 but did not. Undisclosed injury.
6’2” Eric Acker - 7.9 ppg - Junior - 9 starts
6’7” Justin Archer - 6.3 ppg & 4.5 reb - Grad Student - 4 starts
6’9” Edwin Daniel 4.9 ppg & 4.5 reb- Junior - 1 start
6’3” Damon Strand - 3.4 ppg - Senior - 2 starts
6’9” Noah Collier - 3.7 ppg - Grad Student - Injured after just 3 games
6’2” Truth Harris - 2.0 ppg - Grad Student - 3 starts but has only played in 5 games

Roster: https://goexplorers.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster

Team Stats:
La Salle averages 66.3 points per game (last in the A10) while giving up 71.5 (9th in the A10).

The Explorers shoot 42.0% from the floor (13th in the A10) and 29.5% from 3 (13th in the A10).
Opponents are shooting 44.3% from the field and 37.0% from 3.

The Explorers shoot 73.5% from the free throw line (7th in the A10).

They have out rebounded opponents by 4.6 boards per game and average 14.0 turnovers per contest.

Stats: https://goexplorers.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats

Thoughts: They will be coming off a 10 day break between games and a 52 point loss at #2 Michigan. Jaeden Marshall was the only Explorer to score in double figures against the Wolverines with 15 points.

12 guys have started this year for new coach Darris Nichols, he must be searching for answers. Freshman guard Ashton Walker has impressed so far and leads La Salle with 11 starts. Leading scorer Jaeden Marshall also leads the team in 3’s with 21 made on the year.

A win on the road in the A10 is never easy, but it sure it would be nice to get off on the right foot and grab a W at Glaser Arena. Shut down or limit Marshall and our chances improve.

Discuss.

 

[DRK331]

Thank you for always doing these posts, they are very helpful

This La Salle team has size up and down their roster

 

[NewPatriot]

Thank you for always doing these posts, they are very helpful

This La Salle team has size up and down their roster

They lost to Penn by 2.

This is not a gimme.

 

[tblack33]

They lost to Penn by 2.

This is not a gimme.

I don’t think any conference games will be a gimme until this team proves they can play defense to the Mason standard for 40 minutes.

 

[Pikapppatri8]

I don’t think any conference games will be a gimme until this team proves they can play defense to the Mason standard for 40 minutes.

This season will be a marathon --- take each game one at a time. Tony is going to have to get the team to respond to his adjustments as we will need to adapt game to game. We have talent and can compete - but we have seen breakdowns on defense and/or offense that put each game at risk.

 

[NewPatriot]

Preseason predictions:
La Salle was picked to finish 13th in A10 Preseason Polls, slightly ahead of Fordham.

The game is on ESPN+.

KenPom: Gives us a 77% chance of winning.
GMU - 86
La Salle - 261
NET:
GMU - 75
La Salle - 272

History:
We are10-3 against La Salle all-time.
Tony Skinn is 2-0 against La Salle as head coach at Mason.

La Salle is currently 4-9 on the season. They are 3-1 at home, 0-5 on the road, and 1-3 at neutral sites.
The Explorers are 0-2 agains Quad 1 teams, 0-2 vs Quad 2, 0-4 vs Quad 3, and 3-1against Quad 4 teams.

Schedule: https://goexplorers.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule

Wins: Coppin St. (87-59), Monmouth (73-60), Lancaster Bible (75-46), Drexel (69-64)
Losses: Temple (90-63), Penn St. (83-69), Villanova (70-55), Hofstra (63-58), Penn (73-71), Merrimack (66-60), LIU (70-60), High Point (84-72), #2 Michigan (102-50)

Probable Starters: 12 Explorers have started games this year. Players below started their last game against Michigan on December 21.
6’5” Jaeden Marshall - 12.8 ppg - Grad Student
6’5” Ashton Walker - 8.7 ppg - Freshman
6’9” Josiah Harris - 8.2 ppg & 5.6 reb - Grad Student
6’6” Rob Dockery - 6.8 ppg & 4.5 reb - Sophomore
7’0” Bowyn Beatty - 1.1 ppg - Junior

Reserves/starters averaging double figure minutes:
6’9” Jerome Brewer - 9.4 ppg - Junior - 5 starts but has only played 8 games. Has not played since 11/25. Was supposed to return on Dec. 19 but did not. Undisclosed injury.
6’2” Eric Acker - 7.9 ppg - Junior - 9 starts
6’7” Justin Archer - 6.3 ppg & 4.5 reb - Grad Student - 4 starts
6’9” Edwin Daniel 4.9 ppg & 4.5 reb- Junior - 1 start
6’3” Damon Strand - 3.4 ppg - Senior - 2 starts
6’9” Noah Collier - 3.7 ppg - Grad Student - Injured after just 3 games
6’2” Truth Harris - 2.0 ppg - Grad Student - 3 starts but has only played in 5 games

Roster: https://goexplorers.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster

Team Stats:
La Salle averages 66.3 points per game (last in the A10) while giving up 71.5 (9th in the A10).

The Explorers shoot 42.0% from the floor (13th in the A10) and 29.5% from 3 (13th in the A10).
Opponents are shooting 44.3% from the field and 37.0% from 3.

The Explorers shoot 73.5% from the free throw line (7th in the A10).

They have out rebounded opponents by 4.6 boards per game and average 14.0 turnovers per contest.

Stats: https://goexplorers.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats

Thoughts: They will be coming off a 10 day break between games and a 52 point loss at #2 Michigan. Jaeden Marshall was the only Explorer to score in double figures against the Wolverines with 15 points.

12 guys have started this year for new coach Darris Nichols, he must be searching for answers. Freshman guard Ashton Walker has impressed so far and leads La Salle with 11 starts. Leading scorer Jaeden Marshall also leads the team in 3’s with 21 made on the year.

A win on the road in the A10 is never easy, but it sure it would be nice to get off on the right foot and grab a W at Glaser Arena. Shut down or limit Marshall and our chances improve.

Discuss.

As of today, Mason dropped from 75 to 84 in the NET. 9 spots off a 4 pt win. 43 spots since the Tech loss.

 

[mkaufman1]

Road games in conference always give me agita. However, we generally have done well against Lasalle and that is a reasonable expectation.

Hoping that we get back to our basics and finally defending better. Seems like Tony is on the guys to correct and improve defensively. It needs to start against Lasalle and they need to defend at a high clip for all or the majority of the game (80-90%)

Mason 75
Lasalle 65

 

[Patriot Blue]

They lost to Penn by 2.

This is not a gimme.

It should be.

 

[BraddockBeach]

GMU 77, LaSalle 72

 

[GreenLantern]

Us 80
Them 79
OT

 

[GunstonsGhost]

 

[thebiasedannouncer]

The La Salle underlying's have me completely unconcerned.

They neither take many threes nor do they do a good job of making the threes they do take.

They take a ton of twos and are somehow awful at that as well.

They play extremely slow on both ends of the ball, which plays into Mason's hands with how we want to control pace.

I am willing to throw the last two games onto the fire as pre/post Christmas haze.

If I am wrong you all can burn me on a stake.

 

[Portlandian]

 

[GMUYoda]

Once again a game we should win by 10+ easily. But the way that we have played defense the past few games gives me pause.

 

[Pablo]

Men's Basketball Hosts George Mason In A-10 Opener on Wednesday - La Salle University Athletics

The La Salle men's basketball team returns to John E. Glaser Arena to host the George Mason Patriots (12-1) in the Atlantic 10 conference opener on Wednesday, Dec.

goexplorers.com

"La Salle ranks second in the Atlantic 10 and 63rd in the nation with 13.2 offensive rebounds per game. La Salle has outrebounded their opponent in nine of their 13 games."

"Graduate student Jaeden Marshall leads the team with 12.8 points per game and 21 3-point field goals. Marshall has made at least one 3-point field goal in his last six games."

"Marshall is shooting 49-of-54 (90.7%) from the free-throw line this season, the third-best percentage in the A-10 and the 31st-best in the nation."

"Freshman guard Ashton Walker leads La Salle with 11 starts, 27.8 minutes per game and 48 assists. Walker is second on the squad with 113 points.

Walker ranks fifth in the A-10 in assists (48) and assists per game (3.7). His assist/turnover ratio of 2.2 is tied for fifth-best in the league."

"Edwin Daniel ranks fourth in the A-10 with 17 blocks and 1.3 blocks per game."

"La Salle is looking for its first win in an A-10 opener since Jan. 5, 2019."

"La Salle will end a 39-day gap between home games, which is believed to be the longest gap between home games in the country."

"George Mason is tied for eighth in the nation in win percentage (.923) after beginning non-conference play 12-1, with a 10-0 record at home and a 2-0 record in neutral-site games.

The Patriots are just outside the nation's top 10 in two stat categories, ranking 11th in free throws made per game (20.6) and 12th in free throw attempts per game (27.9), both best in the A-10."

 

[nchocola]

I’m very high on Kanga these days and I think this is the perfect game for him to play more. They need his rebounding and interior presence. If he is on the floor, they are a better team defensively.

More Ellington too if he’s going to give the same effort he gave in the Penn game.

 

[TweederGMU]

Goodguys 69
Middle school gym school 64

 

[jkh1978]

"La Salle will end a 39-day gap between home games, which is believed to be the longest gap between home games in the country."

Their last three games were at Ann Arbor, High Point, and Brooklyn, but all their games before that were in Philadelphia, either at "home" Glaser Arena, Xfinity Mobile Arena (Penn State, Big 5 Classic), The Palestra (Cathedral Classic), or Liacouras Center (at Temple)

 

[thebiasedannouncer]

After some statical analysis, the great minds at Giant Killer have realized that La Salle’s 7 footer from Australia is a career 35.7% shooter… from two.

We do not know how that is possible at 7 foot, but let it be known that he played 20 minutes against D3 Lancaster Bible and did not score.

 

[GMU79]

After some statical analysis, the great minds at Giant Killer have realized that La Salle’s 7 footer from Australia is a career 35.7% shooter… from two.

We do not know how that is possible at 7 foot, but let it be known that he played 20 minutes against D3 Lancaster Bible and did not score.

Watch him eat us alive. #notajinx