By Sean Kennedy
Today’s Action
7:00 PM: La Salle (12-9, 4-3 A-10) @ Massachusetts (17-4, 4-3 A-10) – CBS Sports Network
La Salle snapped a three-game losing streak with a comfortable win over Duquesne Saturday, but now will be up against an angry Massachusetts team looking to things around themselves. The Minutemen are going through their worst stretch of the season having lost 3 of their last 4 games, a loss to St. Joe’s in their most recent outing. UMass will do everything in their power to avoid falling to .500 in conference play and losing their second-straight game to a Philadelphia team.
Explorers center Steve Zack rebounded from his worst outing of the year in a scoreless effort against George Washington, with his best effort of the season with 16 points and 16 rebounds against the Dukes. La Salle will need a similar performance against the Minutemen, the 27th-best rebounding team in the nation behind big man Cady Lalanne, who averages over 13 points and nearly 9 rebounds per game. Zack will need to neutralize Lalanne while the Explorers guard neutralize guard Chaz Williams. Williams leads the Explorers in scoring (15.7) and assists (7.4), and hit the game-winning lay-up in Massachusetts’ 1-point win over La Salle last season. The Minutemen are a stronger team than last season, recent stretch of play notwithstanding, and with home-court advantage this season they should have an easier time against La Salle.
7:00 PM: Saint Joseph’s (15-6, 5-2 A-10) vs. Saint Louis (20-2, 7-0 A-10)
The Hawks finally earned the marquee win they’d been waiting for, defeating Massachusetts over the weekend to avenge an earlier loss to the Minutemen. They’ll look to secure their second-straight win over a ranked opponent when they host a Billikens squad undefeated in A-10 play. Saint Louis thrives behind the third-best defense in the country, holding opponents to under 29% three-point shooting, just 39% from the floor overall, and recording almost 8 steals per game.
Offensively, senior forward Dwayne Evans paces the Billikens with 15 points on 50% shooting and 6.5 rebounds per game. Evans had a double-double with 21 points and 12 rebounds in Saint Louis’ easy victory over the Hawks last season and St. Joe’s will need to better corral him to stay within striking distance in this contest. One Hawk who had a good performance in last year’s meeting was Ronald Roberts, Jr., who scored a game-high 25 points on 8-10 shooting. Roberts, Jr. has been inconsistent in recent weeks and tonight would be the perfect opportunity for him to have another top-notch performance. St. Joe’s has the talent to take down Saint Louis, but they’ll need everyone playing at their best in order to do so.
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