The No.6-seeded Davidson Wildcats play the No.14-seeded La Salle Explorers in the second round of the A10 tournament at the Barclays Center. Action begins at 9:00 pm ET on Thursday, Mar. 10 and can be seen on NBS.
The Wildcats come into this game hoping to repeat their last performance, topping George Washington 87-80 in their last matchup. Jack Gibbs was the game’s leading scorer with 31 points on 11-for-23 shooting. The Explorers, meanwhile, are coming off an 88-73 win against Duquesne in the 1. Jordan Price claimed his second double-double of the season with 36 points and 12 rebounds.
Based on historical performance heading into this one, ball security could play a key role in the matchup. Davidson commits the fewest miscues in the nation (TO% of 14.5%), while La Salle’s pesky defense causes the 16th-most (opponents’ TO% of 19.8%). Moreover, foul-shooting opportunities could prove to be quite rare for the Explorers. They are 324th in the nation in FTA rate (30.5), while the Wildcats are among the nation’s least foul-prone teams (allowing a rate of just 30.2, ranking eighth in the country).
This is the second game of the year between these two teams, with the Wildcats winning the first matchup 79-66. Price put up a double-double in the victory with 36 points and 12 rebounds.
Notes
The Davidson Wildcats rank 51st for their offensive rating of 112.4. The La Salle Explorers have a defensive rating of 110.1 (ranked 44th).
On average, Davidson has 70.9 possessions per game and scores 1.124 points on each possession. La Salle has both fewer possessions (66.4) and scores fewer points during those possessions (.965).
Davidson averages an effective field goal percentage of 52.5%. La Salle has not won a game this season when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage (0-14).
On average, Davidson attempts 27.0 three pointers and La Salle attempts 24.0. In games where they have 20 or more three point attempts, the Davidson Wildcats have a winning 18-10 record while the La Salle Explorers have a subpar 8-17 record.
The 14th-ranked team in the category, Davidson has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.48 this season. La Salle ranks outside the top 100 at 229th with an A/TO of .98.
La Salle is one of the best in the country in forcing turnovers, with opponents averaging a TO% of 19.8% (ranked 16th). Davidson is an even 2-2 SU when it has a TO% of 19.8% or greater.
