La Salle Men’s Basketball: A10 Tournament Preview

The La Salle Explorers begin their quest for the NCAA Tournament on Thursday in a matchup with conference foe Davidson in Pittsburgh.

After a season that fell short of the expectations they would have had in the preseason, the La Salle Explorers [15-14, 9-9 A10] are out to redeem themselves. That journey will begin against the Davidson Wildcats [15-14, 8-10 A10] on Thursday at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. The Explorers already triumphed the Wildcats this year, a 91-83 win at Tom Gola Arena on January 19th. After being bumped by Davidson in last year’s A10 Quarters, the Explorers will be out for revenge.

As stated, the only time the two teams met this year was a 91-83 win by the Explorers in Philly. Senior Jordan Price led the Explorers with 29 that night, with B.J. Johnson and Pookie Powell combining for a further 33. La Salle has been a pourous 4-9 since that game, while the Wildcats have went 6-6 in that span. Given the string of results La Salle have endured since then, they will need a serious change of fortune to have a shot in this tournament. A win for either team will come at a cost, which is a date with A10 regular season champs, the Dayton Flyers.

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Coach John Giannini will have likely had some nightmares about this matchup in postseason play. Davidson eliminated La Salle in the 2015 Quarterfinals in a heartbreaking loss for the Explorers. Last season was not much better, as the Wildcats beat the Explorers 78-63 in the 2nd round at the Barclays Center. After having his season ended the past two seasons by Davidson, Giannini will be be hoping the third time is the charm for the Explorers.

The key for the Explorers will be stopping Jack Gibbs and Peyton Aldridge, the number 1 and 3 scorers in the A10 respectively. La Salle failed to do so in their first meeting, but they were able to hold the rest of the team to 25 points combined.

Giannini will be perfectly fine with those two having huge days again if they can neutralize the remainder of the team. Davidson are very much a team that is involved in high scoring games, which shows how dangerous they are on the offensive end, and how shaky they can be when defending. The Explorers will be weary of this, as they have only scored 70 or more points five times since they last saw Davidson (13 games).

What’s the Road Looking Like For La Salle if They Win Out?

• 2nd round vs. Davidson (Thursday)
• Quarterfinal vs. Dayton (Friday)
• Semifinal vs. one of UMass, St. Joe’s, St. Bonaventure, or Rhode Island (Saturday)
• Final vs. one of St. Louis, Duquesne, George Mason, Fordham, George Washington, Richmond, or VCU (Selection Sunday)

To say that would be an optimistic outlook to talk about the Explorers in the A10 Championship Game would be an understatement. They are coming in as one of the coldest teams in the conference, but as we know, that’s tossed out the door during the course of this week. Starting with a win over Davidson, the Explorers have the chance to build some real momentum.

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No one will come out and pick the Explorers to go far in the A10 Tournament, but March has shown us crazier things. The Atlantic 10 is wide open, and if La Salle can beat Davidson and somehow upset Dayton, their chances will be as good as anyone’s. More than a few 8 seeds have won conference tournaments in recent years, and the La Salle Explorers and Coach John Giannini would be delighted to join that list.