Men’s basketball heads to Chapel Hill to battle North Carolina

On By Littum

CHAPEL HILL, NC – The La Salle men’s basketball team looks to get back in the win column on Saturday as the Explorers face one of the most historic programs in all of basketball, the North Carolina Tar Heels. This will be the first time La Salle has faced North Carolina since La Salle legend Lionel Simmons set the Dean Dome scoring record by an opponent in 1988, the year the building opened.

The game will air on TheCW. The game’s audio will also be streamed with Kale Beers providing play-by-play. Additionally, Explorers fans can follow the team on X/Twitter @LaSalle_MBB and Instagram @LaSalleMBB.

LAST TIME OUT – LA SALLE 68, SAINT JOSEPH’S 82

  • La Salle battled the Saint Joseph’s Hawks in the Big 5 Championship game on Saturday.

  • After a fierce battle in the first half, an injury to the big man Demetrius Lilley early in the second allowed the Hawks to build a double-digit lead to secure the win.

  • Freshman Deuce Jones impressed and led the Explorers with 19 points. Lilley also impacted the game, although he only played 16 minutes. The forward scored 12 points, grabbed seven rebounds and set a career high with three three-pointers.

  • The loss means La Salle finishes second in the Big 5, its best finish since the 2017-18 season.

NEWS AND NOTES

  • This is the third straight season La Salle has faced an ACC foe, having played Wake Forest in 2022-23, and Duke and Miami (FL) last season. The Explorers have faced three of the four Tobacco Road teams in the last three seasons.

  • The Explorers have not defeated an ACC opponent since 1974, when the Explorers defeated Clemson, 67-63.

  • McKeithan has been one of the best value additions in college basketball this season. The guard is averaging over 10 points a game over his performance from last year. He ranks 3rdrd in A-10 in scoring (18.8), 6thth for three points per game (2.6), sixth in free throw percentage (.867) and falls in the top 20 in several other categories. McKeithan has scored in double figures in nine of La Salle’s ten games.

  • Demetrius Lilley pulls down 7.7 boards per game, 5th in the Atlantic-10. If the season ended today, he would rank as the Explorers’ top rebounder since All-Atlantic-10 forward BJ Johnson grabbed 8.3 per game in 2017-28.

  • Guards Marrero and Shepherd return from a season ago. Shepherd scored in double figures for the fifth straight game against Saint Joseph’s. He averages 11.5 points per game. match. Marrero adds 7.5 points per game and is third on the team in assists.

  • Deuce Jones played one of the best games of his young career on Saturday. The rookie is averaging 8.9 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. He is second on the team in assists and was named the A-10 Rookie of the Week for his efforts.

SCOUTING NORTH CAROLINA

  • North Carolina is off to a disappointing start to its season with a 5-4 record after starting the season ranked #10 in the AP Poll.

  • Despite its record, all four of UNC’s losses have come against foes ranked in the top 25. The Tar Heels most recently defeated ACC foe Georgia Tech, 68-65.

  • North Carolina is led by a trio of talented guards in Elliott Cadeau, RJ Davis and Seth Trimble.

  • Former North Carolina star Hubert Davis patrols the sideline for the Tar Heels in his fourth season as bench boss. Davis is 83-35 in his career as a head coach.

SERIES HISTORY AGAINST NORTH CAROLINA

  • North Carolina and La Salle will meet for the fourth time in program history.

  • The Explorers are 1-2 against the Tar Heels, with the win coming in 1947, 65-52.

  • The two last met in a high-scoring affair in 1988. Lionel Simmons scored 37 points, an opponent’s scoring record that stood for 35 years until Dalton Knecht tied it last season with Tennessee. Current special assistant to the head coach Joe Mihalich was an assistant for the Explorers on that team.