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Major Keys
Time & Place: 2:00 PM ET, American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida
TV: ESPN2 (Allen Bestwick & Tim Welsh)
Radio: 106.7 The Fan (Georgetown; Rich Chvotkin); La Salle Explorers Sports Network (Kale Beers & Rich Prendergast)
Stream: WatchESPN
Gamblin’ Info: The Hoyas are favored by 3 points via OddsShark. The over/under is set at 155.5
Three Things to Watch
Editing The Resume: This game is a part of the Hoophall Miami Invitational, and is the back-end of a doubleheader that’s preceded by DePaul-Temple. Illinois-VCU and Miami-Wofford were the match-ups last Saturday.
The Hoyas have another opportunity to build their tournament resume in a warm-weather city. Georgetown went 1-2 at the Maui Invitational last month, their only games away from the Verizon Center up until this point.
Kenpom.com ranks La Salle 97th in the nation in adjusted efficiency margin. This may not put them in the tier of opponents with Wisconsin (8th), Oregon (22nd), or Oklahoma State (47th), but it’s still an important game.
Inconsistent high-major teams like Georgetown need wins over challenging mid-majors like La Salle. If the Hoyas’ season continues to be a rollercoaster, a win this afternoon could be a difference maker when the selection committee is doling out at-large bids in March.
With the Syracuse game next Saturday, it’s important that the Hoyas don’t look past La Salle when they step on the court today.
Rodney Pryor’s Continued Dominance: The Georgetown Hoyas are on a three-game winning streak heading into this afternoon’s matchup. They took down Howard, Coppin State, and Elon in each of those games. Part of the success can be attributed to the dominant play of guard Rodney Pryor.
Pryor averaged 26.3 points per game over the last 3 games. His best performance was his 30-point output in the 96-44 win over Coppin State. He hit a school-record seven 3-pointers that night, and did all of his scoring in only 16 minutes of floor-time.
Georgetown is going to need more of Pryor’s superb play. The team tends to go as he does. He hasn’t scored less than 23 in any of the Hoyas’ 5 victories, but hasn’t scored more than 15 points in any of the team’s 4 losses.
Can Georgetown Withstand La Salle’s Scoring Onslaught?: The 4-3 La Salle Explorers are coming off of a 89-79 loss on Tuesday to crosstown rival Villanova. They will come to Miami looking to avoid falling to .500. La Salle will also be seeking their first win over a Big East team since 2012, when they beat Villanova 77-74 in overtime.
La Salle’s calling card is their high-scoring offense. The Explorers average 83.1 points per game, good for 37th in the nation. Four players average double-digits, led by junior B.J. Johnson’s 17.9 points per game. Contrast this with Georgetown, who only has two double-digit scorers: Pryor and L.J. Peak.
The kicker is that La Salle also gives up a lot of points. The Explorers allow 80.4 points per game, 309th nationally. The game could turn in Georgetown’s favor if they get their offense going quickly while staving off La Salle’s attack.