Until yesterday, I had my LaSalle Explorers game preview all but composed – then the Explorers went out and absolutely annihilated the Xavier Musketeers by 31 on their home court. So, it was back to the drawing board In case you missed it, LaSalle dominated every phase of the game and won easily over XU, running their record to 7-9 (1-4), and putting an emphatic stop to their eight-game losing streak. Who is this team that will show up to the University of Dayton Arena on Tuesday night? For starters, LaSalle is definitely a better team than their record would imply. Before the eight-game slide, LaSalle started the season 6-1– the only blemish coming at Alabama. After a tough loss at Top 10 Syracuse, the wheels began to fall off in an ugly 43-36 loss at Butler.

Donnie Carr (16.4 ppg, 3.8 apg) — perhaps the Explorers best player — was out for most of that stretch with pneumonia – losing 25lbs in the process. He’s finally beginning to round into form and get his strength back, as evidenced by his 22 point outburst at Xavier. The announcers on the A10 Network indicated he has regained 13lbs. Carr isn’t the only threat the 14-3 (4-1) University of Dayton Flyers must overcome to notch their fifteenth win. LaSalle is lucky enough to have two other players capable of keeping the scoreboard operator busy. Sophomore Rasul Butler (19.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg), is a 6-7 forward who leads the Explorers in scoring, and is followed closely by frontcourt mate Victor Thomas (17.4ppg), a lanky player who is also 6-7. This gives LaSalle three 15+ ppg scorers on the court. For Dayton to be successful they must shut at least one (hopefully two) of these three down – and keep the others from going nuts.

Julian Blanks joins Donnie Carr in the backcourt. The 6-2 sophomore guard is averaging 8.8 ppg, but has an assist to turnover ratio of almost 2:1 in the process of contributing 5.5apg. The lack of a center could be the one area of weakness that Dayton will attempt to exploit. Coming off a strong game against George Washington, Mark Ashman (12.4ppg, 6.0 rpg) would appear to have the upper hand against the Explorer’s Garrett Bragg (3.2ppg, 2.9 rpg). Look for Ashman to help out Yuanta Holland (9.0ppg, 5.6 rpg) and Nate Green (3.7 rpg) in defending LaSalle’s talented forwards. Having pressed most teams this year, the Flyers may want to rethink that strategy. Against XU, LaSalle easily broke the press, committed less than 10 turnovers, and frequently ended up with fast breaks – usually ending in a three pointer, a lay-up or dunk, or an offensive rebound. Dayton must continue to dominate the boards like they did against the Colonials or it could be a very long night.

Finally, LaSalle and Dayton have each played Mt. St. Mary’s and Texas A&M. UD won both while LaSalle defeated MSMU but fell to the Aggies by a point.