The 3rd Round of the NCAA tournament continues today and we will see the LaSalle Explorers take on the Mississippi Rebels. The game is scheduled for a 7:40 pm (Eastern) start time and will be televised on TruTv. Currently the Odds for the game have Mississippi favored by 4 points while the total sits at 143.
Analysis: The fifth-seeded Explorers are 3-0 all-time during NCAA Tournament play in Kansas City, where they won the school’s only national championship in 1954. La Salle picked up its second tournament win in the same season for the first time since 1955 after it held off Kansas State in dramatic fashion, less than 48 hours after securing a first-round victory over Boise State in Dayton, Ohio. The hot shooting that served the Explorers so well against the Broncos (season-high 63.3 percent) completely fell apart over the final 20 minutes Friday. La Salle shot 3-for-18 and scored 19 points against the Wildcats in the second half after shooting 58.1 percent and posting 44 points in the first half. However, the much-maligned La Salle defense – which allowed its opponents to shoot an Atlantic 10-high 45.6 percent – forced Kansas State to miss its final eight field-goal attempts. After scoring 12 combined points in losses to Saint Louis and Butler, leading scorer Ramon Galloway (17.1 points) is averaging 20 points through two NCAA Tournament games.
The 12th-seeded Rebels collected the program’s fourth victory in the “Big Dance” when they stunned Big Ten power Wisconsin, improving to 3-0 in NCAA Tournament games played in Kansas City. Marshall Henderson – the leading scorer in the SEC – missed 12 of his first 13 shots against the Badgers, but outscored Wisconsin by himself 17-10 over the final 11:25. "He made that first shot and I celebrated," coach Andy Kennedy said following the game. "As long as he's taking shots within our offense, our guys understand that. We were getting him looks. Then once he makes one or two, we keep feeding him." The Rebels figure to enjoy a significant advantage in the front court against the undersized Explorers. Reginald Bucker – a 6-9, 235-pound forward – had five blocks against Wisconsin while 6-7, 240-pound Murphy Holloway has 13 double-doubles and led the SEC in rebounding. Twelfth-seeded teams are 8-2 against No. 13s all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
Pick: I like the over in this one. Mississippi has played some slow paced teams of late and it has resulted in lower scoring games than they are used to. Well for the most part, Lasalle is not a slow paced team. The Explorers are 172nd in pace, but they are very efficient on offense, scoring 72.4 ppg, ranking 32nd in offensive efficiency. Recently LaSalle has played uptempo teams like Duquesne, Boise State and Temple and each of hose games put up 150+ points. Ole Miss is 17th in the nation in tempo so you know they love to run. They have had some problems scoring of late, but 3 of their last 4 games were vs tough defensive minded slow down teams (Wisc, Vandy and Florida) and that is not the MO of Lasalle. The Explorers have allowed 66 ppg on the year and they are 200th in effective defensive FG% (49%). Ole Miss' defensive numbers of late are a bit deceiving, due to who they have played. On the year they have allowed 66.7 ppg overall and 71.9 ppg on the road, La Salle should be good for 70+ here. Actually I like both teams in the 70's in this one as it should be played at a high teampo and with allot of fouls at the end.
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