No. 13 La Salle Will Beat No. 4 Kansas State If… The Very Least (Really) You Need to Know

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13 La Salle (22-9) vs. 4 Kansas St. (27-7)

Time: 3:10 PM ET
Channel: TruTV
Region: West
Place: Sprint Center, Kansas City, MO

Kansas State's Double Advantage, Rest and Home Cooking... Not only are the K-State Wildcats well rested, having not played a game in over a week, they'll also have a quasi home court advantage today when they take on a La Salle team that's playing its second game in under 48 hours and also had to deal with the annoyance of a 1:00 am flight that had them arrive at their hotel around 4 in the morning. Coach John Gianni only had his players do a walk through yesterday to conserve their energy.

K-State's M.O.: Bruce Weber's squad switched to a four-guard offense in the middle of the season and it seems to have fit his team's personality well. From the AP:

Since ditching their two-post lineup, the Wildcats (27-7) have improved their their scoring, field-goal percentage, 3-point field-goal percentage and assist numbers, getting superb play from Spradling and fellow guards Rodney McGruder, Angel Rodriguez and Shane Southwell.

But that's not saying a ton. They still ranked 127th in points per game and 162nd in field goal percentage. They're more of a slow-you-down-and-make-you-play-our-way team, so La Salle will want to push the pace. The Wildcats have been very consistent this year. They beat the teams they're supposed to but also fail to beat teams favored over them. Check out this Roob Stat: K-State went 25-1 against teams outside the top-20.

Best hair… Tyrone Garland, obviously. Dude was a beast in La Salle's opening round win. Hope for more of that today.


The Explorers win if… It's the age old March recipe that gets Cinderalla dancing every time. The Explorers will need to tee off from three and shoot lights out like they did in their opening round victory over Boise State. Coach John Giannini has said all they need out of Ramon Galloway in order to win games is his typical performance. That, a little dribble and drive from Garland, plus Sam Mills and Tyreek Duren getting hot from deep and La Salle can keep the dream alive.

Let's go Philly.

More:
>>To continue dancing, La Salle knows fatigue must be ignored [CSN]
>>La Salle's Wright must stay aggressive in Zack's absence [CSN]
>>La Salle - Kansas State preview [AP]

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