PHILADELPHIA (December 29, 2023) - The Howard University men's basketball team look to rebound from a tough 94-81 loss to the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) when it travels to the City of Brotherly Love to take on the Explorers of LaSalle University Saturday (Dec. 30) at 2 p.m. The game will be played at The Tom Gola Arena.
 
FOLLOW THE ACTION
 
Bison fans can follow all the action via live audio, live stats and/or ESPN+.
 
LAST TIMEOUT
 
In the recent loss (Dec. 20), junior guard Marcus Dockery (Washington) scored a team-high 24 points and graduate guard Isiah Warfield (Monaca, Pa.) tallied 20 points but a series of injuries to some of the key players and the demanding road trip is taking its toll.
 
The Bison trailed, 49-41, at the half and battled the Gauchos through most of the second half. Graduate guard Jelani Williams (Washington) did not suit up due to injury while junior guard Bryce Harris (Brentwood, N.Y.) and Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Preseason Player of the Year sophomore forward Shy Odom (Roxbury, Mass.) played sparingly due to nagging injuries and foul trouble. The important duo logged only 20 minutes between them.
 
Graduate forward Seth Towns (Columbus, Ohio), the team-leading scorer, finished with 13 points on 2-of-10 shooting. It was his lowest scoring output of the season.
 
Warfield has shown that he is going to an important piece to the Bison's success this season. The Pennsylvania native added three assists and two steals to his stat line.
 
The Bison were able to stay close early as they shot 43-percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, but they could not overcome a 2-for-10 effort from three-point range. UCSB, meanwhile, shot 55-percent from the field, including 6-of-10 from beyond the arc.
 
MATCHUP PREVIEW
 
SERIES RECORD
 
Saturday's clash will be the ninth meeting between the two schools with La Salle leading the all-time series, 7-1, including last year's victory inside The Burr, 80-76 (Dec. 29, 2022).

HOWARD
 
The Bison are led by Towns (15.4 ppg, 6.3 rpg & 440percent from three-point range), junior guards Harris (13.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg & team-leading 14 total blocks) and Dockery (11.9 ppg & team-leading 31 three pointers made), Warfield (8.7 ppg & 3.1 rpg) and Odom (8.2 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 31 total assists & eight total blocked shots).
 
The Bison (4-9) have dropped three-in-a-row, all of the road.
 
LA SALLE
 
The Explorers (9-3) have won four-of-their-last-five, the latest a 107-41 win over Rosemont College (Dec. 21).
 
They are led by junior guards Khalil Brantley (16.0 ppg & 5.2 rpg) and Daeshon Shepherd (10.8 ppg & 5.8 rpg), senior guard Jhamir Brickus (14.3 ppg, 65 total assists & 21 total steals) and senior guard Anwar Gill (11.3 ppg & 3.8 rpg).
 
BISON NOTES
 
Howard has allowed 52 points off turnovers in the last three games...Gill played his prep ball at Gonzaga High School in D.C., the same as assistant HU Assistant Coach Tyler Thornton.
 
NEXT UP
 
Howard hosts Yale Wednesday, Jan. 3, at 4 p.m., inside Burr Gymnasium.
 
For more information, visit the Bison Athletics website at www.HUBison.com.