December 18, 2014

Game Notes	Lafayette at No. 10 Kansas Saturday, Dec. 20 | 3 p.m. EST Lawrence, Kan. | Allen Fieldhouse	Game Notes

LAST TIME OUT
Lafayette used contributions from up and down the bench to put away Susquehanna on Tuesday evening inside Kirby Sports Center by a final score of 91-66. The win moves the Leopards to 7-2 on the season, their best start since going 8-1 to start the 2003-04 campaign.

Senior Dan Trist and junior Bryce Scott led the offense with 16 points apiece, while senior captain Seth Hinrichs added 14 points and classmate Joey Ptasinski chipped in with 10 to go along with four assists and three steals. Sophomore Nick Lindner facilitated the offense to the tune of nine assists and just one turnover, and freshman Matt Klinewski was just one point shy of a double-double, pairing his nine points with 11 rebounds.

All 15 players on the Lafayette roster saw playing time in the game as the Maroon and White went 31-for-68 from the floor (45.6%) and 11-for-28 from beyond the arc (39.3%). The Leopards won the rebounding battle for just the third time this season, 53-32. The 50-plus board performance is just the second time the Maroon and White have eclipsed the 50-rebound plateau in a game in the last 10 seasons, doing so last on Dec. 20, 2005 when they ripped down 52 against Dickinson.

SCOUTING THE JAYHAWKS
Kansas, looking to improve upon a 25-10 record a season ago and a trip to the NCAA Tournament Round of 32, is off to yet another successful season, starting the year at 8-1 and currently ranked 10th in the latest AP Poll. The Jawhawks' only loss of the year came in the Champions Classic against No. 1 Kentucky on Nov. 18, but they have reeled off seven straight wins since that game including a victory over No. 13 Utah in their last contest on Dec. 13, 63-60. Kansas is led by a pair of double-figure scorers in Perry Ellis (14.3 ppg) and Frank Mason III (10.6 ppg). Ellis also paces the Hawks on the glass with 7.0 boards per game. Kansas, an excellent free-throw shooting team at 74.7 percent, uses defense and rebounding to its advantage, holding opponents to 63.2 points per game and winning the battle on the glass with a +6.0 rebounding margin.

LAFAYETTE VS. BIG 12 OPPONENTS
Kansas is the second of a pair of Big 12 opponents the Leopards face this season after falling at West Virginia in their second game of the season, 83-56, on Nov. 16. All-time, Lafayette is 1-5 against Big 12 opponents, with its lone win coming against the Mountaineers on Jan. 23, 1973, a 61-60 victory in Easton. The Maroon and White have also matched up with Baylor and Kansas State in their history.

TARGET IS SECURE
Throughout the non-conference slate, the Leopards have emerged as a top team in the Patriot League in taking care of the basketball, leading the league in both assist/turnover ratio (1.3) and assists per game (16.6). Additionally, junior Bryce Scott and sophomore Nick Lindner are 1-2 in the Patriot League in assist/turnover ratio, respectively, at 3.5 and 3.4 marks. Scott's 3.5 clip ranks 20th nationally, while the 16.6 assists per game as a team is good enough for 24th in the national rankings.

WHO NEEDS DEFENSE?
With the offensive firepower the Leopards are bringing to the floor, Lafayette has used an 'outscore the opponent' approach this season. The Maroon and White are first in the Patriot League in scoring at 79.0 points per game this season and lead the league in scoring margin, putting up an average of 6.8 more points per contest than their opponents. The Leopards have figured out how to put the ball through the basket, sitting atop the league table in both field-goal and three-point field-goal percentage at 50.6 percent and 42.4 percent, respectively.

THE BEST OF THE BEST
It's not a weekly occurrence that Lafayette faces nationally-ranked opponents which it will on Saturday vs. No. 10 Kansas. The Leopards' last matchup with a ranked opponent came against No. 13/16 Minnesota on Dec. 22, 2012 (L, 75-50). The last time Lafayette beat a nationally ranked opponent was Dec. 2, 1978, a 77-70 victory over Rutgers. The last conference game that pitted Lafayette against a ranked opponent was on Feb. 15, 2006, a 69-49 loss to Bucknell.

JOEY P FOR THREE
Senior Joey Ptasinski has been on fire from three-point range in his senior campaign. Ptasinski went 2-for-5 from beyond the arc in the win over Susquehanna and is 29-for-52 on the year (55.8%), good enough for sixth in the national rankings and second in the Patriot League.

MAKE MORE THAN YOU MISS
Offensive efficiency has been a key to the Leopards' success recently as Lafayette has shot better than 50 percent from the field in 18 of its last 40 contests dating back to last season and five of its nine games this season. Against Susquehanna, Lafayette went 31-for-68 from the floor (45.6%), 11-for-28 from distance (39.3%) and 18-for-23 (78.3%) from the free-throw line. The Maroon and White are first in the league in field-goal percentage as a team (50.6%) and 13th in the national rankings. Additionally, the Leopards hold the Patriot League's top spot in shooting from beyond the arc at 42.4% and are second in free-throw percentage (75.3%), good enough for the ninth and 21st spots in the national rankings, respectively.

AT IT A WHILE
Lafayette's Fran O'Hanlon has posted 276 wins in his career in his 20th season on the sideline for the Leopards, while Kansas' Bill Self is in his 22nd year, holding a career overall mark of 540-175 and a 333-70 record in his 12th year at Kansas.

COMING SOON
Lafayette has inked the commitments of three student-athletes to the class of 2019. Hailing from Lithuania, Arkansas and Texas, these three student-athletes will begin their careers on College Hill in Fall 2015.

Paulius Zalys, a 6-7, 200-pound forward from Kaunas, Lithuania moved to the Pennsylvania area three years ago, playing on the varsity basketball team at The Perkiomen School in Pennsburg, Pa. the last two seasons. Zalys averaged 17.3 points per game and 6.9 rebounds per contest during his 2013-14 campaign and was named to the Mercury All-Area First Team last season. While in Lithuania, he was a member of the Arvydas Sabonis Basketball Academy since grade school and participated on the U16 Lithuanian national team, while earning an invite to the U18 national team camp. Zalys is the second Leopard to travel to Easton by way of Kaunas, Lithuania, joining Deirunas Visockas '11, who attended high school in Los Angeles, Calif. before finding a home on College Hill.

The second member of this year's class comes to College Hill from North Little Rock, Ark. Sam Dunkum, a 6-10, 230-pound center is currently participating in his second year of varsity basketball at North Little Rock High School after transferring from Little Rock Christian Academy after his sophomore season. During his junior year, he averaged six points, six rebounds and four blocks per contest to help his team to conference and state championships.

Finally, Auston Evans, hailing from McKinney, Texas, is a 6-6, 188-pound wing with the ability to stretch the floor and score from multiple positions. A four-year varsity player at the Greenhill School in Addison, Texas, Evans averaged double-figure scoring in each of his three seasons coming into the 2014-15 campaign. As a junior, he served as the team captain, averaging 16.5 points per game and eclipsing the 1,000-point plateau. Evans is a three-time All-Southwest Preparatory Conference honoree and earned team MVP laurels his sophomore and junior seasons.