Wednesday, January 20, 2021 6:00 p.m.
Athletics-Recreation Center, Valparaiso, Ind.

The Ramblers defeated a depleted UNI squad over the weekend, breaking a 21-year old record for UNI's worst league loss in the finale of the two-game set. At 5-1 in conference and 10-3 overall, the Ramblers pulled closer to league-leading Drake and boosted their standings in the NET (#41), KenPom (#35), and BartTorvik.com (#41) rankings. But now Loyola begins a tough five-game road swing to Valparaiso, Peoria, and Springfield, Missouri.

First stop on the grueling road trip is nearby Valparaiso. The Crusaders are 3-8 on the season (0-2 MVC), and haven't looked very good after a 20-day layoff for Covid-19 protocols from Dec. 19 to Jan. 9. Since returning from the team pause, Valpo lost their first two conference games at home vs. Missouri State (both by double digits), and dropped a hastily-scheduled road game at DePaul by 19 points. In the three games since their long layoff, the Crusaders are shooting only 36.8% from the field and allowing opponents to shoot 50.3%. Valpo is also getting crushed on the boards, with their opponents pulling down almost 10 more boards per game.

Valpo starts 5'9" junior point guard Daniel Sackey, 6'7" sophomore guard DonovanClay, 6'9" sophomore forward Ben Krikke, 6'3" senior guard Eron Gordon, and 6'8" senior forward Mileek McMillan. Many Loyola fans know that cast of characters, but there are several notable absences from the past two seasons. Javon Freeman-Liberty transferred to DePaul, where he's averaging 13.0 points and 4.8 rebounds for the Blue Demons. Ryan Fazekas and John Kiser graduated.

The top offensive threats for Valpo are Krikke (11.6 ppg) and Clay (11.0 ppg). Clay has been using his ability to drive and finish to great advantage this year, connecting on 53% of his shots inside the arc. Six-six freshman guard Connor Barrett out of Loyola Academy is the top player off the bench and the third leading scorer at 6.9 ppg. Kenwood Academy product Nick Robinson, a 6'5" senior guard, has missed all of Valpo's games since the team's Covid-19 pause-- he was averaging 9.1 points and 3.6 boards. Energetic point guard Daniel Sackey has improved his ball handling, but (like most of the rest of the team) his three point shooting percentage (1-of-15 thus far on the season) is way down from last year. In addition to Barrett, two other freshmen-- 6'4" shooting guard Sheldon Edwards and 6'8" forward Jacob Ognacevic-- play significant minutes off the bench. Ognacevic is yet another Valpo big man (like McMillan and Fazekas) who shoots about half or more of his shots from distance; he's averaging 6.6 points and shoots just over 50% behind the arc. Edwards averages 7.0 points and 3.0 boards.

The big difference between this Valpo team and the Crusaders of the recent past is the lack of a big post player-- Krikke mans the inside capably, but he's not a prolific rebounder or shot blocker. At 6'9" and 230, Krikke is not the imposing inside presence like 7-footers Derek Smits and Jaume Sorolla a couple years ago, or the athletic inside-outside threat of Alec Peters five or six years ago.

Despite having three players at 6'7" or taller in the starting lineup, the Crusaders rebound by committee, and Valpo ranks second to last in the league in rebounding margin. Valpo also struggles compared to the rest of the league in shooting percentage (42.3%, tied for 8th) and three-point shooting percentage (last, at 28.1%). Their biggest strength is forcing steals and the resulting turnover margin; the Crusaders used their full court press to stay in the game in close losses to Vanderbilt (77-71), Purdue (68-61) and Central Michigan (84-79).

The Crusaders lost their first 7 games to the Ramblers after joining the MVC, but that streak was famously broken in the quarterfinals of Arch Madness last year. Valpo came back from an 18-point deficit in the second half to force overtime, and erased a six-point lead in the last 28 seconds of regulation. The Crusaders won 74-73 and went on to the Finals at Arch Madness. Loyola went home and thought about 13 missed free throws and an epic collapse for more than nine months before getting a chance to settle a score on Wednesday.



Loyola game notes: https://loyolaramblers.com/documents/20 ... 20_21_.pdf

Valparaiso game notes: https://cdn.streamlinehosting.net/valpo ... 21_LUC.pdf

TV/Streaming video: ESPN+, ESPN3 https://www.espn.com/espnplus/catalog/3 ... 98592f0098

Internet audio feed: https://loyolaramblers.com/watch/?Live=51&type=Live

Live stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=324501

Vegas odds: Loyola by 13

THANK YOU, JCT

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Thanks for the preview, JCT.

Great preview. Clay and Krikke are formidable offensive threats so I hope we have our defense from the 2nd half of the second ISUb and the two UNI games. Would love to see Lucas lock down Clay all game.

The QF loss to Valpo last season still makes me sick. 18 point lead in the second half...

Hopefully the team is still sick over it and wins this one by 30+.

Thanks for another great preview. I really enjoyed watching the victories over Northern Iowa, but I didn't feel as much into the action as I usually do without knowing what to look for thanks to JCT's in depth previews.

JCT...glad to see you back on the job.....thanks for the preview......two thing immediately got my attention....a 5'9 guard and the use of a full court press......1. There have been a ton of small guards who have given us problems over the years.....ISU and Bradley come to mind....was it Brown at Bradley and Paris or Lee ? or both at ISU.....2. Who was it that pressed this year in which we had difficulty? Richmond and ISUb.....????
Still remember the Marquis Kennedy steal at the end of the Valpo game at home last year......a classic...ALso I have always thought McMillian was a really good player, underutilized by Valpo.....might we see both Krut and Welch in the game if they have their center and McMillian in the game....which brings me to an observation that when the game was beyond losing we played Hutson and Welch together with Welch out on the floor defensively...I am at some point going to go back and see how he did.

JCT ... thanks for the update! I look forward to reading your work before each game. Go Ramblers!

Great preview! Watched Valpo play Purdue fairly tough early this year and some of the MSU matchup. They have success when they really muddy up the game and successfully gamble on turnovers. Clay is a stud and I’d guess he gets Lucas/Aher all game. I’m very curious who gets Sackey, I could see his quickness giving us some trouble again.

Hopefully we come out firing on all cylinders and put this away early. It was nice to see us put two games away early in the second half this weekend; that killer instinct is something we lacked the last few years. Gotta keep it up!

Agree on Sackey. While similar size, he does seem to be much quicker than Norris. Will be an interesting matchup there.

Marquise has both the speed and long arms. If he’s in at PG, he could definitely give Sackey issues

Good preview!