Saturday, February 19, 2022 5:00 p.m.
Gentile Arena, Chicago, Ill.
The Ramblers have a chance to avenge one of their three conference losses on Saturday when they face the Drake Bulldogs at 5 p.m. at Gentile Arena. Drake beat Loyola 77-68 on Jan. 30 in Des Moines in a game where the Ramblers were unable to take control at the end of the halves. The Ramblers shot well enough to win in that game, but the Bulldogs hit some key shots, shot a lot of freebies, and got some calls and bounces down the stretch.
Drake's big win against the Ramblers on Jan. 30 was something of a high point for the team. Following their home win against Loyola, the Bulldogs dropped three consecutive games against UNI, Missouri State, and Bradley-- the first two coming at home. Drake comes into their trip to Loyola at 2-5 against fellow members of the MVC's Top 5; they were swept by Missouri State, swept by Bradley, and split with UNI.
Drake was picked to win the Valley in the MVC preseason poll, capturing 29 of the 43 votes for first place. Loyola will be favored going into Saturday's game, so at 18-9 overall and 9-5 in the MVC, the Bulldogs face the prospect of falling to the bottom of the top 5 and dropping behind Bradley if the chalk holds. Loyola needs to impose home court advantage to split with Drake and stay on top of the league.
The Bulldogs will most likely start 6'0" point guard Roman Penn, 6'2" senior guard D.J. Wilkins, 6'6" senior forward Tremell Murphy, 6'3" senior guard Garrett Sturtz, and 6'7" guard/forward Tucker DeVries. Six-ten senior Darnell Brodie has been coming off the bench with fellow senior forward ShanQuan "Tank" Hemphill. In Drake's win on Jan. 30, Hemphill and Brodie led the Bulldogs in the plus/minus stats with 21 and 19 respectively.
The coach's son, Tucker DeVries, leads the team in scoring (13.57 ppg) and ranks second on the team in minutes played. DeVries takes a lot of shots to get his points-- he shoots only 41.6% from the field and only 35.6% from behind the arc.
Penn has played against Loyola for several years, so most Rambler fans know he plays with a lot of energy and creativity. Penn is averaging 10.3 points and 3.6 assists per game. The 6'3" Sturtz averages 11.0 points per game, but leads the team with an astounding 7.5 rebounds, 34 steals, and 86 trips to the free throw line. Sturtz' 60% field goal percentage leads the team, and he leads the MVC in Box Score Plus/Minus (8.5) and offensive rating (137.2, well above runner-up Gaige Prim at 121.1). Hemphill averages 10.0 points and 5.2 rebounds. Murphy is the team's best inside scorer and defender, averaging 8.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks per game.
Loyola leads the all-time series 22-15, and the Ramblers have a 12-6 advantage since joining the MVC. Loyola and Drake usually play close games-- only six of the 18 games since Loyola joined the MVC have been decided by more than 10 points, and seven of the last 16 games have been decided by five points or less.
Loyola played pretty soft in the game at Drake-- some sloppy touch fouls were called while Drake was pretty aggressive physically and avoided the foul calls. Loyola needs to clean that up, keep Drake off the free throw line (they had 28 trips to the line in the loss in Des Moines), and take care of the ball (the 'Blers had 16 turnovers in Des Moines).
Loyola game notes: https://loyolaramblers.com/documents/20 ... _19_22.pdfDrake game notes:
https://godrakebulldogs.com/documents/2 ... _19_22.pdfTV/Streaming video: ESPN2
https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/eve ... %3AresultsRadio/Streaming audio: https://loyolaramblers.com/watch/?Live=108&type=LiveLive stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=369451Vegas odds: Loyola by 5.5
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