Sunday, January 2, 2022 1:00 p.m.
Gentile Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Loyola men's basketball is back on the court Sunday for the first time since December 10--a 23-day layover due to Covid-- and it's not even against the team they thought they'd be playing. SIU is dealing with their own Covid outbreak that caused the postponement of their game in Carbondale, so the NAIA St. Xavier Cougars are headed to Gentile Arena for a much-needed tune-up game before conference play resumes (hopefully?) on Wednesday night in Normal.
The Ramblers have faced off against four other Chicago teams this year and come out victorious against Chicago State, UIC, DePaul, and Roosevelt. St. Xavier will be their fifth opponent from the city. St. X has already played one game against a D-I opponent this year when they lost 74-52 in Milwaukee against UWM.
The Cougars are coached by Robert Ford in his first season. They're 8-9 on the season, but a respectable 5-4 in the very competitive CCAC conference, which features two teams in the NAIA Top 25 rankings. SXU is likely to start 6'6" junior guard Jaeden King, 6'0" senior point guard Maurice Chambers, 6'2" senior guard Joshua Evans, 6'8" senior forward Jack Halverson, and 6'3" guard/forwad Charles Campbell.
Evans is their leading scorer, averaging 17.8 per game while also leading the team in rebounds with 7.7. He also leads the team in minutes, assists, turnovers, and steals. King is not far behind in scoring at 15.1 ppg while also snagging 5.1 boards per game. Chambers (13.3) and Halvorson (12.9) are also double-digit scorers. Tino Sebalj is a 6'9" junior forward who loves to shoot the three-- he's fired up 73 attempts coming off the bench. That's a respectable 38.4% average, and he scores 5.9 per game in 19 minutes off the bench.
Sunday's game will be free admission with proof of a vaccination or negative test, and seating will be general admission.
Loyola game notes:
https://loyolaramblers.com/documents/20 ... 1_2_22.pdfSt. Xavier game notes: N/A
TV/Streaming video: ESPN+
https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=4d ... 59d5f7ee38Radio/Streaming audio:
https://loyolaramblers.com/watch/?Live=95&type=LiveLive stats:
http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=381568Vegas odds: N/A