Wednesday, February 9, 2022 8:00 p.m.
Carver Arena, Peoria, Illinois
The Ramblers head down to Peoria to meet the surging Bradley Braves on Wednesday night for the last time in a road conference game. On Jan. 8, Loyola came back from a 16-point second half deficit to claim a 78-71 victory in overtime. Bradley leads the all-time series 36-32, but the Ramblers have won 15 of the last 19 games between the teams, and Loyola has won six of the last eight at Carver Arena.
The Braves have won five of their last six games and seven of their last nine to enter the conversation as one of the top teams in the MVC. Despite a 13-11 record overall, Bradley is 7-5 in conference and has climbed into the KenPom top 100 at #92. The Braves have always had a significant home court advantage with large crowds at Carver Arena, and this year their only two home losses were a head-scratching home opener loss to Howard University and a two-point loss to Missouri State.
Bradley is likely to start 6'3" junior guard Terry Roberts, 6'9" junior forward Malevy Leons, 6'9" sophomore forward Rienk Mast, 6'7" sophomore guard/forward Jayson Kent, and 6'3" freshman guard Connor Hickman. Tops off the bench are 6'4" junior guard Ville Tahvanainen, 6'3" UC San DIego grad transfer Mikey Howell, 7'1" senior forward Ari Boya and 6'6" freshman forward Zek Montgomery. Second-leading scorer 6'6" senior forward Ja'Shon Henry has not played since mid-December.
Roberts, a transfer from Florida SouthWestern State, is one of the top newcomers in the league. He averages 15.4 points, 4.5 assists, and 1.6 steals per game to lead the team in each category. He shoots the three moderately well (36.7%), and has He also chips in 5.2 rebounds per game. The other juco transfer is Malevy Leons, who averages 10.6 points and creates matchup problems on great shooting inside and from range (38.8%). A Dutch transfer from Mineral Area College, Leons has an impressive wingspan which helps him tally 6.1 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game.
Mast has dramatically improved over the course of the season. He leads the league in rebounds with 8.2 per game and adds 11.3 points in his sophomore season. Fellow sophomore Kent is averaging 8.0 points and 3.1 rebounds. Freshman Connor Hickman is a gym-rat freshman from Bloomington, Ind. who averages 6.6 points, 2.2 rebounds per game, and a high basketball IQ.
Last time out, the Braves demolished Evansville 76-41 on Saturday. Jayson Kent led the Braves with 14 points, and Ari Boya had a double-double with 10 points and 14 boards. Mast played only 20 minutes and had only four points, but 11 different Bradley players scored in the blowout.
Bradley has cleaned up playing the teams in the bottom half of the league; they've beaten Evansville by a combined 67 points. Their best KenPom win on the season has been an 83-71 win at #91 Drake; they also picked up a home win over UNI to start the conference season.
The Ramblers have won 23 straight games against teams from the state of Illinois, and 13 of their last 15 true road games.
Loyola game notes: https://loyolaramblers.com/documents/20 ... 2_9_22.pdfBradley game notes: https://bradleybraves.com/news/2022/2/8 ... esday.aspxTV/Streaming video: CBS Sports Net
https://www.cbssports.com/cbs-sports-network/Radio/Streaming audio: https://loyolaramblers.com/watch/?Live=105&type=LiveLive stats: https://bradleybraves.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summaryVegas odds: Loyola by 4