Saturday, February 26, 2022 5:00 p.m.
McLeod Center, Cedar Falls, Iowa
As if their final regular season game as members of the Missouri Valley Conference wasn't enough to motivate the Ramblers, Saturday's game at Northern Iowa's McLeod Center will determine the MVC Regular Season Championship.
Both the Ramblers and the Panthers stand at 13-4 in conference play entering the game. A win by UNI would give the Panthers the regular season title and the top seed at Arch Madness; a UNI loss would give the Panthers the #2 seed. Loyola would win the league and the top seed for the fourth year in the last five with a win. But-- a Loyola loss (and Drake and Missouri State wins) would drop the Ramblers to the 4 seed due to tiebreakers and would be their lowest Arch Madness seeding since 2017.
Loyola beat UNI 85-58 in Chicago on Feb.13, with 11 Ramblers adding numbers on the scoreboard. Lucas Williamson led LU with 18, Aher Uguak added 17, and Chris Knight had 12 points to go with a game-high nine rebounds. AJ Green had a game-high 20 points for UNI on 7-for-13 shooting; Trae Berhow was the only other Panther in double figures with 10.
AJ Green is a fantastic player-- the Larry Bird Player of the Year in 2019-20 as a sophomore-- who missed most of 20-21 with a hip injury. Yes, he's back and playing great for the Panthers again, leading the team in ppg (18.6), assists (57), made free throws (112), free throw percentage (91.1%), and made threes (78). The most interesting wrinkle for UNI this year is the addition of Noah Carter to the starting five, and going with four guards. Carter started the first game of the season and didn't play well, and was relegated to sixth man. He was restored to the starting five in the third conference game, and sfor the season he's averaged 14.4 ppg, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.6 assists.
Six-foot-four senior guard Tywhon Pickford, 6'5" guard Trae Berhow, and 6'4" freshman Nate Heise round out the starting lineup. Pickford starts and contributes 4.9 points and 3.6 rebounds per game, but 5'11" freshman Bowen Born gets more minutes and makes more of an offensive contribution. Born averages 7.1 points and 1.9 assists, and is fantastic from the free throw line (90.9%). Berhow averages 10.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, and shoots threes at a 37.7% clip. Nate Heise is the most fascinating of the guards as he is second on the team in rebounding (4.9 per game) and adds 9.1 points, a good outside stroke (36.5% on threes), and shot-blocking ability (tied for second on the team with 10). At 6'4", Heise's small forward/power forward skill set creates a lot of mismatches.
Super senior Austin Phyfe's playing time has been reduced to about 13 minutes per game as a result of lingering Covid symptoms, but he continues to contribute (5.6 points, 2.2 rebounds per game). Six-foot sophomore guard Antwan Kimmons (who's given Loyola fits in the past), 6'9" redshirt freshman forward Cole Henry, and 6'6" freshman forward Tytan Anderson also get considerable playing time.
UNI played much of the game on Feb. 13 with a four guard lineup, using 6'6" Noah Carter as the lone forward. The Ramblers dominated play in the paint, as 6'9" center Austin Phyfe was only able to play 9 minutes. Phyfe was very effective in his time on the court, though, with 8 points on 4-of-5 shooting and a rebound. Tate Hall only scored six points, but his defense (particularly inside the arc) resulted in the top Plus/Minus score (26) of the game, followed by Uguak (24) and Williamson (21).
Expect to see some significant adjustments to the UNI lineup and strategy, because Loyola's win was one of its most thorough, convincing conference wins of the season. Loyola probably won't shoot anywere near 63.6% from the field, and the McLeod Center is a pretty difficult place to play: their only conference loss at home this year was an OT loss to Drake.
The Ramblers lead the all-time series 14-11, but eight of the last 13 games between the two have gone to OT or have been decided by six points or fewer.
Big game. Huge game. Can anybody remember a bigger game? This is a big one.
Loyola game notes: https://loyolaramblers.com/documents/20 ... _26_22.pdf
UNI game notes: https://unipanthers.com/documents/2022/ ... Loyola.pdf
TV/Streaming video: ESPNU https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=6e ... 4e06fec975
Radio/Streaming audio: https://loyolaramblers.com/watch/?Live=110&type=Live
Live stats: https://unipanthers.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Vegas odds: Loyola by 2.5
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