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

Sold out arena. Saturday evening. Senior day. Conference ship on the line against a school leaving the conference. They are going to come out fired up and pushing hard. Need to weather that initial storm and not get flustered. We match up well with them. Keep the composure, run the offense and limit turnovers...we win the game and the conference.

Keys to game are simple.

1. NIU is not a good defensive team. If we don't turn the ball over and we play with pace, movement and passing, we will get any shot we want. We need to keep playing offense even if a couple of shots don't go in early.

2. Defense is important. We were a little sloppy early in Chicago and then cleaned it up. This is different in that NIU is at home and will have a big crowd behind them. We can't give up open 3s or get beat backdoor. We can't let them get easy shots and get rolling.

3. It's time to show that Championship DNA. Play like the 800 lb guerrilla in the room and push them around.

Go Blers!

This right here is a game of “Lasts”

Last regular season game in the Valley. You’re stepping up to the A10, telling the whole league that you’re better than them. Show them why and win the conference tonight.

Last game on the road. Everything after this is mutual site. Every away game we see the video where the team calls themselves “ROAD DAWGS.” Sold out game tomorrow with everything on the line. Silence the crowd and make them regret wasting their money on tickets. Show what kind of dawgs you are.

Last chance to make a statement before the playoffs. Winning big against Evansville shot our metrics up, imagine what would happen if we did the same at UNI. But not just for metrics, I want every team to be scared of seeing Loyola on their side of the bracket. Make a statement tonight and win big.

And finally, last ride for the seniors. These guys gave Loyola the reputation they have: Winners when it matters. Guess what? This one matters. Did you come back to Loyola for a 4th place Valley finish? For an NIT bid? No. Time for them to take over and push this team to the tourney.

Regular season games are fun, but the “playoffs” start today. The quote all year has been “everything is still in front of us.” Now is the time to go take it.

Hope UNI doesn’t replicate that Drake start. They similarly can go 5 out with Carter and Knight gets exposed. Hopefully if that starts again we slide Aher down to the “5” against Carter and bring Keith off the bench quickly. Or if Marquise is good to go, that completely changes us especially defensively

Can’t wait! Let’s own the league one last season

Huge game today! Let’s see a strong defensive effort, lots of movement and cutting to the hoop, limiting turnovers; do all those and even if the 3 pt shooting isn’t blistering like the last UNI game, we have a great chance to win. Hopefully we see healthy doses of Marquise and Tom as well. Go Ramblers, end the Valley time with another championship.

Important to stay out of foul trouble, too.

Going to be awkward when UNI is having their senior night while we're cutting down their nets!

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MBB Scholarship Chart

Any word on Marquise today?

Not available today

Is that the "last" word?