Loyola Ramblers Preview – https://loyolaramblers.com/news/2026/1/ ... dcats.aspx

Davidson Stats and Intel - https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/sc ... /2026.html

Record: 9-5 (1-1, 6th in A-10 MBB)
Coach: Matt McKillop
PS/G: 73.8 (263rd of 365)
PA/G: 69.6 (95th of 365)
SRS: 3.75 (123rd of 365)
SOS: 1.83 (119th of 365)
ORtg: 110.6 (173rd of 365)
DRtg: 104.3 (188th of 365)
Preseason Odds: Championship +100000


Davidson Wildcats 9-5 (1-1) at Loyola Chicago 5-10 (1-1) – 8:00pm CST, Gentile Arena, Chicago IL

2-game home stand ends tonight when Loyola Chicago hosts Davidson.

Matched up against Dayton on Saturday, the Ramblers were ahead by a score of 39-31 going into the second half. Loyola was outscored 39-29 the rest of the way however, resulting in a 70-68 loss in the end – blowing a 15-point first half lead, and later an 11-point lead with 7 minutes to go. Go figure. Justin Moore put up 19 points with five assists and Kayde Dotson had 16 points with four rebounds. Miles Rubin added 10 points with 11 rebounds for a double-double in the losing effort.

"There are a lot of positives to come from today, but our late game execution has got to be better," said head coach Drew Valentine. "Even though we've gone 2-2 over the last four games, the team has looked and felt different. The defense has improved, our guys are making plays, and there's a sense of urgency. We look more like the team we thought we'd see at the beginning of the season."

The Wildcats are 9-5 overall and 1-1 in conference play as they head into the week's opener. After dropping the A-10 opener to Duquesne, Davidson rallied to beat Saint Joseph's over the weekend. The Wildcats can be a threat from three, shooting 36.7 percent from the arc, which ranks 62nd in the NCAA. Davidson's bench also comes in clutch, averaging 37.0 points per game, which is 12th best in the country.

The Wildcats opened their year on a five-game win streak, then hit a 3-2 stretch featuring a pair of losses to Utah State and Saint Mary’s in late November/early December. Since then it’s been a trio of losses to Temple, Kansas and Duquesne in succession ahead of a comeback 62-56 win at home over Saint Joseph’s on Saturday.

This year’s Davidson squad returned only 24.7% of minutes played and 16.0% of scoring return from the 2024-25 roster. Last year’s leading scorers each graduated or transferred out, seeking greater opportunities. Leading scorer Reed Bailey went to Indiana. Bobby Durkin went to Minnesota. And Connor Kochera graduated.

This year, Latvian guard, Roberts Blums, is the lone Wildcat scoring double-figures at 10.5 points per game on 46.6 percent from the field and 38.2 percent from three-point range. He is Davidson’s sixth man, and considering his scoring abilities it comes as a surprise he does NOT play starters minutes. He has scored at least 10 in eight games this season, including the last four games.

The rest of the roster features several players and key contributors each receiving a minimum of 15 to 20 minutes per game and who contribute at least 6 to nearly 10 ppg apiece – Too many to list in short time, but Matt McKillop plays a lot of guys nightly and substitutes at a very high rate. Davidson hits a lot of threes and they have 3 guys making at least 40% of them.

Coming into tonight, Davidson has lost 5 of their last 6-night games against A10 opponents and have lost 3 of their last 4. In this time, A10 defenses have held them to below 64 points. This should be tonight’s formula and team goal for the Ramblers if they aspire to improve to 2-1 in conference play.

Davidson Probable Starters – 6-3 G Sam Brown, 6-6 G Devin Brown, 6-3 G Parker Friedrichsen, 7-0 C Ian Platteeuw, 6-4 F Josh Scovens.

Loyola Probable Starters - Rubin, Houinsou, Dotson, Moore, Amos


LAST 10 GAMES FOR BOTH SQUADS

Wildcats - 5-5, averaging 69.8 points, 30.6 rebounds, 12.1 assists, 6.8 steals and 2.9 blocks per game while shooting 43.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 70.0 points.

Ramblers - 4-6, averaging 67.2 points, 32.1 rebounds, 12.5 assists, 2.9 steals and 3.7 blocks per game while shooting 43.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 72.5 points per game.


Watch / Listen – Wednesday night’s game will broadcast on CBS Sports Network with Jordan Kent and Ice Young on the call, and can be listened to Rambler Sports Network with our friends Sudikoff and CT.

Postgame Show - Tune in to Sudikoff on RSN, followed by TalkinBlers Spaces on the X: https://x.com/blerstalking?s=21


Odds: Loyola -1.5

This sucks.

_________________
MBB Scholarship Chart

Just when the team seemed to have turned a bit of a corner and playing decent basketball....J-Mo hurt, Amos hurt, Love hurt. Then Dotson gets hurt. Sucks, man.

Thought the team that was out there at least played tough today. Fought back in the first half. Just didn't have the gas tank or bodies to fight back in the 2nd half. Davidson was not a very impressive team, other than their one player catching fire.

Caleb Reese plays hard. Glad he is able to get some run. Thought Nic Anderson looked good at times. He could be a good piece going forward. Richardson had probably his best game as a Rambler. Am surprised he only played 12 minutes, given the circumstances.

Will try not to be too negative on some guys as I appreciate everyone's efforts in such a shorthanded effort, but man, there's a few scholarship players who just aren't winning players and will hopefully be one-and-done's here.

Next game @GW will be ugly if we have to run the same bodies out there (and even worse if no Dotson).

So Harris and Glazkov got no minutes?...is Harris still on the team? hurt? Who all is injured and to what extent...You could make the case that Moore starting to play well had spurred us...is his injury long term? If injuries are more than minor than this just becomes a lost year and focus should change to development.
and good on Caleb...I know as a walk on there are not tons of expectations...He is a relic of the past, someone who must be attending LU for the education and bball supplements his educational experience...He could have started a ton at a lower level schools.....But I think he is also an example of what 4 years in a program can do...he was prepared for his moment, one turnover in 23 minutes.
This brings me to another point,,,,there seems to be little to no chance of even a top half conference finish..so the hold our breath moment may be here...is the great resurgence of LU basketball slipped through our fingers? My answer would say it depends on us. To me the winning has been great but the game atmosphere with fans and students in attendance has been the real plus...it is tougher to do when you are loosing...small crowd last night...students apparently not back yet?

Any info on the injuries? And also curious about the status of Harris and Glazkov, not that they were giving us much (man alive, the two international "four-stars" complete bustaroonies).

Glazkov is hurt. It's a finger injury and last I recall he was going to see a specialist about it.

It seems Harris isn't with the team. I remember Drew saying he's dealing with something and looking at other options but the team and coaching staff is supporting him. I doubt he returns this year.

Chuck Love is out for hopefully just a couple weeks with a knee injury.

Moore went through shootaround yesterday, but wasn't good enough to play. Drew said he's trending towards playing soon and they don't think it'll be long-term. Unsure regarding Saturday.

Amos also went through shootaround. Got hurt right before the game. The entire gameplan was made with him playing and the coaching staff had to scramble a little when he got hurt right before game. No idea on the severity because it happened so close to gametime.

Cade obviously hurt his calf or achilles. They don't know how bad it was. Probably shouldn't have gone back in. Don't think he hurt it worse for going back, but obviously it was still bothering him. Positive sign might be that the trainer was okay with him playing on it, but that's 100% speculation by me.

Richardson also rolled his ankle at the end of the game.

Kymany is just dealing with what he has all year and will probably be listed as questionable every game.

After all that, the players who should 100% be available Saturday are Miles, JOJ, Deywilk, Nic Anderson, Reese, Brayden Young, Royster, and Yurasek. Outside those, it comes down to who isn't hurt that bad and can play.

It's been a rough year with injuries. I think if Amos was healthy to start the year, this season looks a lot better. Chuck going down is disappointing because he was getting good experience and showed a lot of potential. Then when things start to click we lose everyone. Moore was taking over the end of games. Cade was turning the corner so hopefully he isn't banged up too bad.

On the positive side, Nic Anderson looked better yesterday. If he gets some good minutes as a result, he could become a nice piece for next year.

Was at the Joe last night and although the end score was a throw away, these 4 stood out to me as busting tail.

Ola J
Reese
Richardson
Houinsou

I could probably add another but for sure I saw these 4 with good effort.
Even if the students were back I don't think last night was going to be a win.