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

George Mason Stats and Intel - https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/george-mason/men/2026.html

Record: 16-1 (4-0, 1st in A-10 MBB)
Coach: Tony Skinn
PS/G: 78.6 (146th of 365)
PA/G: 66.8 (37th of 365)
SRS: 8.57 (94th of 365)
SOS: -2.56 (258th of 365)
ORtg: 117.9 (54th of 365)
DRtg: 100.1 (84th of 365)
Preseason Odds: Championship +50000


George Mason Patriots 16-1 (4-0) at Loyola Chicago 5-12 (1-3) – 6:00pm CST, Gentile Arena, Chicago, IL

A-10 leaders, George Mason comes to Chicago on a 7-game winning streak where they look to prey on an injury-riddled and shorthanded Loyola Chicago squad.

The Ramblers hit this week on a current 3-game losing streak and are trending downward once again. On Saturday, they couldn’t overcome a 25-2 score to start the game against the surprise prolific offensive juggernaut, George Washington. GW was on fire, hitting 9-19 threes in the first half with several fast breaks and dunks with the Rambler defense giving up a 60 burger in the first half (that’s an entire game score for most D1 teams on any night). The second half wasn’t much better despite a Rambler run to open and get the difference to within 13. The final score was 101-66. Not much you could do but thank Josh Ola-Joseph and Nic Anderson for their efforts and participation.

No quotes postgame from Drew Valentine.

George Mason is near-perfect on the year, with their only loss coming on December 6th at home to Virginia Tech (73-62). Only their weak’ish non-conference schedule is omitting them from ranking considerations despite several blowout wins over the low-quality opponents. George Mason has the third best scoring defense in the league as the Patriots hold their opponents to 66.8 points per game. They also hold opponents to just 40.7 percent from the field for the second-best field goal percentage defense in the A-10.

This year’s Mason squad is just as impressive as last year’s, if not better. Much of that roster graduated and only 14.6% of minutes played and 13.9% of scoring return from 2024-25 roster. Tony Skinn has recruited and restocked his lineup remarkably well and efficiently with focus on defensive length, defensive intensity, rebounding, and guys who can just play smart and buy in to Skinn's directions.

Mason is scoring 78.7 ppg on 48.8 percent shooting and allowing 66.8 points on 40.7 percent shooting. Mason’s offense is interesting. They are almost dead-last in D1 field goal attempts per game (53) but shoot for quality over quantity. Kory Mincy is averaging 16.9 points and 3.6 rebounds, while Riley Allenspach is averaging 12.8 points and 5.8 rebounds. Mincy, their most realiable scorer and shot creator, has gone for 20 or more in 6 games this year. Jahari Long is the third double-digit scorer and Fatt Hill is grabbing 3.8 rebounds.

As Mason keeps racking up wins, they are looking more and more like the cream of the crop in the A10, and while a 9-7 ATS record isn’t fabulous, this squad is absolutely rolling at both ends of the floor. The Ramblers are a lost cause, struggle mightily offensively, and is 4-13 ATS on the season. The very bad November and December losses.... That directionless offense..... Now the injuries..... and none of the top-9 guys living up to expectations....... There’s just not much left to say. These teams are heading in different directions. George Mason will win this game big and comfortably.


Stats N Facts

• Loyola ranks 365th among Division 1 teams for opponent free throw percentage this season (79.4%).
• Loyola ranks 364th among Division 1 teams for steals per game this season (3.9).
• George Mason ranks 357th among Division 1 teams for field goal attempts per game this season (53.4).
• George Mason ranks 28th among Division 1 teams for opponent free throw attempts per game this season (15.9).


Mason Probable Starters – 6-1 G Kory Mincy, 6-11 C Riley Allenspach, 6-5 G Jahari Long, 6-6 G Masai Troutman, 6-6 F Malik Presley

Loyola Probable Starters - Rubin, Houinsou, JOJ, Moore, Tavarez


LAST 10 GAMES FOR BOTH SQUADS

Ramblers: 4-6, averaging 69.2 points, 32.0 rebounds, 13.6 assists, 3.9 steals and 3.5 blocks per game while shooting 43.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 75.7 points per game.

Patriots: 9-1, averaging 77.9 points, 32.0 rebounds, 13.7 assists, 4.9 steals and 2.9 blocks per game while shooting 49.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 70.2 points.



Watch / Listen – Tuesday evening’s game will broadcast on CBS Sports Network with Rich Waltz and Chris Walker 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: George Mason -7.5

Ramblers will be without Moore, Dotson, Amos, Love, Richardson, and whoever else gets hurt between now and game time.

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With the injuries of you told me we’d be up 6 at the half I wouldn’t have believed you. Happy for Caleb Reese to get a start even if under less than ideal circumstances

I’m proud of this team’s performance tonight. It’s been a tough season, we’re decimated with injuries, and we just got wrecked by George Washington. At least they’re not rolling over and Nic Anderson looks legit. The free throw misses lost us this game.

Here’s to hoping that the rest of our games will be competitive like this one and that we can retain some of the players after the season.

This is not a commentary on tonight’s game, because the guys who played gave good effort. But I fear this season is setting Loyola back farther than people realize. We are currently ranked 295th in KenPom, just behind Prairie View A&M. Every team deals with injuries, so that cannot be an excuse. This is a badly constructed roster and a poorly coached team.

It’s sad to watch the momentum from the success of the last decade get completely destroyed in real time. We just played a home game versus a 16-1 team and Gentile was well over half empty.

Yeah, there was obviously at least one huge miss on the recruiting side, and we were just not ready at all for the start of the season, which falls on Drew.

The crowd last night was actually a lot better than I expected. That was the only difference from watching Porter's guys fight to the bitter end against Detroit in 2012.

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The score and level of play far exceeded my expectations. God Bless Caleb Reese, Brayden Young, and Nic Anderson for their high level. Anderson is going to be very good. I chatted with 3 gameday friends during and after and each of us saw similarities to Lucas Williamson.

Hey, what might have been another 20+ blowout loss coming into it turned out to be a great game. We had the win set for 33 minutes. Then the exact same thing like the Dayton game happened when we started playing not to lose. Just a killer. We just stopped making shots too with missed putbacks, open look threes that rattled out. No legs were left. What I liked best about the statline was only 21 attempted threes!!!!

Now, the first half is a perfect game tape example that Drew and the staff need to play repeatedly for future film sessions. THAT is what we do here offensively and defensively. No Moore and Dotson on the floor who need their touches, so we saw everyone on the floor (2 starters, 2 bench guys + former walkon) finally share the ball, move it, and find their offense within the flow of the game. There was no hero ball and individualistic play taking place. Defensively, we were creating chaos and forcing turnovers. Okay, do this every 40 minutes now. This should not be hard to instill.

Mason looked underwhelming, and isn't who should be considered a "quality" 17-1 team. I wish I studied them a little better before writing this up and thinking they were the conference's cream of the crop. Last year's Mason team and the way they wreaked havoc on the court would blow this roster out. BUT, at 17-1 they know how to win games. Credit to them.

Allenspach willed Mason to victory in the game's last 10 minutes. Sad, we got beat by a slow white guy LOL. I didn't think Mason looked very good but they have some interestingly good players on the roster.




Agree fully. Feels the magic has vanished. Poof, gone. 4 March Madness-less years will do that.

A 6pm start time at a horrible to get to venue at rush hour won't help matters regarding half empty arena.


Since now it's gotten clear that Drew is back for next year (hint: Sterling Knox signing + other rumblings), I would hope the next 2 months are used wisely to shape what the roster and pieces should be like for 2026-27.

First, entire coaching staff needs a revamp. Offense coach, Recruiting/Roster Evaluator, and XsOs guy. Badly needed.

Coach and staff need to follow a recruiting blueprint like many top D1 teams do to construct their rosters - get guys who fit the system and fit the synergy, style and personality of the roster (examples - Michigan, Houston, Iowa State, Utah State, San Diego State come to mind and do this flawlessly with and without NIL being any factors). Drew does not have one or follow one. This year's recruiting example is like they went shopping for expensive unreliable Range Rovers instead of reliable and unbreakable Toyotas that are driveable.

Then after that, right now we have some guys here who are coachable and have talent and really appear to want to be here. I think if we built a roster around Rubin, Anderson, Love III, Amos, and take only Dotson (or replace Dotson/Moore with a Norris like PG if one still exists out there) and then supplement these 4 core guys with the ideal role players, defensive specialists, hustle guys, and a hulking low-post scoring figure (Dame / CK best examples), we might have something worth being proud of again. The way Rubin has played this year his draft stock and NIL poaching interest has fallen to the wayside. Gotta think he now stays and graduates. So besides these 4 and 5 guys worth keeping, goodbye to everyone else. This can be a winnable roster again with systemic fixes and actually getting the prototypical Loyola guys again like we've been blessed to have in this community the past 10 years.

Rambler Ragas brings up some good points. I texted him at halftime that I did not know if we could sustain the energy that we expended in the first half. We definitely slowed down a bit in the second half as the ball movement, player movement, and slashes to the basket were not as crisp. Understandable when guys are playing way more minutes that they are used to.

The first half was a throw back to "Created by Culture" Loyola basketball when we would fly around on defense and scrap on every possession and constantly move and cut on offense. It was gorgeous to watch. Its the prime example that you can playing winning basketball without without having a roster of "Superstars" on floor as long as they hustle, stay connected, and share the ball. We did devolve a little bit in second half into hero ball mode and the fatigue was starting to show as the game went on. The tape of the first half should be focus of a film study showing the group that this is how you win. This is Loyola Basketball. I hope when the 5 hurt players come back they understand this and accept this and get into playing this type of basketball. Drew said he hopes by 1st week in February to have everyone back.

Some other observations:

1. Refs were not good. This is the second time we played a good team at the Joe (Dayton was the other), and the game had good flow for 30 minutes or so and Loyola was playing well and looking for an upset and then...the whistles starting to blow wrecking the flow. Both teams were physical last night, leaning on each other, some hacking, some pushing, and it was definitely a man's game in the paint and both teams were playing in the paint. Just seemed that GM was allowed to push and lean on us a bit more in the second half that Loyola was allowed to do to GM. Drew referenced it in his post game comments.

2. Two stats that were a killer last night and cost us the game. FT shooting was miserable. We were 10-18 for 56%. Just not good enough. GM was 20-26 for 77%. We lost by 8 points in a game that was really closer than that and some of those FTs were at the end for GM. However, if we shoot FTs better perhaps were are ahead and not Fouling late in the game. Who knows. The second stat was Offensive rebounds. GM got 13 offensive rebounds. Many led to second chance points and despite outshooting them 54% to 47% we could not pull away when we had a chance to due to our failure grab defensive rebounds.

3. Last night was I believe the first time we lost a game this year when we had less than 10 TOs (we had 9). Yes, with all the guys hurt that play a ton of minutes and missing two guys (Moore and Dotson) who are primary ball handlers, the guys who played last night took care of the basketball. GM was trying to press a lot early in the game trying to advantage of the make shift lineup, but we did not have any trouble beating it.

4. It was interesting because last night because sometimes when guys know they are gonna play and that there are no options on a bench to replace you, you get some mental relief. You go out and know if you make a mistake you will still be out there. It takes some mental pressure off and you get to just go out and turn it loose and play. Seemed like there was some of that going yesterday. As a Coach, I would like to see Drew try to foster that mentality a little more. Vindictive subbing immediately after someone makes a mistake is, in my humble opinion, a mistake. Prime example. Daniil did make a mistake on defense in the first half, but on the next trip down to the offensive end he made a spectacular tip-in while getting shoved to the ground. He completed the and 1 for a 3 pt play. I think there may have been either a time out after the FT or he was subbed out, and as Daniil was coming to the bench, Drew was screaming at him and pointing to the defensive end about the mistake. I just think that's the wrong approach. Danill has not been what we all had hoped he would be so far. I just thought Drew should have tried to pump him up a little. Tell him great job on the tip and then maybe in a softer tone remind him about his defensive responsibilities. Coaches sometime don't understand that after a while the constant yelling during a game eventually become white noise. Players will tune it out at some point.

5. Is this stretch of injuries Nic Anderson's Lucas Williamson moment and is he seizing the opportunity? When Lucas was a Freshman he was not getting a ton of minutes. He was being Custer and Richardson. Richardson broke his hand and Lucas was thrust into playing more. He performed great and gained some trust with the Porter. By the time we got to the NCAA tournament he was an integral part of that team that went to the final four and beyond. Anderson has stepped and is playing hard and well. He played 35 minutes, 17 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, made 2 3's, 3-3 from the line, 1 TO. He also had a highlight reel dunk in transition in the second half that was electric! I hope when everyone gets back, Drew continues to get him on the floor. He is going to be a core piece here and very good player.

6. Finally, Sudikoff (sorry if I misspelled it!) was trying to get Drew in trouble last night on post game by asking about big news on recruiting front (JK), but Drew didn't take the bait. It will be interesting to see what's potentially in the pipeline. We have 3 commits so far. I think we 3 or 4 left depending on who might leave.

So overall, great to see the team playing hard and caring about the game last night in the midst of a tough season.

Go "blers

I see this point a lot, and while it does make sense to a degree, these guys are practicing every day and there's no excuse for the type of defensive lapses we see over and over. I'm certain this stuff is emphasized daily.

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I am not excusing the lapses at all. The fact is that it's a brave new world. These kids were not brought up the same as 20 years ago or even 15 or 10 years ago. Some of these kids are the product of the COVID years when they would have been high school when they missed out on a lot of things including playing and interactions with other people, including coaches. They witnessed riots and free for alls where standard authority models were attacked and general respect levels in society as whole were crumbling to an extent. This type of stuff will affect a kid.

They are not necessarily going to respond to the old school way of coaching where coaches just got in your face and yelled and screamed at you. As a Coach, yes you have to be demanding, but with today's kids you have to be a psychologist as well as Coach and figure out how each kid is wired and how to go about pushing the right buttons to get the best out of them.

The best example ever of navigating the psychological aspects of coaching...Phil Jackson. Was he a great X and O guy, not sure. He certainly knew enough (and had a great staff), but what he was great at was managing and getting buy in from high ego, highly paid superstars. He did not treat guys with a one size fits all mentality. Phil Jackson sometimes does not get his due because of the talent he had, but he certainly got them to play together and be the best they could be as a team.