Saturday, February 28, 2015 3:00 p.m.
Gentile Arena, Chicago

The Ramblers wrap up the 2014-15 regular season already having secured the 6 seed, against a team that has already locked up the 8 seed. But for Loyola, a win to finish the conference season at 8-10 would go a long way toward making a case for their first postseason bid since 1985. Failing three wins at Arch Madness, a possible bid to the CIT would be another step toward re-establishing a lasting winning mentality.

Loyola got its first win after the midseason injury to Milton Doyle at Missouri State on Feb. 4. Freshman Ben Richardson took control down the stretch, scoring seven of the Ramblers’ final nine points in a 53-50 gut check win without Doyle or Christian Thomas. The LU victory ended a five game losing streak, and Loyola has now won four of its last seven. Meanwhile, the Bears have suffered through injuries and illness that limited their roster to seven available players for a few games. MSU is back to nine players available, but they’re coming off a grueling 80-77 triple overtime win over Bradley in their last outing. Four MSU players put in 39 minutes or more on Wednesday, topped by forward Chris Kendrix, who played all 55 minutes.

Missouri State has struggled on the road all season, and particularly so as they were caught by injury and illness over the past month. The Bears are 3-12 away from home on the season, with their last road victory coming on the first day of the conference season (Dec. 31)-- before the departure of leading scorer Marcus Marshall. MSU has lost their last three road games (at Wichita State, Evansville, and Drake) by an average of 28.3 points per game.

Since Marshall left the team after their fourth conference game, MSU is 3-10, with their three wins all at home, and by six points or fewer. Where Marshall’s absence has really shown is in three point shooting--- the Bears have shot 30% or better from behind the arc in only four of their 13 games since, and 20% or below in six games—all losses. Meanwhile, MSU has allowed opponents to shoot 40% or better in eight of the 13 games without Marshall, and are 1-7 in those games.

Since joining the MVC, Loyola has had particular matchup problems with forward Gavin Thurman, who has come off the bench to average nine points a game against Loyola. Speedy Dorrian Williams also causes problems for Loyola with getting to defensive rebounds, finding the open man down low, and some quick opportunistic scoring. Though not explosive offensively without Marcus Marshall, the Bears have the ability to play good defense, so making the most of every possession and taking care of the ball are keys to a Loyola win.

The Ramblers may finally be near to seeing Milton Doyle return from injury, and getting some minutes before the conference tournament would help re-integrate him into the lineup. The Illinois State at Evanville and Indiana State at Bradley games start Saturday at 1 p.m., so Loyola should know their quarterfinal opponent at just about tip-off of Saturday’s game. If both Bradley and Illinois State win, Loyola will face Illinois State as the 3 seed next Friday, otherwise the Ramblers play Indiana State.

Loyola game notes: http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/loy ... 227aaa.pdf

Missouri State game notes: http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/loy ... a_mosu.pdf

TV/Streaming video: http://espn.go.com/watchespn/index/_/id ... -vs-Loyola

Vegas odds: Loyola by 7.5

UPDATE: According to oddsmakers, Illinois State is a slight favorite at Evansville, and the Indiana State/Bradley game opened as a pick 'em (now ISUb a 1-point favorite), so the possibility that Illinois State moves into the 3 seed is not at all remote. I'll let others debate whether ISUb or ISUr is a better matchup for us at a neutral site with Doyle possibly available for the first time against either team.

I know it's in Peoria but I've got Bradley -1 right now. Surprising given that the trees have a 3 seed to play for and Bradley is in last on a losing streak. Looks like quite the sucker bet so I'll say Bradley wins.

Personally, I'd be more worried about the Trees simply due to coaching. The Birds probably have more overall individual talent, but the Trees are solid and Lansing is arguably the 3rd best coach in the conference in my opinion.

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The Roundhouse

Plus, the Trees hammered us twice.

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MBB Scholarship Chart

Here's a possible side benefit of facing ILSt:

If Wichita is the #2 seed, they will play right before us. It seems like they are least fond of Illinois State, so there could be 5,000 Shocker fans cheering us on

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MBB Scholarship Chart

Any word on Doyle? Will they test him out for a few minutes this afternoon to see if he has the legs to possibly play in the tournament ?

Indiana State wins the #3 seed by beating Bradley 60-52.

I'm glad London started today good move by Porter. Things are looking pretty good so far. Ball movement could be a little cleaner.

Doyle is dressed. With six days until the next game after this, it would be good if he could get a few minutes. Would also like to see Turk get back on track with the three point stroke.