Tuesday, March 17, 2015 7:00 p.m.
Gentile Arena, Chicago

Loyola makes its first postseason tournament appearance of any kind since 1985 as host to the Rider Broncs in the 2015 College Basketball Invitational. Rider, a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, won 21 games against 11 losses thus far on the season, finishing second to Iona in the MAAC. The Broncs won both their home and away conference games against MAAC auto bid winner Manhattan, and swept St. Peter’s during the regular season—but playing without their injured leading scorer and rebounder were upset by the Peacocks in the quarterfinals of the MAAC tournament. Impressively, the Broncs were 11-4 on the season in true road games, including non-con road wins at Penn, Hartford, and Wagner. Their best quality win was against Lehigh, and their worst loss was against Niagra. After improving from 14-17 the previous season, Rider Coach Kevin Baggett was named MAAC Coach of the Year.

The Broncs were led by 7’0” senior center Matt Lopez, their leading scorer and rebounder, and a 1st team All-MAAC team member who previously played at LaSalle and Utah State. Lopez averaged 12.3 ppg and 7.7 boards before tearing his ACL late in the season. Since losing Lopez, the Broncs have switched to a three-guard, two forward lineup.

At point guard is 6’4” VCU transfer Teddy Okereafor, who made the all-conference second team while averaging 11.2 ppg, 4.7 rpg, and 4.0 apg. Okereafor doesn’t shoot great from the field (38%) or distance (32%), but leads the team in steals, getting to the line and making free throws. Joining Okereafor in the starting backcourt are 6’3” sophomore Jimmie Taylor and 6’2” senior Anthony D’Orazio, who operate in similar fashion to Loyola’s Devon Turk and Joe Crisman. Junior guard Zedric Sadler, the MAAC 6th Man of the Year, adds a lot of energy on offense and defense coming off the bench.

A pair of 6’7” sophomores, Xavier Lundy and Kahlil Thomas start in the frontcourt, and share time with 6’9” senior forward/center Junior Fortunat and 6’7” junior Shawn Valentine. Lundy will occasionally step out and take the three, and is a good finisher around the basket; he averages 5.4 ppg and 2.3 rpg, but has been more offensive-minded since Lopez went down. Thomas does more of the hard-nosed work in the paint, averaging 5.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and nearly one block per game. Fortunat is a good shot-blocker, and leads the team that department despite averaging less than 10 minutes per game. Valentine, like Lundy, is active and athletic and will shoot from all over the court—including behind the arc.

Quite frankly, the Broncs are not the same team since losing Lopez in their 27th game of the season. His height, scoring accuracy, and inside presence covered up for a lot of their deficiencies—like mediocre three point shooting and very bad free throw percentage (60% as a team). The Broncs have averaged only 60.5 points per game on offense since losing Lopez, after averaging 68.6 per game with Lopez as a starter. Rider usually likes to play at a faster tempo, but since losing Lopez they’ve had to take longer in the shot clock to find their shots. One thing Rider does very well without Lopez is defend the three-- they led the MAAC in three point defense, allowing only 30.5% of their opponent's threes to fall.

The Ramblers should be favored to win this game despite Loyola’s troubles at home (only 9-6 at Gentile Arena this season) and Rider’s excellent record on the road. Whereas Rider has had trouble overcoming the loss of Lopez—which may have cost them a chance at a run in their conference tournament—the Ramblers are back at full strength after playing a large chunk of their season without Milton Doyle. If Loyola can contain Rider’s Okereafor and dictate the tempo to their liking (especially given the 30 second shot clock that will be used in this tournament), the Ramblers have a great opportunity to advance in the CBI.

Loyola game notes: http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/loy ... 317aaa.pdf

Rider game notes: https://www.nmnathletics.com//pdf9/3297 ... M_ID=20200

CBI Bracket: http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/loy ... racket.pdf

TV/Streaming video: RamblerVision (http://www.loyolaramblers.com/collegesportslive/) *still no direct link, however*

Vegas odds: Loyola by 4.5

Thanks JCT for your hard work on the previews. It made the season so much more interesting. Ditto on this preview.

Game will be on Rambler Vision. No ESPN3.

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Are the students on break?

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Cigarboy sucks!

This is a pretty good recap on Rider. This year, Rider found ways to grind out wins. Conference games in the MAAC tend to be that way, as everyone knows each other well and the talent level in the league is pretty even.

For Rider to be successful it will be on the defensive end. (this is what they hang their hat on.) They have a lot of depth, and for the MAAC are fairly long. They are not a great rebounding team (without Lopez) and Taylor and Okerafor are very streaky shooters. However, since Lopez has gone down they have been more aggressive on the offensive boards.

I expect them to apply 3/4 court press most of the game, and try to get Taylor off early. Thomas got hurt in December (stress fracture in foot) and came back when Lopez went down is just beginning to get back into basketball shape, so he might play a bigger role tonight.

Good luck tonight.

No, they are back. Spring break was Arch Madness week.

riderfan - Welcome to the board, and thanks for the extra info!

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A press is going to be a big issue with a 30-second shot clock.

Exactly. That's why I would expect both teams to press, even if it's the type that backs off fairly quickly. Setting up the half court offense with only 15 seconds left on the clock will be challenging.

We're going to need Milt and Earl to get the ball into the paint. Hopefully they are both healthy.

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The preview has been updated with Loyola and Rider game notes. However, there is no link to RamblerVision, even for audio.

Also, the folks in Vegas may have forgotten about the 30 second shot clock. The over/under opened at 118, and has quickly worked its way up to 128.

Hate to see the 30 second clock. play the whole season at 35 then change...could be hard to adapt....
with press and 30 second clock I expect to see more Jeff White getting to the rim.