Sunday, November 12, 2017 2:00 p.m.
Gentile Arena, Chicago, Ill.
Loyola defeated Wright State 84-80 on Friday with a little too much drama in the final two minutes. Wright State cut a 10-point deficit down to 2 with a couple of late threes and a full court press, while Loyola missed a few late free throws.
Meanwhile, down in Denton, Tex., the North Texas Mean Green hosted the Division III Eureka Red Devils and performed an exorcism, with the final score 122-65. Former Rambler recruit Roosevelt Smart led six Mean Green players in double figures in his first game on a Division I team by scoring 21 points on 8 of 10 shooting from the field. It was the third highest point total in North Texas men’s basketball history, and 32 points came as the result of 25 Red Devil turnovers.
A year ago, almost to the day, Loyola played Eureka and won 97-59. It was a similar drubbing to the one Eureka received Friday night at North Texas, and the one they will receive Sunday at Loyola. The only exception being the game a year ago proved to be the end of Matt Chastain’s career as a Rambler, as he injured his knee and transferred to Illinois State at the end of the season. Hopefully, the Loyola starters won’t play more than 20 minutes or so, and the players from the bench who need some minutes can get into the contest.
Eureka will start forwards Alex Wigand and Jordan Dehm, plus guards Shea Feehan, Hank Thomas, and Ryan McElmurry. All five played in last year’s game at Loyola, with Wigand, Feehan, and Thomas receiving starts. Feehan led Eureka in their game at North Texas, scoring 24 points on four threes, a two, and 10 free throws. Eureka’s two tallest starters are 6’5” and 6’4”; their shooting percentage inside the arc against North Texas was 34.5%, while their three-point shots went down by 40.9%. The Mean Green had six blocks.
Loyola played a better team than Eureka in exhibition, Division II Lewis University, and won 79-63. Barring a catastrophe of epic proportions, Loyola will win this game. Hopefully, no one will be injured. The result will not count in the RPI. According to the Eureka web site, this game is considered an exhibition on their schedule. Last year, the game against Eureka came on a Monday night and was the least-attended home game of the season, drawing only 1009 and dragging down the average yearly attendance. I know these games are memorable and meaningful for the non-Division I opponents, but my personal opinion is games against non-Division I opponents should be reserved for the exhibition season.
Loyola game notes:
http://loyolaramblers.com/documents/201 ... df?id=3714 Eureka game notes:
http://www.eurekareddevils.com/sports/m ... 111217.pdfTV/Streaming video:
http://www.espn.com/watch/_/id/3200131/ ... basketballVegas odds: None