Friday, November 9, 2018 7:00 p.m.
Gentile Arena, Chicago, Ill.

After an impressive debut against UMKC, the Ramblers look to go 2-0 to start the season when the Furman Paladins come to the Gentile Arena for a Friday night game. Loyola is 1-1 all-time against Furman, with the loss coming in 2011 on the road, and the win coming the next year at Gentile Arena.

Bob Richey is in his second season as head coach at Furman. In his debut season he piloted the Paladins to a 23-10 season, but four key seniors have graduated. The 2018-19 version of the Paladins are off to a 1-0 start after a102-48 opening night home win in Greenville, SC over cross-town rival Bob Jones University. Furman was picked to finish fourth in the Southern Conference preseason poll.

Furman starts two forwards and three guards. Senior forward Matt Rafferty made the SoCon All-Conference Preseason team. The 6’8” forward from Hinsdale, Illinois scored 24 Tuesday night against Bob Jones, and averaged 11.2 points and 7.2 boards last season. Joining Rafferty in the starting frontcourt is 6’7” sophomore Clay Mounce, who scored 12 points against BJU and plays both inside and outside.

The Furman backcourt is led by 5’11” junior guard Jordan Lyons. Lyons is very quick and likes to use his speed to follow his shot and dart at defensive rebounding opportunities. Lyons put up 22 points Tuesday; 13 of his 15 shot attempts came from three-point territory, and he hit on seven triples. Six-five senior Andrew Brown and 5’11” sophomore Alex Hunter also man the starting backcourt.

The Paladins are a somewhat conventional team that plays well as a team and relies on limiting mistakes. Solid and not too flashy, the Paladins play relentless. While watching their game against Bob Jones, I asked myself, “Who do these guys remind me of?” and I thought of Drake. Then I remembered that last year’s Drake coach, Niko Medved, coached the Paladins two years ago, leading them to 23 wins and a tie for the conference championship.

Loyola showed a lot of versatility and promise from their newcomers and the same confidence the returning players had in the Final Four run. The Ramblers will be quite a bit more athletic than the Paladins, but Furman will be very motivated. Senior Matt Rafferty will be making a homecoming, and everyone will have Loyola as a prime target on their schedule. Loyola is one of two 2018 Final Four teams Furman plays this month—they visit Villanova Nov. 17.

Loyola game notes: https://loyolaramblers.com/documents/20 ... df?id=7196

Furman game notes: http://www.furmanpaladins.com/sports/m- ... 110918.pdf

TV/Streaming video: NBC Sports Chicago http://stream.nbcsports.com/rsn/nbcs-chicago

Live stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=234954

Vegas odds: Loyola by 9.5

Iread where cbssports has us as 9/12 point favorites I say we win 76- 61 at least

Furman has a pretty impressive non-conference schedule -- Loyola and Villanova on the road. Two Final Four teams on your schedule in one year is a pretty daunting task!

I'm definitely taking LU -10

According to the ticket page... looks like there around 600 tickets available. If the weather holds off (and with the new student policy) could this one sell out?

I peg Furman as one of our tougher non-con games (below Nevada, Maryland, Joe's and perhaps BC if we face them). I think they give us a good game tonight. They are picked 4th in the SoCon--but that is a really solid mid-major conference with UNCG-Wofford-ETSU predicted 1st through 3rd. I think Loyola -9.5 is an accurate spread.

We recruited Rafferty out of high school. I remember going to a game at Hinsdale Central to watch Rafferty and Lyons Township guard Harrison Niego.

Rafferty is tall but pretty slim. Will be a good time to see how Krutwig’s skimmed down frame handles him

Negron looks 100% during warmups

Student section plus some overflow has been packed for 45 minutes... where are all those season ticket holders??

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