Wednesday, November 21, 2018 6:30 p.m.
Suncoast Credit Union Arena, Fort Myers, Fla.

Loyola faces fellow Jesuit school Boston College for the first time ever on Wednesday in the Championship game of the Ft. Myers Tip-Off. Boston College is 3-1 on the season, with their only setback a home loss to IUPUI. The Eagles defeated UW-Milwaukee to start the season, topped St. Francis (NY) in their second game, and handily beat Wyoming on Monday night in Ft. Myers, 88-76. BC was a Just-Outside-The-Bubble team last year, winning 19 games over all and going 7-11 in the ACC. They finished with an RPI of 82 and a first-round loss to Western Kentucky in the NIT.

The Ramblers had a great game against Richmond on Monday, building a 24-point lead after trailing by three at the half. The bench and the newcomers handled the closing minutes, and it was the third straight game with four Ramblers scoring in double figures.

Boston College is led by Ky Bowman, a 6’1” junior guard who’s a scoring machine. Following the departure of star player Jerome Robinson for the NBA, Bowman is going to be the focal point of the offense. In the early going, Bowman is averaging 24.3 points per game, snagging 7.3 rebounds, and dishing 3.0 assists per game. He scored 38 points against Wyoming on Monday, playing all 40 minutes and shooting 14-of-22 from the field. Seven of his buckets came from behind the arc.

Bowman is about the closest opposing player to a one-man team I’ve ever seen. He is not only tops in almost every category, he’s got just over a third of all the team’s field goals and almost half their three-pointers. He shoots 60% on two-pointers, 41% on three-pointers, and 91% on free throws.

Joining Bowman in the starting lineup is 6’8” sophomore forward Steffon Mitchell, 6’5” senior Jordan Chatman at guard, 6’10” junior center/forward Johncarlos Reyes, and 6’3” sophomore guard Avery Wilson. Freshman guard Wynston Tabbs and 6’11” junior forward Nik Popovik were dropped from the starting lineup in favor of Reyes and Wilson last time out after they struggled with shooting percentage, but still play starters’ minutes. Mitchell, averaging 8.3 points and leading the team with 9.8 rebounds, would be an all-league star in almost any league besides the ACC.

Three-star freshman forward Jarius Hamilton, freshman guard Chris Herren Jr., and sophomore forward Vin Baker, Jr. also get some playing time.

Former Loyola assistant coach Scott Spinelli is now an assistant with BC.

Loyola Game Notes: https://loyolaramblers.com/documents/20 ... df?id=7226

Boston College Game Notes: https://bceagles.com/documents/2018/11/ ... f?id=18240

TV/Streaming Video: FS1 https://www.foxsportsgo.com/program/483 ... basketball

Live Stats: http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/central.php?tid=818

Vegas Odds: Loyola by 4.5

BC sounds like a tough matchup. Mitchell is from Sunrise Christian so he must have been teammate with Bujdoso two years ago.

Teams that are built like BC scare me, were a better team but if Bowman just explodes for a very high percentage shooting game we could be in for a long night. I do have some faith that Williamson can play stupendous defense on him & throw the entire BC machine out of whack. Im going to predict a Ramblers 72-65 win.

Side note, really excited to play one of the big time Jesuit schools. Boy what a dream it would be to see BC, Georgetown, Xavier regularly.

I'm somewhat familiar with a lot of Loyola basketball history, but it's still shocking to me that we have never played BC.

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As a graduate of both universities my loyalties are divided in terms of which team to root for this evening. That said, after watching both games on Monday evening, I think Loyola is more of a complete team in terms of the number of players who can step up and help win a game. BC is good, but my instinct is that the Ramblers have more weapons at their disposal.

Back in the day, we used to play HOLY CROSS==They were in the neighborhood --close to Boston !! BC was NOT good in thod=se days we and HC were !!

Ththat might be a reason why we did not meet --Then we got bad and they got good--HC kind of slowly sank to where they are today !! Just a thought !!

Not the start I was hoping for... but we are a 2nd half team. With their main scorer on the bench, we need to be putting a lead together

Need to get a lead while Bowman is out with fouls.....

Not good. What is Uguak now on threes? One for 13?

We did not get a lead with Bowman out