Tuesday, November 12, 2019 7:00 p.m.
Gentile Arena, Chicago, IL
The Ramblers return to the friendly confines of Gentile Arena Tuesday night to begin a three-game homestand against Coppin State, St. Joseph's, and IUPUI. The Coppin State Eagles come to frigid Chicago with shooting hands as cold as the early chill. The Eagles as a team are shooting 29% on the year from the field, and only 20.5% from distance.
An 87-63 thumping at the hand of Furman showed a lot of holes in the Ramblers approach and readiness for the season. Loyola's 22 turnovers were the most they've had in a game since committing 23 turnovers against Bradley on Feb. 22, 2014. The Paladins shot 55.4% from the field against the Ramblers; only four teams shot that well against the Ramblers all last season and only one in 2017-18, all of them losses.
The Eagles began the season with a close, competitive game against Rider at home, and lost badly at Virginia Tech on Friday. Picked to finish 7th in the 11-team Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, the Eagles landed one player, 6'2" junior guard Dejuan Clayton, on the MEAC Preseason First Team.
CSU will start Clayton, 6'7" guard/forward Andrew Robinson, 6'4" guard Kamar McKnight, 6'6" guard/forward Koby Thomas, and 7'1" sophomore center Brendan Medley-Bacon. McKnight (15.0), Robinson (12.0) and Clayton (10.5) average double figures in points; Robinson (8.0), Medley-Bacon (6.0), and Thomas (5.5) lead in rebounds.
Despite their size, CSU doesn't rebound very well (they've been out-rebounded 100-83 in their two games thus far), and their field goal shooting percentage woes have already been noted. But what the Eagles do very well is force turnovers. Coppin State averages 19.5 opponent turnovers so far on the season, forcing 24 turnovers against Rider and 15 against Virginia Tech. CSU is averaging 9.5 steals per game, and their turnovers have afforded them 22 more shots from the field than their opponents.
If the Ramblers are going to work out the bugs on taking care of the ball, facing Coppin State at home is a good way to do it. The quick-handed Eagles will be on the lookout for attention lapses, and the Ramblers need to tighten up the ball-handling. Even if Loyola plays as badly in terms of holding onto the ball as they did at Furman, they're still very likely to get the win comfortably, and some newcomers are likely to get some double-digit minutes against a team that trades on steals and turnovers.
Loyola game notes: https://loyolaramblers.com/documents/20 ... _12_19.pdf Coppin State game notes: Pending
TV/Streaming video: ESPN+
https://www.espn.com/watch?id=a0595f65- ... yola-US-ENInternet audio feed: https://loyolaramblers.com/watch/?Live=4&type=LiveLive stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=279999Vegas odds: Loyola by 23