Sunday, December 27, 2020 3:00 p.m.
Gentile Arena, Chicago, IL


Sunday and Monday's back-to-back games between the visiting Illinois State Redbirds and Loyola Ramblers pits the MVC's most experienced team against one of its youngest and least experienced. Coach Dan Muller starts three sophomore guards, a freshman forward, and a junior juco transfer at center. Loyola starts four seniors and a sophomore, and ranks 43rd in the nation according to KenPom.com's experience metrics.

Illinois State was predicted to finish 9th in the 2020-21 MVC Preseason Poll (no first place votes this time) following a 9th place finish last season. Last year's Redbirds finished 5-13 in conference and lost a number of players who were projected to have returned for this season. Senior forward Keith Fisher decided to opt out of this season due to Covid-19 and family issues. Would-be senior forward Matt Chastain announced the end of his college playing career following two knee surgeries and a broken hand since a season-ending knee injury playing with Loyola in the third game of his freshman year. Highly-touted forward Taylor Bruninga, who would have been a junior, also announced the end of his college career in the off season due to a chronic foot injury.

Nevertheless, Coach Muller has put together a promising group of young players who haven't yet gelled. The starting lineup seems to have settled on three sophomore guards, 6'3" Josiah Strong (14.0 ppg), 6'1" DJ Horne (13.5 ppg), and 6'4" Simeon product Antonio Reeves (13.3 ppg). At forward is 6'7" freshman Harouna Sissoko, and the center is 6'10" Niles Notre Dame product Dusan Mahorcic. Strong is a promising newcomer who leads the team in points, assists and three-point shooting percentage (45.2%); the Minneapolis-area product sat out last season as a transfer from Navy. Sissoko has been adjusting to college ball nicely, settling down with his shot selection and pacing while averaging 7.0 points and 4.7 rebounds. Mahorcic, who started his career at Lewis and played last year at a junior college, missed the first three games of the season but was elevated to the starting lineup for the past two games. He's averaged 13.3 points and 8.7 rebounds over those three games, and shot 78% from the field.

The top bench players are 6'4" junior guard Dedric Boyd (9.0 ppg), 6'9" sophomore forward Abdou Ndiaye, 6'6" freshman guard Emon Washington, 6'8" junior forward Sy Chatman (a transfer from UMass), and 6'5" freshman guard Howard Fleming.

The ISU stats are somewhat misleading, because the Redbirds won a wild 177-108 game against Greenville on Dec. 2. Ten Redbirds scored in double figures in that game, and every starter shot better than 75% from the field. The other ISU wins came against UMass-Lowell (82-72) on a neutral court and Chicago State (91-62) at home. Their losses all came in road games-- against Ohio State (94-67), Murray State (76-65) and Ball State (82-66). The Redbirds have not played since Dec. 15.

Loyola is coming off a 92-55 win on Tuesday over St. Francis (IL) in which Cameron Krutwig, Cooper Kaifes, and Keith Clemmons did not play. Six-ten freshman center Jacob Hutson and 6'7" forward Damezi Anderson (5 points, 2 assists, 1 block) made their Rambler debuts. Tom Welch and Baylor Hebb led Loyola in scoring with 17 points apiece. At least eight different players have scored in every Rambler game this season.

The MVC plays back-to-back games against each team with a random home-road mix this season to reduce travel. Sunday and Monday's games against the Redbirds will be Loyola's first test of this schedule format, which likely helps more experienced and deeper teams. Other MVC matchups this week include Drake at Indiana State, Missouri State at Northern Iowa, and Evansville at Southern Illinois. The Bradley at Valparaiso games were cancelled and postponed due to positive Covid test results among Valpo players and/or staff.


Loyola game notes: https://loyolaramblers.com/documents/20 ... 27_20_.pdf

Illinois State game notes: Pending

TV/Streaming video: ESPN+ https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=23 ... f915d326a0

Internet audio feed: https://loyolaramblers.com/watch/?Live=43&type=Live

Live stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=324582

Vegas odds: Loyola by 16

If we hold them under 177 we should win.

Pregame Pick-to-Click: Krutwig

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MBB Scholarship Chart

Thanks again JCT! Always nice to review this before the game.
I was sad to see that Matt Chastain had to quit basketball because of injuries. His parents were also first class people.
Bruzinga had to cut short his career. He was highly recruited by Porter.

This joke NEVER gets old!

ESPN+ blacked out game in Chicago.

Is there a workaround?

I don't believe it's blacked out, It looks like the game hasn't started yet for some reason.

Edit: disregard, I'm going to use a VPN to change my IP address

Why am I subscribed to this garbage service if I can't even watch the game?

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Cigarboy sucks!

Its on NBC Sports Chicago Plus. I didnt see that in the pregame notes. (ISU linked to the notes from their last game).

Team looks OK, defense is strong.

Audio of ESPN+ is awful