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PostPosted: Fri Jan 13, 2023 11:06 am 
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Saturday, January 14, 2023 11:30 am
Hagan Arena, Philadelphia, Pa.


Still seeking their first A-10 win, the Loyola Ramblers face off Saturday in Philadelphia against the St. Joseph's Hawks, the only other team in the conference that's yet to get a league win this season. St. Joe's, under fourth-year Head Coach Billy Lange, was tabbed to finish 13th in the A-10 men's basketball preseason poll. Both teams are 6-10 overall, 0-4 in the A-10 on the season; Loyola is 218 in KenPom and the Hawks are 239.

Despite being a fellow Jesuit school, Loyola had never played St. Joe's until the two teams were matched up at the 2016 Paradise Jam. The Hawks won that game 71-56, behind 26 points from Lamarr Kimble. The Ramblers and Hawks have split two games since: a 45-42 Hawks win in 2018 at the Palestra (Kimble again, with a three at the buzzer), and an 85-68 Ramblers home win in 2019. This game will be the first time Loyola has played St. Joe's in Hagan Arena.

Loyola is coming off a 74-60 loss to VCU on Tues. night-- yet another flub-filled turnover fest (22 compared to VCU's 12), and only the 5th worst game this year for turnovers. The Ramblers have lost five games in a row for the first time since opening the 2016-17 MVC conference season 0-5. In case you're wondering, Loyola's last six-game losing streak happened from Feb. 12 to Mar. 6, 2014, the last six regular season games of Loyola's first year in the MVC.

As bad as things have been for the Ramblers, St. Joe's is panhandling in the same neighborhood. The Hawks lost to Fairleigh Dickinson at home by 17 points (the Ramblers beat FDU, but it took a miracle shot and OT), and a neutral site loss to a not-very-good South Florida team by 13. St. Joe's started their conference season on the wrong foot in part because they caught four of the best/better teams in the league coming out of non-con: SLU, Dayton, Fordham and Duquesne.

The Hawks will likely start two forwards and three guards. Leading scorer Erik Reynolds is a 6'2" shooting guard who averages 17.4 points and chips in 2.8 assists when he's playing backup point. The main ball handler is Lynn Greer, a 6'2" sophomore who averages 8.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 4.4 assists. Cameron Brown is 6'5" senior guard/forward who is coming off a 25-point performance against Duquesne last time out; he averages 14.3 ppg, a team-leading 6.3 rebounds, and 1.7 assists.

In the frontcourt are 6'8" sophomore Kacper Klaczek (8.8 points, 5.6 boards) and 6'9" freshman Rasheer Fleming (6.4 points, 4.6 rebounds). Fleming splits time at the forward/center spot with 6'10" senior Ejike Obinna, who averages 7.3 points and 4.2 rebounds. Besides Obinna, 6'2" freshman Christian Winborne (6.1 ppg), and 6'5" junior Louis Bleechmore (1.9 ppg) get most of the time off the bench.

Because both these teams are tied for last in the conference with identical won loss records both overall and in conference, there’s not a whole lot of distance between them in offensive and defensive efficiency. But a few contrasts stick out: first, St. Joseph’s gets to the line a lot—they’re in the top 100 in free throw attempts per game. Meanwhile, Loyola is letting their opponents shoot way too many free throws (opponents averaging 27 attempts per game the last four times out—that’s insane!).

Second, the Ramblers are excellent at converting two-point shots, among the best the country (11th in two-point percentage, 31st in overall effective field goal percentage). That statistic by itself is on par with the recent Loyola tournament teams. And St. Joe’s is pretty bad at field goal defense—262nd in effective field goal percentage defense, and 264th in two-point effective field goal percentage defense. The only problem with this number is Loyola turns the ball over about 24% of the time before they can get a shot off; so correct the turnovers, and pound the ball inside. Loyola also has a net positive comparison against SJU in three-point shooting vs. three-point defense—but again, it only matters if the turnovers are cut in half!

Third, the Ramblers are really going to have to win with defense from here on out. Loyola is 6-0 when opponents shoot under 44%, 0-10 when opponents shoot 44.9% or better.

And finally, the Ramblers have only had three games this season where they shot more free throws than their opponents—only three out of 16 games! They were all wins, and all at home—Fairleigh Dickinson, Central Arkansas, and Albany.

In summation: Cut down on the turnovers. Keep them off the foul line. Pound the ball inside. Be patient for good shots. Make them work hard on defense.


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

St. Joseph’s game notes: https://sjuhawks.com/news/2023/1/13/men ... urday.aspx

TV/Streaming video: USA Network https://www.usanetwork.com/

Radio/Streaming audio: https://loyolaramblers.com/watch/?Live=135&type=Live

Live stats: https://sjuhawks.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary

Vegas odds: St. Joe's by 2.5


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 13, 2023 11:54 am 
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This one kinda feels like our Super Bowl...


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 13, 2023 1:12 pm 
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JCT wrote:
Saturday, March 14, 2023 11:30 am
Hagan Arena


Ready for the season to be over?

_________________
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 13, 2023 1:20 pm 
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zha_blers_mafia_17 wrote:
This one kinda feels like our Super Bowl...


We've got a few games with slightly better chances for wins after this one (home vs. St. Bonaventure, home vs. St. Joe's, home vs. Fordham, home vs. Rhody, road vs. LaSalle), but we need to find a floor to stop the sinking.


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 13, 2023 1:25 pm 
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ahunte1 wrote:
JCT wrote:
Saturday, March 14, 2023 11:30 am
Hagan Arena


Ready for the season to be over?


While I was doing the preview, I was looking up to see what the earliest game was on pillow fight night.


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 13, 2023 1:49 pm 
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Defense. In conference play thus far, we've given up 97, 80, 86 & 78 points. That is NOT Loyola basketball. Put 100% effort into every defensive possession. Limit the dumb fouls.

Turnovers. Start with cutting down on the simple fouls. There should be NO 10 second violations, 5 second violations, stepping on the line when inbounding, etc. Cut those out first. Then focus on no moving picks or other dumb offensive fouls. And then keep the passes simple. Do all that and that turnovers are cut at least in half.

We really need a win here. Time to start rebuilding our confidence. One possession at a time.


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PostPosted: Sat Jan 14, 2023 11:38 am 
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Inexcusable start. Every single game is the same thing. Absolutely horrible


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PostPosted: Sat Jan 14, 2023 11:39 am 
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It also appears #0 did not make the trip, since he is not visible on the bench @ St. Joes.
Things you hate to see....


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PostPosted: Sat Jan 14, 2023 11:40 am 
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We usually get off to great starts and then collapse. Maybe we will do the opposite today! :lol:


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PostPosted: Sat Jan 14, 2023 12:09 pm 
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How are we so weak with the ball? I feel like we need to do a football drill where a guy holds the ball and everyone swats and tries to strip it.

Anyways, we suck. Can't even make free throws. Embarrassing all around. Top to bottom.


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