St. Bonaventure is not a trap game, they're very very good, and they're favored at home. Weren't they picked 2nd in the preseason poll? One game at a time.

That was some defense today,,sometimes it seemed like we had 6 guys playing D.It seemed pretty seamless.and defense travels...and great energy from the team that just seemed to double on itself as the game went on. and on O as people have mentioned 24 assists on 30 baskets...that is sharing the ball, making the xtra pass and being selfless.
I dont know whether to sit back and have a cigar and celebrate how wonderful this run has been or worry about the next 4 games. I think I am going to have the cigar.,,, and worry.

That was some defense today,,sometimes it seemed like we had 6 guys playing D.It seemed pretty seamless.and defense travels...and great energy from the team that just seemed to double on itself as the game went on. and on O as people have mentioned 24 assists on 30 baskets...that is sharing the ball, making the xtra pass and being selfless.
I dont know whether to sit back and have a cigar and celebrate how wonderful this run has been or worry about the next 4 games. I think I am going to have the cigar.,,, and worry.

WOW. May have been the best game of the year for LU. Thoughts:

1. Ugly: FT shooting was ugly. 50% (10-20) was not good. The game was a blow out and we did not seemed focused from the line, as if it didn’t matter. Big regression from what we have been doing recently. Our bigs commit just silly fouls and in situations and on parts of floor (35 feet) away from the basket. As Al McGuire would say,at this time in the season, Freshmen are now Sophomores. Miles need to be shown all of the fouls on tape that keep him off the floor. He needs to get better at it. The moving screens in particular on offense should not be happening still. Dame also commits some silly fouls and it does hamper his minutes as well.

2. Bad: TOs were still a touch high at 12. We got 5 quick ones in the first half and then we settled down and ended half with 5 and had control of the ballgame. Some of them were us rushing and making ill advised passes and a couple of shot clock violations. They scored on our turnovers early when we fell behind 11-7. After that they did not generate a ton of points off the TOs, but still too high. Too many second chances on missed shots given up. We are still fouling too much. At one point all three of our bigs were in foul trouble.

3. Good: Tremendous defensive intensity for 40 minutes! The defense was, besides a few too manny offensive rebounds by GM, great. We held them to 33.3% from the floor and 22.7% (5-22) from the arc. Just about all of the shots were contested and nothing really came easy for GM. Huge turnaround from our game at GM when they shot lights out. Here’s a crazy stat. GM had 15 TOs and 12 of them were..wait for it STEALS on our part! We used to do this when we went to the final four and we had like 4 of the top steal leaders in the MVC, Crazy. We shot it great. 55.6% (30-54) from the floor and 47.6% (10-21) from the arc. Many people chipping in from the arc. Dolan had 2, Philip had 2, Quinn had 1, and Dawson made, I think, his first since coming back from injury. 11 (excluding bench guys who got it when Drew called of the dogs) guys played. All 11 scored and got at least 1 rebound. 24 assists on 30 baskets. Some where there were no assists were on steal and breakout baskets. Fantastic sharing of the ball.Fun game as we took controlled and just bullied GM in our building! The atmosphere was electric and the Joe is back as a huge home court advantage. We moved to 95 in the KenPom and couple of huge games coming up. The Bonnie game qualifies as a Quad 1 game and Dayton is a Quad 1 game and is ranked. We will some movement in KenPom and NET if we stay focused and keep working.

4. Final Thoughts: Media starting to “find us”. Katz had us in his Power 36 at 35. Seth Davis thinks we get some Top 25 consideration. See screen shot. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nWQGjHwwMJosvu_tmoCAKWp6Vwt8fV07/view?usp=sharing

We finish strong, that at large bid may not be that far out of reach.

This team is on a roll and getting better in every phase of the game. They are tough, they competed. They are connected. It’s looking like a special group. Still got work to do, man what a turnaround.

NEVER MOVE THEM! We have the best atmosphere in A10. Teams don’t like playing at the Joe.

Last comment:

Did anyone else notice that Freshman #3 on GM got in Braden’s face about 4 minutes or so in the game? I thought it should have been a taunting T. At the time, Braden had committed a couple of early TO’s. After that, Braden ate his LUNCH and DINNER the rest of the way out. These A10 teams talk a lot of smack and this group is having none of it!

You're absolutely right. I'm traveling during that game and completely forgot about it.
Everybody is still talking up the Bonnies with a middling record. They're going to be tougher than they look.

Yeah, Okoje got in Braden's grill about the steal and the uncontested layup (Braden isn't dumb, he's not going to commit a foul on a meaningless early basket). Okoje got cocky and then a few vocal fans in the crowd were yelling out to him and prodding him the rest of the game. He sat most of 1st half with 2 early fouls and wasn't really a factor for the rest of the game. Poetic justice lol

A 20 win season. Never a doubt!

Drew should be first in line for A10 coach of the year.

Absolute dominance.

A packed house like this is why recruits should want to play here, and why people should also want to attend games and/or sign up for season tix. That’s LUC magic.

Other than a crappy commute to the middle of nowhere in NY, I don’t think we should have too many worries about Tuesday’s game. According to last night’s breaking news from Drew’s postgame comments, Charles Pride didn’t think Loyola’s guys were good enough for him. (Whoooops!)

With that being said, they’ll be fine.




Yes. #3 should have gotten T’d up. Officiating in the first half was inexcusable.

From the GM website ""There's a reason why Loyola Chicago is now 12-2 in the league," head coach Tony Skinn ('06) said. "Credit to Drew Valentine for his evaluation of the guys he brought in. They're naturally tough. We're tough at times, but in an atmosphere like this where you have to be as tough as you can humanely be, we weren't that tonight. They set the tone and took us out of our possessions. Defensively, we didn't return the favor."