Saturday, February 7, 2015 3:00 p.m.
Gentile Arena, Chicago

Just two Saturdays ago, the Indiana State Sycamores shot the lights out at the Hulman Center against the Ramblers-- especially in the first half, when the Trees shot 64% from the field and 75% from distance to build a 13-point lead at halftime. Devonte Brown had a career high 24 points as he buried six of the Sycamores’ 12 three pointers. The ISU win put an end to their brief two-game losing streak, but after beginning the conference season at 5-0, the Trees have managed only one win besides their win over the Ramblers in their past six outings, and have lost their last three road contests. After shooting 53% from the field against Loyola, the Sycamores shot 43, 39, and 37% in their three games since.

The Ramblers have fought hard over the past several games despite injuries to Milton Doyle and Christian Thomas, and despite being shorthanded have shown increasing poise. Loyola cut a 15-point deficit to Illinois State down to one before losing by three-- no thanks to 12 missed free throws-- and without their two top scorers and after allowing a 15-point lead to evaporate their last time out at Missouri State, Loyola managed to even their road record at 5-5 by gutting out a 53-50 win. Montel James scored 18 points in the last meeting with Indiana State, part of a six game stretch in which he’s averaged 13.2 points per game on 54% field goal shooting. Earl Peterson also seems to have recovered from his turf toe problems and had a great game at MSU with 12 points, 3 assists, a block, and nary a turnover. And Ben Richardson is coming off a career high 12 points and 24 minutes last time out.

Blue ISU is likely to have the same starting lineup they had against the Ramblers two weeks ago: Jake Kitchell and Justin Gant in the frontcourt; and Brown, Smith and Scott at guard. In their six games since starting 5-0 in conference—in which ISU is only 2-4-- Kitchell and Smith have been slumping offensively, averaging 4.8 and 6.7 points respectively. They’re also taking more three point shots than during their winning streak—an average of 17.8 attempts in their first five conference games, 23.8 per game since.

Through 11 conference games thus far, Indiana State is tops in the conference in offense (67.8 ppg) and last (67.0 ppg) in defense; Loyola ranks 7th on offense and 5th on defense. The Ramblers are last in free throw percentage and free throws attempted. Indiana State and Loyola rank 1st and 2nd respectively in three point shooting percentage, but the Ramblers are second in three point field goal defense while Indiana State ranks last.

Both the stats and their previous meeting indicates that three point shooting has a potential to make a big difference in this matchup. The way the Ramblers play defense and have the ability to control the tempo of the game, Loyola needs to defend well outside and cut off the interior passing lanes while taking advantage of ISU’s weak perimeter shooting defense. It would also help quite a bit if Loyola could get some points on the board from the free throw line: In the 10 games from the UTSA game through the Bradley game, the Ramblers were 9-1 while averaging 21 trips to the line per game and shooting 74.3%; in the 10 games since, they’re 3-7 while averaging only 10.2 free throw attempts and shooting 68.6%. Getting to the line and making the free throws is the difference between winning and losing for defensive-minded teams with a rebounding weakness, and that was one of the keys that is now missing from the Ramblers' game.

Loyola game notes: http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/loy ... 206aaa.pdf

Indiana State game notes: http://www.gosycamores.com/pdf9/3168913 ... M_ID=15200

TV/Streaming Video/Audio: Comcast Sports Net, Ramblervision Audio(http://www.loyolaramblers.com/collegesp ... dia=474640)

Vegas odds: Ramblers by 3

You ser, I told you and the Board that you would report better than I could--

The thing is--We have a fun team which actually likes playing this game--All business while having fun while tending to it. Shpuld we beat the Sycamores and I think we shall, we will be on the way to fifth maybe fourth . And IF one of our two hurt players come back--we will be a real favorite at home.


John and the rest of you guys--Did you ever think we would be writing this way after the miserable years we have had ??

GO RAMBLERS !!

Honestly, I think a lot of people were too put off by the fact that we had that five game skid before Missouri State win. I think that is a shame because it seems like we really should be looking at the big picture of things right now. So many people were down on Porter all of last season and before the season, in concern to chasing people away and not being The type of coach that we all thought this program needed.

The fact is, we came into the valley conference thinking that we might become a laughing stock. Fortunately, that has not happened and we have quickly established ourselves as a team that other teams feel the need to look out for when they play us. Obviously, the biggest measuring stick is winning the conference championship and making a postseason tournament, but I really don't think we can ignore the fact that we have vastly improved as a program and that Porter Moser has been integral to the leap that we've made.

Sure, we would all like to make the postseason this year, but only a few short months ago we were picked to be at the bottom of the league, and despite several setbacks such as lack of height and injuries, we are still vying to be in the top half of our competition at the end of the regular season. To me that is huge. Moreover, even when we have played the best of the best like Wichita State and Evansville, we have been able to hang in for those games. Obviously we are not as talented as them, but we are not getting embarrassed. This has all been done with the core group of guys that will be back next season. That is definitely something to be excited about.

Even if we finish sixth, seventh, or eighth in the league this year, I am still very happy with what this team has been able to accomplish. Their ability to do what they've done is not a fluke, and is based on the hard work that they put in which really bodes well for the future. They are winning road games, they are not getting blown out by 25 points to anyone, and they never seem to give up at the end of games even when things are going well. obviously, it is easy to quantify things in terms of wins and losses, but the progress that is being made is really something to be happy with and I think we have a good coaching staff to move forward in the next few years in the valley.

Just knowing that We have a legitimate shot at winning every game on our schedule that we go out to play (with the exception of the Michigan State game) has made for a really awesome year. Regardless of what happens in our next game, or any of the following, I actually am proud to be a supporter of Loyola now. I have not been able to say that for quite a few years.

I believe that the program has finally turned the corner and that most of it is due to Porter and his staff.

The first year he needed to clean out the roster. While some thought this heartless, it was necessary as several of the players on the roster were not going to make a meaningful contribution. It was in their best interest to move on.

His recruiting has gone where past coaches could not or would not go. We now have an access to talent that in the past no one thought would be possible.
Initially we were in the Horizon League. This opens doors to a certain type of player. However, many of those players are not MVC caliber so another adjustment was needed. The success of his recruits is evidenced by our competitiveness this year.

He had to operate in an environment for a year where there was virtually no AD or at best one who was operating under a cloud. This caused setbacks.

The man and his staff work their asses off. No going home at 3pm. I had an occasion to talk to him this summer when it was apparent there would be a shortage of height. He said he was in contact with several other coaches as to how they handled those type of situations. I also believe that had Steve Watson been around to run some interference through the Loyola bureaucracy Marlon Jones would be a Rambler today. That whole situation occurred because there was no AD to do what needed to be done.

Marlon Jones would have been such a difference maker this year.

Any word on what he is doing or his plans for next year?

Marlon Jones is at South Plains College in Texas. Started 8 out of 11 games. Averaging 10 pts. 5 Feb.

JCT, Nice job with the reporting. It is appreciated.
May I just add a few thoughts..
Having been a fan for a long time, I am thrilled with this season. It has been
a remarkable outcome out of a dismal preseason situation.
I really admire the players on this team for their resilience and continued effort in the
face of adversity after adversity. They could easily have thrown in the towel.
Instead, they played through and have grown in ability and confidence.
To see Montel drain those two free throws..... Spectacular!
Crisman's inbound to Richardson.....done with surgical precision.
It would be nice if the student body showed this team the support they have earned.
Put into perspective, who would want to go back to the Horizon League?
No one.
Who is still smarting from the players that chose to leave the program?
No one.
Who is not thrilled with all of our freshmen players?
No one I know.
Kudos to the players and appreciation to Porter Moser for putting this together out of the ashes.
I am looking forward to every game, win or lose, and I BELIEVE that this team will pleasantly surprise us a few times before its all over this year.
I hope they start with Saturday's game.... Sounds like I've been drinking the Kool Aid? You should be too...
Go Ramblers

One thing is certain, no matter what happens from here on out (we should be in St. Louis a month from today), the coaching staff has been phenomenal. And I say that as someone who didn't like the Porter Moser hire, was completely turned off from the program for a year or two when he made moves that resulted in a 1-17 conference record in his first year, etc. I thought the exodus of players and assistants was a train wreck. I didn't like the last two years of scheduling at all, mostly because I thought we had no chance to beat Texas Tech and Boise State/Houston, and thought the lack of height was an insurmountable problem. Except for one really harsh post (maybe after the right after the Michigan State game?) I tried to not let out a fraction of the anger/disappointment/dismay I felt about the coaching.

But just five or ten minutes into the UTSA game, and certainly by the end of the Kent State game, you could tell that something had really changed with this team, and there was no other possible reason for it other than an excellent job by the coaching staff. We had, in my estimation, only one crap game since then-- and I know because I drove more than five hours round trip to see the Tulane fiasco in person. In the losses since then, there's been almost nothing you can credibly point to the coaching staff as being the problem. Even the loss at SIU and the first half demolition at Indiana State were game plans that should have worked, and the other teams just executed better on their home courts against our banged up players. We've already equalled our conference wins from last year, in an overall stronger conference, with a month to go and a favorable remaining schedule.

So as someone who was skeptical/negative about Coach Moser for the past three years, I have to happily give credit. I'm delighted to acknowledge being utterly, dead wrong about the guy-- it took some real talent and ability to accomplish what's been done so far with the personnel we have available and under the circumstances. Now let's get out there and win AT LEAST four of the last seven, lock up sixth and make a push for fifth, and get fully healthy for a run in St. Louis.

How many wins do you think we need to get to for a CIT/CBI berth?

Ramblers make it two in a row tomorrow with a 67-58 victory at the Joe.

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