Wednesday, January 15, 2014, 7:00 p.m.
Gentile Arena, Chicago

Under new head coach Ray Giacoletti, Drake began the season with a remarkable turnaround. Coming off a 15-17 season (7-11 in conference), the Bulldogs were expected to finish in the bottom three in the MVC by most observers, and came in dead last in the MVC preseason poll. But under the new leadership regime-- including an assistant coaching staff that has received especially high praise-- the Bulldogs surprised many observers by posting a 9-3 record in non-con play. Their only losses in non-con were at St. Mary's, against Iowa at a neutral site in Des Moines, and at home against New Mexico State-- all teams ranked 55th or higher in the RPI.

Yet after a resounding home win over Evansville to open conference play, Drake has lost their last three conference games-- to Bradley (road), Indiana State (home), and Northern Iowa (road). I watched the Bulldog's opening night win over UIC, in which they barely survived a late surge by the Flames, and was impressed by the way Giacoletti's players responded. They seemed to gain confidence as the non-con season went along, but one has to wonder if they've lost that confidence after three straight losses in conference.

Richard Carter, a 5'11 senior guard from Detroit, leads the Bulldogs with 17.9 ppg. He has a deceptively quick first step, and gets a lot of his points with easy layups after blowing by defenders-- especially in transition. Another diminuitive guard, 5'9" junior Jordan Daniels, has moved into the starting lineup of late and actually averages more minutes per game than Carter, while scoring 15.4 ppg. The Bulldogs are led in rebounds by 6'11" freshman center Jacob Enevold, who comes off the bench to average 5.3 boards and 5.6 ppg. The starting big man is 6'11" senior center Seth VanDeest, who is solid but fairly slow, and averages 5.3 points and 4.9 boards per game.

Drake is very deep this year, with 11 players who have seen significant time in 8 or more games. Jordan Daniels doesn't take a lot of three point shots, but when he does, he hits at a 54% clip. The most prolific three point shooter is 6'6" guard/forward Chris Cairns, who has taken an average of 4.8 threes per game, and hit on them at 38%. They're solid at the free throw line, averaging 72% on the season and only VanDeest averaging less than 50%.

As a team, the Bulldogs are in the upper half in the MVC in most categories, showing their depth, versatility, and variety of weapons. They don't have any particular weakness or strength, but when needed they can send in a player who can execute just about any given task.

The three words to describe Drake: methodical, driven, overachieving

As of now, Loyola is the underdog by 3.5 points after starting as a 1.5 dog.

Loyola game notes, ticket info, parking, directions: http://loyola.scoutware.net/ts/cgi/view ... 1_16163623

Drake message board: http://www.drakenation.com/Forum8-1.aspx

Streaming video: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/Loyola-Ramblers-Athletics

Streaming audio: http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/luc.portal#

Thanks as always 63 with an insight into what to look for.
We will have our hands full but I predict a win by 5 for our guys.

I like our chances in this game less than against Missouri State, but more than Southern Illiniois. I'll say we win by 6. I think we're better at home than Drake is on the road.

Drake by 6.Go Ramblers!

It's probably considered impolite to quote oneself, but on September 4, I wrote in these pages:



We smoked Missouri State, lost a game we should have won to SIU, and if we beat Drake tonight I'll be reasonably confident that we will stay out of the cellar. There's a real crowd at the bottom of the standings right now, so we could move up to a tie for 6th with a win.

If we lose, you might as well make sure you have Thursday night tickets for Arch Madness.

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Sitting in the Denver airport trying to watch. Anyone else having issue with Ustream?

Stream is smooth for me. Drake is raining 3's but we are keeping pace.

Crowd seems to look somewhat improved.

Their guards are fast and quick as advertised--BUT we are NOT caving --in fact we are getting balanced scoring--That's the ticket !! Our guards are not too shabby either. Devon and his threes !! Yes !!

When Milton is stroking it (like tonight), we are a completely different team.

Word!

Milton Doyle is a beast!