Saturday, January 22, 2022 2:30 p.m.
Gentile Arena, Chicago, Ill.
The #22 Loyola Ramblers face their stiffest conference competition thus far on the season when the Missouri State Bears visit Gentile Arena on Saturday afternoon. MSU comes to Chicago with a 63 ranking in KenPom and a 70 in the NCAA's NET rankings, both tops in the MVC after Loyola's 21 and 19 in those two rankings.
Missouri State was picked to finish fourth in the MVC this season, behind Drake, Loyola and UNI. But it's the Bears that have shaken off a bad 4-4 start to surge to 2nd place in the Valley. MSU has won 10 of their last 12 games-- including three of the four road games in that span-- to sit at 14-6 overall and 5-2 in MVC play entering Saturday's game.
The Bears feature a powerful offense, leading the conference in average points per game and free throw percentage. MSU ranks second in the conference in scoring margin (behind Loyola), field goal percentage (behind Loyola), and three-point field goal percentage (behind Loyola). Coach Dana Ford's crew is also a very strong rebounding team and has a field goal defense ranking third in the conference (behind league leader Bradley and Loyola) and a three point defense ranking third (behind Loyola and league leader SIU).
MSU's dynamic duo of Isiaih Mosley and Gaige Prim are back again this year, this time with more consistent help from their supporting cast and two new faces via the transfer portal. Mosely is averaging 20.2 points (including 33 ppg in his last four games), good for 2nd in the league. Prim is pulling down 8.2 rebounds per game, statistically tied for the league lead. And many Bears players (notably Prim) are looking stronger and better conditioned than in years past.
The Bears are likely to start 6'9" senior forward Gaige Prim (13.9 ppg, 8.2 rpg), 6'5" junior guard Isiaih Mosley (20.2 ppg, 5.3 rpg),6'4" junior Ja'Monta Black (10.6 ppg, 56 made threes), 6'8" guard/forward Donovan Clay (8.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg), and 6'1" sophomore Lu'Cye Patterson (6.8 ppg, 2.4 apg). The main players off the bench are IUPUI transfer and three-point specialist Jaylen Minnett, Isaac Haney, Keaton Hervey, Nic Tata, and Dawson Carper. A familiar contributor from last season, DeMarcus Sharp, has been battling a foot injury that has moved Patterson into the starting lineup into a defacto point guard role.
Mosley has been fantastic recently after some lackluster play early in the year. Against BYU, Coach Ford sent Mosley to the pine for most of the first half after BYU took an early lead, and was scoreless for the game. Since then, he's been super-- averaging 23.0 ppg and shooting 55.7% from the field. That's when MSU began their surge to 2nd place. But a great Mosley performance isn't necessary for MSU to get the W. He had 43 points in an 85-84 home loss to UNI and scored 21 against St. Mary's, but scored only 7 in a big win over Drake and 11 in their win at Bradley. Limiting Prim, Black, and Clay from large scoring outbursts seems to be a better path to beating the Bears.
Limiting MSU's offense is really hard, because they have so many weapons. The Bears have three players who have hit 40 or more threes. Grad senior Jaylen Minnett has 333 career made three-pointers coming into this game; for perspective, that's 71 more than the Loyola all-time career record. Ja'Monta Black leads the MVC in made three pointers this season with 56, and it's only 2/3 of the way through January. The Bears are also the best free-throw shooting team in the MVC with 78.9% as a team; Mosley leads the league with 91.4% shooting, and has the seventh most free throw attempts in the league. Haney, Clay, Minnett, and Black all shoot over 80% on free throws, and Prim isn't far behind at 78%.
Loyola probably needs to focus on keeping Mosley to an average game while completely shutting down offense from two other key players. Controlling the tempo, upsetting MSU's offensive rhythm, and getting some foul calls on key players will be important. Guarding hard two feet behind the arc, and getting the longer rebounds will have to be an emphasis.
The Ramblers AP ranking, home winning streak, and conference home winning streak are all on the line. A win would also protect a fragile at-large bid possibility, and a nice lead in the conference standings.
Loyola game notes: https://loyolaramblers.com/documents/20 ... _22_22.pdfMissouri State game notes: https://missouristatebears.com/document ... tes_21.pdfTV/Streaming video: CBS Sports Net
https://www.cbssports.com/cbs-sports-network/Radio/Streaming audio: https://loyolaramblers.com/watch/?Live=100&type=LiveLive stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=369447Vegas odds: Loyola by 7