Monday, November 7, 2022 7 p.m.
Gentile Arena, Chicago, Ill.
Loyola begins its first season in the A-10 against a northeastern team, Fairleigh Dickinson University out of New Jersey. Loyola fans probably know FDU as the previous school for 2018-19 Larry Bird Player of the Year winner Marques Townes. Tonight’s matchup will be the first ever between the two schools.
There will be a lot of games against northeast and east coast schools this year-- 13 games plus the conference tournament will be played in the Eastern Time Zone, and eight teams from DC, Philly, New England and New York state will visit Gentile Arena.
FDU parted ways with Coach Greg Herenda after a 4-22 season in 2021-22, despite the fact that Herenda took FDU to two NCAA Tournaments in his nine years there. Unfortunately, every season was a losing season for Herenda besides the two in The Dance. Tobin Anderson, a Division II coach from St. Thomas Aquinas will be piloting the Knights this year.
The top five scorers from last year’s KenPom 345 team bailed out through the transfer portal, and Anderson has 11 newcomers slated to turn the program around. The Almanac has FDU slated for 7th in the 9-team Northeast Conference and the NEC Preseason Poll had the Knights tied for 6th. KenPom has the Knights at 355 to start the season, Bart Torvik slates them at 357, and Haslametrics has them at 350. Any way you slice it, it's going to be rough for a team with a new coach and almost all newcomers, especially early. FDU didn't play an exhibition game, so this game will be everyone's first look at the new and improved Knights.
The Ramblers are coming off a 35-point exhibition win where everybody played, but the fans didn’t leave feeling all that sure about everything. Sheldon Edwards (and) and Marquise Kennedy (knee) sat for the game, but even with two experienced guards out of the lineup, you’d think Loyola could do a little bit better than four of 29 from behind the arc.
Freshman Jalen Quinn (20 points) and newcomer Philip Alston (18 points, 10 rebounds) impressed in the game, and Tom Welch and Braden Norris were very good. Big men Jacob Hutson and Bryce Golden had moments looking very good against a smaller team. Although he was scoreless, Saint Thomas had a +18 on the +/- scale, with two steals and two assists.
Loyola’s likely starters will be Norris, Quinn, Thomas, Alston and Hutson. With fewer substitutions and longer stretches with the same group on the floor, hopefully the Ramblers can get into a groove, because after this game is a tough stretch away from home: at UIC on Friday, three games in Myrtle Beach at the end of next week beginning with Tulsa, and a road game day after Thanksgiving at Harvard. Loyola won’t return to Gentile Arena until Nov. 30 against Central Arkansas.
Loyola game notes: https://loyolaramblers.com/documents/20 ... _Notes.pdfFDU game notes: https://fduknights.com/news/2022/11/7/m ... icago.aspxTV/Streaming video: NBC SportsChicago +/ ESPN+
https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/ ... 4c728a2833Radio/Streaming audio: https://loyolaramblers.com/watch/?Live=119&type=LiveLive stats: https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=426258Vegas odds: Loyola by 26.5
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