Loyola Ramblers Preview – https://loyolaramblers.com/news/2025/2/ ... ngton.aspx

George Washington Stats and Intel - https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/sc ... /2025.html

Record: 18-10 (7-8, 7th in A-10 MBB)
Coach: Chris Caputo
PS/G: 73.9 (187th of 364)
PA/G: 67.2 (54th of 364)
SRS: 3.77 (111th of 364)
SOS: -1.63 (174th of 364)
ORtg: 107.8 (175th of 364)
DRtg: 98.1 (44th of 364)


George Washington Revolutionaries (18-10, 7-8) at Loyola Chicago Ramblers (18-9, 9-5) – 7:00pm CST Gentile Arena, Chicago, IL

Loyola Chicago looks to extend their winning streak to 5 games as George Washington visits Gentile Arena. Importantly, tonight is also Cerebral Palsy Awareness Night.

Last time they hit the floor, Loyola Chicago secured its fourth straight win with a thrilling 76-72 victory over Dayton at Gentile Arena, fueled by Des Watson’s 22-point performance, his fifth 20-point game of the season. The win moved the Ramblers to 18-9 overall and into third place at 9-5 in Atlantic 10 play, solidifying their hold in the standings. Head coach Drew Valentine praised the electrifying home crowd, calling it a key factor in the win, and credited his players for their resilience and clutch defensive stops down the stretch. Behind strong performances from Watson, Miles Rubin, and Sheldon Edwards Jr., Loyola built a double-digit lead early in the second half and held off Dayton’s late-game surge with timely buckets and critical blocks by Rubin in the closing minutes. The Ramblers continue to show growth and momentum, positioning themselves as a tough team to beat heading into March.

The Ramblers are in midst of a hot streak, driven by key players like Des Watson, who averages 13.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, Jayden Dawson, also contributing 13.1 points with strong shooting, and Sheldon Edwards Jr., who is now only 7 threes from capturing the all-time single season record (86), adding 12.3 points and leading the team in three-point shooting. Loyola Chicago has excelled as the top three-point shooting team in A10 play at 36.2 percent and continues to lead the league in assists, with 61 percent of their made shots coming off passes. Importantly, Miles Rubin’s game has substantially picked up, and has been dominant, leading the A10 with 62 blocks, which ranks 13th nationally.

The Revolutionaries are 18-10 overall and 7-8 in league play. George Washington holds a 4-5 road record this year and is coming off a 22-point home victory over UMass Saturday 74-52.

GW is averages 73.9 points on 44.6 percent shooting and allowing 67.2 points on 41.3 percent shooting. They go 30.9 percent from beyond the arc and 70.2 percent from the free throw line.

Interestingly, GW plays some defense now, which we hadn’t seen from them the last 2 seasons. In prior games with them, James Bishop (now graduated) was always in line for a ridiculous 30 or 40, and it always seemed like a race to 80 points and whoever hit that first always won. Not this year. GW ranks 35th among Division 1 teams for opponent three-point percentage this season (30.5%). They’re also good at pick pocketing – leading the league in steals, and are 18th nationally, with 9.3 steals per game. GW's steal rate is 15th in the nation, taking the ball away on 13.4% of opponent's possessions.

GW is powered Rafael Castro, a transfer from Providence, who is averaging nearly a double-double with 13.4 ppg and 9.1 rebs per game. He is on a 13-game double-figure scoring streak that includes seven games with at least 20 points. Castro also has seven double doubles this year, including in the last two games. Not much chatter on Castro until most recently, as opponents, A10 media, and potential P5 suitors are taking note of his breakout.

Darren Buchanan Jr contributes 11.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, and strong playmaking. Gerald Drumgoole Jr. adds versatility with 11.6 points per game and 57 made three-pointers.

This will be the third meeting between GW and Loyola as A10 opponents, with the road team winning both previous matchups. Loyola (14-1 at home this year) has won each of its last 13-night games at Gentile Arena against non-AP-ranked opponents, while GW has lost 4 of 7 and five of its last six road night games against Conference opponents.

Due to GW's defense against the three and high steals rate, the Ramblers must continue to work the offense inside and thru Miles Rubin. Take only what the defense gives you - like we saw against Dayton with them limiting us to 14 three attempts - which made them work inside and mid range more. Last but not least, avoid the turnovers - GW seems to be very good at making those happen.

Loyola Chicago has been on fire during the final stretch of conference play, consistently delivering on the scoreboard and in the win column of the standings. The Ramblers have won four straight and six of their last seven games. Tonight is an important one to win, which has become mandatory at home, as we head into Saint Louis on Saturday afternoon - who are now only an uncomfortable 1/2 game behind us in the standings. 10-5 heading into SLU round-2 would also feel better than going there tied with them at 9-6.


GW Probable Starters – 6-4 G Trey Autry, 6-10 F/C Rafael Castro, 6-5 G Gerald Drumgoole Jr., 6-9 F Sean Hansen, 6-2 G Christian Jones.

Loyola Probable Starters – Watson, Dawson, Edwards Jr., Houinsou, Rubin



LAST 10 GAMES FOR BOTH SQUADS

Ramblers: 7-3, averaging 71.3 points, 31.3 rebounds, 15.9 assists, 6.4 steals and 5.3 blocks per game while shooting 45.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.4 points per game.

Revolutionaries: 5-5, averaging 67.0 points, 29.4 rebounds, 13.3 assists, 9.0 steals and 2.9 blocks per game while shooting 43.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 65.7 points.


Watch / Listen – Wednesday night’s game will be televised on Marquee Sports with Jordan Bernfield and Nick DiNardi on the call, and can be listened to Rambler Sports Network with our friends Sudikoff and CT.

Postgame Show - Tune in to Sudikoff on RSN, followed by TalkinBlers Spaces on the X: https://x.com/blerstalking?s=21


Odds: Loyola -4.5

Great preview. This sounds like it be a rock fight meaning ball security and turnovers will be key. If we turn it over 10 or less times tonight we will be in good shape. Hopefully we get off to a good start on offense and get the crowd into the game early. We need to keep stacking wins with a tough road game at St. Lou over the weekend.

Looks like it should be a decent crowd. That's a nice surprise.

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MBB Scholarship Chart

Stress free win. Will have more thoughts tomorrow, but you know it was a good night when there wasn't a rush of post-game posts here. Not much to complain about!

Massive game Saturday.

And I just realized senior night next week is right in the middle of spring break. That sucks. Hope we can still get a decent crowd out. Midweek 8pm game vs a very subpar opponent with students out on break sounds like a bad combo.

Enough students came out tonight and that was a good thing. So thank you again to the students.
What impressed me the most was our strong D and our points distribution. Double digits for JD, Ruben, JQ and Francis. Sheldon with 9 and Houinsou and DeLoach with 8 each. GWU did come on strong with steals so our 15 TOs have a saving asterisk. But we gave GWU a beating on the scoreboard. This game was over at halftime.

Again we win in the paint 32 to 26
Our bench 32 to GWU 21
Assists 21 to GWU 12
Total Rebounds 41 to 27 for GWU

Rubin 4 blocks (does it again and puts up 10 pts to boot)
DeLoach 2 blocks
JQ , good all around game
Francis 4 for 4 on threes, what a nice stat

We can play some good ball when we need to, let's keep this up Ramblers!

Feb. 26 Superlatives vs. GW
• 75+ Points for a 15th time (14-1)
• 3rd Largest Ever Win in an A-10 Game
• Less than 60 Points Allowed for a 7th time (6-1)
o 4 Times during A-10 Season (3-1)
o 28th time in the Drew Valentine Head Coach Era

• 50%+ FG for a 10th time (8-2)
o 6 Times during A-10 Season (5-1)

• Less than 40% FG Allowed for a 9th time (8-1)
o 6 Times during A-10 Season (5-1)
o 3-Straight Games Overall
o 4 of the Last 5 Home Games

• 11+ 3PM for an 8th time (7-1)
o 10th Time w/ 25+ 3PT Attempts (8-2)

• 7 or fewer 3Pters by Opponent for 15th time (12-3)
o 8 of last 9 Games

• 3rd Time this Season with a 30+ Point Lead
o 5th time w/ 25+ Point Lead
o 7th time w/ 20+ Point Lead
o 10th time w/ 15+ Point Lead (10-0)
o 17th time w/ 10+ Point Lead (14-3)

• 14th time Winning the Rebound Battle (10-4)
o 7th time winning it by 10+ (6-1)
o +14 is the 2nd best margin of the season
o 3rd best margin ever in an A-10 game

• 7th time with 20+ Assists (7-0)
o 24th time in the Drew Valentine Head Coach Era

• 6th time with 7+ Blocks (5-1)
• 7th time with 15+ 2nd Chance Points (7-0)
• 20th time with 30+ Paint Points (16-4)
• 11th time with 10+ Fast Break Points (7-4)
• 13th time with 15+ Points off Turnovers (11-2)
• 16th time with 20+ Bench Points (13-3)

ash wednesday, as well

obviously this sets up saturday as a huge game on the road at SLU. We are essentially playing for a top four spot and double bye in the conference tournament. Not a great scenario to get that perq if we don't win Saturday.

Stat of the Game: Turnovers.

Slight twist. We did commit 15 which is too high. However, we did turn Washington over 14 times which minimized the harm.

We shot very well from the floor and arc which helped overcome the TOs.

Drew did a good job juggling the players with Miles and Deloach in foul trouble. These two have to stop the DUMB fouls. They get 2 bad fouls a game. They both have played enough basketball in their careers that this should not be happening.

Big game Saturday. We win and we are in good spot to run table.

DeLoach's behavior, stupid habits with the offensive fouls, and when he loses his mind like last night is absolutely going to kill us if he does those antics in a tight game or tourney game. Nonsense aside, he made a lot of things happen in between.