Category Archives: Game Previews

SIU Preview — 2-21-2018

Posted on February 20, 2018 | By: John C. Thomas | Leave a comment

Wednesday, February 21, 2018 7:00 p.m.
SIU Arena, Carbondale, Ill.

Having clinched at least a tie for the MVC regular season crown with their 76-66 win at Evansville on Sunday, the Ramblers head back south on Saturday for a chance to win the crown outright against the Salukis in Carbondale. SIU has had an improbable season, overcoming several injuries and still challenging for a share of the conference title with two games to go. Only four Salukis have appeared in every game this year, and only six have appeared in as many as 23 of SIU’s 29 games. As if the heavy minutes by seven core players wasn’t tiring enough, SIU has gone to overtime in three of their last four games.

Coach Hinson has kept SIU winning with smoke, mirrors, baling wire, and electrical tape. The Salukis enjoy a nice home court advantage at SIU Arena, where they’re 13-2 on the season, 7-1 in home conference games, and winners of seven in a row. Somehow, Hinson has managed the team’s minutes like a wizard, even despite it being necessary for players to endure 43-minute games due to overtime periods. Sean Lloyd leads the league in total minutes played (1004) and ranks third in minutes per game (34.6). Armon Fletcher ranks 9th in the league in mpg. Wednesday night will be senior night, as the Salukis will honor Tyler Smithpeters and others.

SIU starts Armon Fletcher, Sean Lloyd, Aaron Cook, and Marcus Bartley as guards, and Kavion Pippen, a 6’10” center. Fletcher and Lloyd are two tough and experienced 6’5” junior guards who average 14.4 and 12.4 points per game respectively. Cook is a 6’2” sophomore guard who averages 10.3 points and passes well; he’s second on the team in assists and steals. Marcus Bartley, a 6’5” junior point guard, averages only 6.5 points per game, but leads the team in assists and shoots reasonably well from three-point land. Pippen is a good rim protector (38 blocks) who can score (12.5 points per game) and rebound (5.9 per game).

Six-four senior guard Tyler Smithpeters plays starters’ minutes off the bench, and averages 7.7 points per game—primarily from outside the arc, but he also snags 4.2 rebounds per game. Jonathan Wiley, a 6’7” forward, has recently returned from injury to add depth to the bench. Rudy Stradnieks (a 6’9” senior forward), and 6’5” freshman forward Brendon Gooch get 5 or 10 minutes off the bench.

In their Jan. 17 matchup in Chicago, Loyola beat the Salukis 79-65 behind 25 points from Donte Ingram and 18 from Cam Krutwig. Sean Lloyd had 21 points to lead the Salukis. Loyola had a 16-5 run to end the first half with a 12-point lead, and then shot 61% in the second half to earn the win. It was not the prettiest game, as both teams had 20 turnovers, and the two teams combined for 47 shots from the free throw line. That win by Loyola broke a 3-game losing streak against the Salukis; SIU leads the all-time series against the Ramblers 7-5.

Loyola is 6-2 in road conference games for the year, and like with most things this year, it’s the best road performance in decades. In 2006-07, Loyola lost its first three conference road games before winning five in a row on the road, capped by a win at #15 Butler. To match this year’s conference road win total, you have to go back to 1984-85, when the Ramblers were 6-1 (losing only at Xavier).

Loyola game notes: http://www.loyolaramblers.com/documents … df?id=5871

SIU game notes: Pending

TV/Streaming video: ESPN3 / http://www.espn.com/watch/_/id/3273584/ … basketball

Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/siu/mbball/

Vegas odds: Pending

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Evansville Preview — 2-18-2018

Posted on February 17, 2018 | By: John C. Thomas | Leave a comment

Sunday, February 18, 2018 3:00 p.m.
Ford Center, Evansville, Ind.

Loyola and Evansville have comparable records since the Ramblers joined the MVC. Overall, Loyola is 89-71, and 39-48 in conference games. The Purple Aces are 95-69 overall and have the exact same 39-48 record in conference. Both the Aces and the Ramblers won C-tournaments in 2014-15, the Ramblers winning the CBI and the Aces the CIT. Sunday’s game at the Ford Center may help determine if Loyola’s excellent 2017-18 season thus far is just a fortunate blip, or possibly a harbinger of big future success.

The Ramblers are looking to clinch at least a tie for the MVC regular season crown with a win Sunday afternoon, and perhaps an outright title pending the result of the SIU vs. Indiana State game. Evansville is a much better team at home, where they’re 13-2 on the year, with their only losses coming from Illinois State and Indiana State. The Aces average 70.5 points per game on average at home, and only 61.1 on the road.

Evansville has won only one of their last four games. Key injuries and heavy minutes may have taken too much of a toll on the plucky Aces. Super-talented sophomore guard Dru Smith has missed eight games due to injury, and his attempt to come back early last weekend against Missouri State resulted in aggravation of his initial injury; he may not likely play again this season. Fifth-year senior Duane Gibson has only played 25 minutes in two games out of the last eight. Leading scorer Ryan Taylor (21.4 ppg) missed seven games in November and December. Senior guard Blake Simmons and Taylor are first and third in average minutes per game.

Evansville is currently starting 6’5” senior Blake Simmons, 6’6” junior guard Ryan Taylor, 6’9” junior Dainius Chatkevicius at forward/center, 6’5” sophomore guard K.J. Riley, and 6’7” redshirt freshman forward John Hall. Six-four freshman guard Noah Frederking, 6’9” center Dalen Traore, and 6’8” freshman Evan Kuhlman get the most time off the bench.

In their last game, a 47-41 loss at UNI on Tuesday night, the Aces really struggled to score. It was their first game since Dru Taylor re-injured his foot. Ryan Taylor scored 26 points, but none of the other UE starters scored more than 2 points. The Aces didn’t shoot a single free throw, but put UNI on the line 19 times. Perhaps after one of the longest gaps between games during the conference season, they’ll be regrouped, fresh and re-focused for their second-to-last home game of the season.

The Ramblers have also looked a bit unfocused for significant stretches of their last two games. Loyola trailed by five at halftime but came back for a four-point win on the road at Indiana State, and took control late at home against Valpo after letting a seven-point lead slip away. Loyola’s defense, which gave up an average of only 58.3 points per game in their first 10 conference games, has allowed 68.6 points per game over their last five contests. And heavy playing minutes are beginning to creep back up for some Ramblers; Clayton Custer has played 35 minutes or more in five of the last six games.

Loyola trailed Evansville by eight points at halftime in the last meeting between the teams on Dec. 30, but Marques Townes led a second half comeback with 17 of his 19 points after the break, as Loyola won 66—59. Loyola is 1-3 at the Ford Center since joining the MVC, and the Aces hold a 26-19 all time advantage dating back to the 1978-79 season.

Loyola game notes: http://www.loyolaramblers.com/documents … df?id=5865

Drake game notes: https://gopurpleaces.com/documents/2018 … df?id=4730

TV/Streaming video: ESPN3 / http://www.espn.com/watch/_/id/3252471/ … basketball

Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=198326

Vegas odds: Loyola by 5.5

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Valpo Preview — 02-14-2018

Posted on February 13, 2018 | By: John C. Thomas | Leave a comment

Wednesday, February 14, 2018 7:00 p.m.
Gentile Arena, Chicago, Ill.

Loyola returns home for their penultimate regular season home game of the year against Valparaiso on Wednesday night, just a win or two away from clinching a league title and postseason tournament berth. At 21-5 overall and 11-3 in conference, the Ramblers are enjoying their best season since 1985 and have already surpassed some long-standing high-water marks. A win would cut Loyola’s magic number to win the conference outright to 2.

The visiting Crusaders are coming off a 74-58 home win over an Illinois State team riddled by injuries. Valparaiso started off the season with an eight-game winning streak capped by a win in the MVC/Mountain West Challenge over Utah State. But an illness and an academic disqualification to their top two players sent the Crusaders into a funk. They lost seven out of their next eight games overall–
including their first three league games– before getting their first two conference wins. Then they lost another seven of eight before getting a W against the Redbirds last Sunday night. At 4-10 in conference, Valpo still has a good chance to top Loyola’s 4-14 inaugural season in the MVC.

Coach Matt Lottich’s crew starts three 6’2” guards—seniors Tevonn Walker and Max Joseph, and sophomore Bakari Evelyn. Seven-foot-two sophomore center Derrik Smits and 6’8” freshman forward Mileek McMillan start in the frontcourt. Walker is the team’s leading scorer (14.7 ppg), top rebounder (4.8 rpg), and best defensive player. He is really quick, very streaky, and often dictates the energy for the entire team. Sophomore Bakari Evelyn is the only Valpo player to start every game this season, and Is the 2nd highest scorer at 12.6 per game. Joseph is a solid guard who plays great defense; he averages 7.4 ppg. Freshman Micah Bradford, a 6’2” point guard, comes off the bench for about 15 minutes per game and has the team’s best assist to turnover ratio; he averages 5.2 points per game.

At 7’2”, Smits’ 7.4 points and 3.6 rebounds per game in just under 20 minutes on average doesn’t tell the full story—he’s very good at rim protection, but leads the team in turnovers with 57. Backing him up off the bench is another 7-foot sophomore, Jaume Sarolla, who averages 4.6 points and 3.3 rebounds while leading the team in blocks. McMillan starts and averages 3.0 points and 1.4 rebounds, but plays only about 10 minutes per game. Sophomore guard/forward Markus Golder plays most of the time in the role of the four, averaging 8.8 points and 4.1 boards.

The most important thing when playing Valpo is controlling the tempo. The Crusaders haven’t won a single game this year while scoring under 69 points. When scoring 69 points or more, the Crusaders are 13-3, and when scoring less than 69, they’re 0-11. In their last matchup on Jan. 21, Loyola beat the Crusaders in front of their largest crowd of the year, 70-54. Clayton Custer led Loyola with 18 points, five assists, and four steals as six Loyola players scored eight points or more. Bakari Evelyn scored 17 of his game high 19 points in the second half. The Ramblers made only eight turnovers for the game and won the rebounding battle 34-27.

Valpo leads the league in steals, and they use their quick hands on defense to spark their offense. They have forced the most turnovers in the league, but also committed the most turnovers in the league. Taking care of the ball and making the Crusaders work hard late into the shot clock on every possession is key to beating them.

The Ramblers gutted out a 75-71 win at Indiana State on Saturday. Loyola shot 63.6% from the field in the second half to overcome a five-point halftime deficit and 17 ugly turnovers for the game to earn their 11th conference win. Eleven wins is the most in conference since the Ramblers’ all-time high of 13 in 1984-85. Twenty-one overall wins ties the 2006-07 team for the most wins since 1984-85, and there are still four regular-season games and up to three conference tournament games to go.

Loyola game notes: http://www.loyolaramblers.com/documents … df?id=5857

Valparaiso game notes: http://cdn.streamlinetechnologies.com/v … _Notes.pdf

TV/Streaming video: ESPN3 / http://www.espn.com/watch/_/id/3273446/ … basketball

Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=189604

Vegas odds: Pending

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