Wednesday, March 1, 2023 8:00 p.m.
Gentile Arena, Chicago, Ill.
Loyola plays the University of Rhode Island for the first time Wednesday night in the final home game of the inaugural season in the A-10. The game will be senior night for two players: grad transfers Bryce Golden, and Jeameril Wilson. It’s also potentially the last time Rambler fans might see some seniors who have the option of ending their college careers or moving on for grad transfer opportunities.
The Ramblers came into the season having never played any of the state schools in the A-10: George Mason, UMass, Rhode Island, and VCU. A win over URI on Wednesday could give the Ramblers a winning record (3-2) against the A-10's public universities. Loyola comes in ranked at 255 in KenPom, while Rhode Island is 239. The winner of this game will likely be the 14th seed at the A-10 Tournament beginning next Tuesday. The loser will almost certainly be the 15th seed.
It’s been a rough year for URI. The Rams had lowered expectations because they lost so much to graduation and transfer after last year, but also deservedly encouraging expectations because of Archie Miller’s return to the A-10. In Miller’s six years at Dayton, he took the Flyers to four NCAA Tournaments and one NIT before stepping up to Indiana. After a year off from coaching as a media commentator, he took the Rhode Island gig.
Rhody's defense is pretty good. The Rams rank in the middle of the pack in defensive efficiency. They hold opposing teams to 43.3% field goal percentage, and they are very good rebounders. I think Rhode Island might be the only team besides VCU thus far to beat both Fordham AND Dayton (two of the top four seeds in the A-10 Tournament)… Even when they lose, it's often by a close margin-- in URI's current seven-game losing streak, they took George Washington to overtime, got nipped by one point on a VCU buzzer-beater, lost at Saint Louis by five, and last time out lost at Fordham by three.
But URI has a lot of problems on offense. They have no real, consistent offensive force near the basket; they are among the worst in D-I hoops in shooting the three; their second-leading scorer was kicked off the team two weeks ago; and only eight teams in D-I have a lower overall field goal percentage. On the plus side, they earn the third-most trips to the free throw line in the A-10, and they have the second-highest percentage from the line. They seem to play the top teams really well, but they’ve lost two games to UMass by 10 and 24 points, and lost to St. Joe’s by 14. They’ve dropped home non-con games to Brown and Texas State.
Coach Miller’s likely starters on Wednesday night are 6'1" sophomore Sebastian Thomas, 6'3" junior Jalen Carey, 6'3" sophomore Ishmael Leggett, 6'6" senior forward Malik Martin, and 6'11" sophomore Alex Tchikou. Leggett leads the team in scoring at 16.6 per game. Thomas (5.6 points, 2.8 assists) is now the main playmaker since sophomore Brayon Freeman (a transfer from GW who averaged 14.3 points and led the team in assists) was cut from the roster. Wichita State transfer Josephat Bilau was supposed to be their starting big man, but he went down to season-ending surgery in the 8th game of the year. Martin is the leading rebounder at 6.4, but Leggett at 6’3” pulls in 5.8 boards per game, Carey 5.1, and Tchikou 3.5.
The two bench players currently playing double-digit minutes are 6'8" freshman Rory Stewart (2.2 points) and 6'5" freshman Brandon Weston. Six-eight freshman forward Abdou Samb got his first DNP of the season in the loss to Fordham. Another freshman, 6'7" Louis Hutchinson might get a few minutes. But there's not much depth-- especially at guard-- after losing a 29.1 minute per game player in Freeman.
Since losing Freeman, the Rams have a much shorter bench. But was it addition by subtraction? Three of the four games since Freeman was cut have ended with the score differential at regulation between zero and three points. Maybe the Rams are pulling together in the face of adversity.
But you know who really needs to pull together and win their senior night home finale to have a chance at finishing just off the bottom for the regular season? The Ramblers. A win would give Loyola the tiebreaker over URI if they both finish 4-14. It would equal their conference win total from their first year in the MVC, and help provide a tiny bit of hope for the conference tournament and the future. A win would ensure double-digit overall wins, and a big win could help boost the KenPom numbers a bit—possibly enough to maybe climb over Rhody and out of the basement in that metric. “Don’t Finish Last” isn’t the optimum mission statement, but it’s an achievable goal.
Loyola game notes: https://loyolaramblers.com/documents/20 ... Island.pdfRhode Island game notes: https://gorhody.com/news/2023/2/28/mens ... esday.aspxTV/Streaming video: CBS Sports Network
https://www.cbssports.com/Radio/Streaming audio: https://loyolaramblers.com/watch/?Live=147&type=LiveLive stats: https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=426271Vegas odds: Loyola by 4.5