Wednesday, November 22, 2023 3:00 p.m.
T-Mobile Center, Kansas City, Mo.

Loyola faces off against #8 Creighton Wednesday afternoon in the 2023 Hall of Fame Classic at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. The game will follow the contest between Colorado State and Boston College, and the winners of today's games will play for the championship on Thursday following a consolation game.

The Ramblers have played Creighton three times in the recent past-- in 2010 as part of the ESPN Bracket Buster series, in 2015 when Creighton returned the Bracket Buster game at Gentile Arena, and in the first game of the 2019 NIT. Loyola got a 68-65 win in the home game in 2015, and lost the two in Omaha. Overall, Loyola is 12-7 against Creighton with the first meeting a 22-21 win for the Ramblers on January 22, 1926.

Loyola was the program picked to join the MVC after Creighton departed for the Big East in 2013. Creighton had some trouble adjusting to the new league after Doug McDermott's last season, making only two NCAA tournament one-and-done appearances in four of their next six seasons. But in the past four years the Bluejays reached the NCAA Tournament three years in a row and won the Big East Regular Season Conference Championship in the pandemic year of 2019-20. The ‘Jays were recognized in the AP Top 10 in four of the last five seasons (including this year), and won six out of their last nine NCAA Tournament games they've played. Last year, they reached the very doorstep of the Final Four, losing to San Diego State 57-56 in an epic and controversial regional final.

The Bluejays have always drawn well and have built a rabid and loyal fan base. Joining the Big East brought higher-profile programs with national championship resumes to Omaha-- like Villanova, UConn, and Marquette. They draw nearly 18,000 per game, and their fans will likely create a Thanksgiving caravan this week on the 185 miles down I-29 from Omaha to Kansas City.

Coach Greg McDermott is in his 14th season at Creighton. The Bluejays are likely to start 6'4" junior guard Trey Alexander, 6'6" senior guard Baylor Scheierman, 6'1" senior guard Steven Ashworth, 6'8" sophomore forward Mason Miller, and 7'0" senior center Ryan Kalkbrenner. Last year most of the offense ran through Kalkbrennner, who was not only their leading scorer but a two-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year. Through four games this season, Alexander is leading the offense with 21.0 points and 6.5 assists (he's also leading the team in rebounding with 7.3 per game, to give you an idea of his quickness). Scheierman is not far behind with 18.0 ppg, 6.0 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game. Kalkbrenner averages 12.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 2.0 blocks per game. Both Miller and Ashworth average about 7 ½ points per game.

The top players off the bench are 6'3" senior guard Francisco Farabello (a TCU transfer), 6'10" center Isaac Traudt, 6'10" center Fredrick King, and 6'3" guard Josiah Dotzler. Farabello is currently the fourth leading scorer with 8.0 ppg. Traudt, Ashworth, Miller and Farabello take almost all of their shots from behind the arc, and all of them but Ashworth shoot over 40% from three.

Four players on the Bluejays are Top 100 recruits: Alexander, Miller, Traudt, and sophomore guard Johnathan Lawson. Argentinian Farabello came out of the NBA Global Academy development program. Kalkbrenner, out of Trinity Catholic in St. Louis, blossomed as a sophomore and has held a place in the Big East all-conference teams ever since.

Creighton runs a high-powered offense, averaging 92 points per game through the first four contests this season. KenPom ranks CU 4th in offense and 28th in defense, coming in at 8th overall. They've demolished their three sub-200 KenPom opponents (Florida A&M, North Dakota State, and Texas Southern) by an average of 37 points. Their one game so far against a top 50 opponent, Iowa, was a 92-84 run-and-gun slugfest.

The Ramblers may not have last year’s leading scorer Phil Alston available due to a calf strain sustained in the first half of the game against UIC on November 14. Likewise, Omaha native Jayden Dawson had a knee injury after only nine minutes in the first half of the first game of the year—after missing the entire second half of last season with a hand injury—and won’t be available. Miles Rubin’s time has also been curtailed as recurring knee soreness requires management.

This will be the first out of town game for both teams. Creighton appears to be firing on all cylinders and performing up to expectations. Loyola had had a few brief spurts that show how good this team could be, but the team seems to have trouble sustaining momentum and closing out halves. The Ramblers are wading out to the deep end of the pool with this game against Creighton. A really good and competitive performance is all most Rambler fans expect from this game, but an upset in an early-season neutral site game is not unheard of.

Loyola game notes: https://loyolaramblers.com/documents/20 ... -_HOFC.pdf

Creighton game notes: https://gocreighton.com/documents/2023/ ... -notes.pdf

TV/Streaming video: CBS Sports Network https://www.cbssports.com/cbssports

Radio/Streaming audio: https://loyolaramblers.com/showcase?Live=155

Live stats: https://www.statbroadcast.com/events/ce ... hp?tid=870

Vegas odds: Pending

Trey Alexander is absolutely going to destroy us, he's national player of the year quality. Looking forward to some day-time Ramblers holiday ball but think this matchup is above our heads by quite a bit.

Where are Ramblers ranked by Kenpom now?

IMO this Creighton squad is the best program / team LUC has played in recent years. For the first time ever, I see an unwinnable game on paper.

Alexander, Scheierman, Kalkbrenner......... Any of this three is capable of POY. And will be too too much.

Ashworth likes to run circles around everyone. AND he's a far superior shooter than his current 3pt% ....... This might be his game to go off.

I'm so sorry for the lack of positivity here.

Yeah, this one will be tough. Nearing impossible since we won't have our Alston & Dawson. Creighton is a top 10, maybe top 5, team in the country. They have size, experience and massive talent. I know their fans are pretty upset they are in this tourney--it's in a meh location and features two mid-majors & a bottom-of-the-barrel P6 team. Given their fan following and talent level, they should be a regular in the 'big boy' MTEs.

Hoping to keep them within 10-15 and avoid a complete embarrassment.

I’m not positive on this one either, and it pains me to say that my aspirations for this game is that we only lose by 15 and don’t suffer a 25+ point blowout.

I know Drew wants to RUN, but I’m really hoping he adjusts his strategy to keep this game close. There’s no scenario where we keep this game close with athleticism. I don’t want us to take any shot with more than 10 seconds on the shot clock. If we limit their amount of possessions, maybe we can keep them from scoring 80.

Drew says he wants them to run but its not actually happening, theyre 162 in pace this year. Up from 226 last year but still barely above average. Its all just coach speak nonsense and not actually an outcome of the coaching, gameplan or execution.

124 currently

Agree with everyone. But….. it would be so classic of this new era Ramblers to hang around and keep this tight, just to give us hope for the rest of the season before getting hosed the rest of the non con

I could be wrong, but from the recent instagram post showing the practice session in Kc, it appeared that Jayden Dawson was participating? Is he getting close to a return?