Saturday, December 2, 2023 3:00 p.m.
Gentile Arena, Chicago, Ill.


The Harvard Crimson men’s basketball team pays a visit to Loyola for the first time ever in the second all-time meeting of the two schools. Last year, the Crimson beat Loyola in Cambridge, 61-55. This year’s team promises to be better than last year’s Harvard hoopsters, thanks to one of the most dynamic and interesting freshmen in all of college hoops this season.

The Crimson are 6-2 on the season with a win in OT at UMass, and their only two losses against Boston College and Indiana. Harvard was picked to finish 6th out of 8 Ivy League teams in the conference pre-season men’s basketball poll, but no one figured on the explosiveness and effectiveness of a 6’1”, 170-pound freshman point guard out of St. John’s College High School in Washington DC.

Malik Mack has been an effective floor leader and the team’s leading scorer from day one of his freshman season. Through eight games in college, he’s averaging 21.8 ppg while shooting 48.9% on threes and making 4.9 assists per game. He leads Harvard in minutes, points, assists, made threes, and free throws (he’s shooting 85.7%). He’s a crafty left-hander with speed, a refined step-back three, excellent passing ability, and ability to drive and finish at the basket. And this isn’t against lightweight competition—he dropped 32 points in the OT win at UMass, 27 against Indiana, 26 last time out in a win over American, and 18 in their loss to BC. As of Friday morning, he’s 2nd in all of college basketball in points scored (regardless of how many games played).

But Harvard isn’t just a one-man band. Six-foot-eight sophomore forward Chisom Okpara has moved into the starting lineup from his role last year as a top bench player, and is averaging 16.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Six-six junior guard Louis Lesmond from Paris (vis Notre Dame in Niles) is averaging 10.0 ppg, and Chandler Pigge is 6’5”, 210-pound guard who adds 9.0 points and 6.0 rebounds.

The Crimson suffered a big loss in the Indiana game when 6’10”, 255-pound senior center Justice Ajogbor went down with a hand injury. He’s already had surgery and hopes to return in a several weeks, but Ajogbor scored 8.7 per game and led the team in rebounding with 7.3. Seventeenth-year Head Coach Tommy Amaker had to start 6’7” freshman forward Thomas Batties II in his place against American. Other players on the bench include junior guard Denham Wocik (younger brother of former Rambler Paxson), and 6’10” freshman forward Luca Ace-Nasteski from Australia via IMG Academy. Chicago-area freshmen Payton Pits from Frances Parker HS and Xavier Nesbitt from U of C Lab School are also on the roster.

The Ramblers are likely to have a full complement of players available for the first time since 15 minutes into the first game of the season, when Jayden Dawson was lost for three games. Last season’s leading scorer Philip Alston, who missed four games, was a 50/50 call against Chicago State on Tuesday. Alston will need to contribute big on Saturday against this very good Harvard team. Jalen Quinn and Sheldon Edwards had their best games of the year last time out in the Loyola come-from-behind win over Chicago State.

For those of us who have been Rambler fans for a long time, a heartwarming aspect of Harvard’s trip to Gentile is the return of Larry Farmer, Jr., an assistant coach for the Crimson. When Loyola had their post-game celebrations/commiserations in historic Alumni Gym during the Larry Farmer era, a little tyke would run around and try to shoot the ball even though the basket was 3x taller than he was….. That cute tyke was Larry Farmer, Jr., a charming kid with a great family and a warm spot in the heart of every longtime Loyola fan. Welcome back, kid!


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

Harvard game notes: https://gocrimson.com/documents/2023/11 ... hicago.pdf

TV/Streaming video: NBC Sports Chicago Plus / ESPN + https://www.espn.com/espnplus/player/_/ ... fe54420c3c

Radio/Streaming audio: https://loyolaramblers.com/watch/?Live=158&type=Live

Live stats: https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=482149

Vegas odds: Loyola by 3.5

I think that this is the most important game to date for Drew's career. He is playing a quality opponent, who we are favored against, at Gentile. This team beat us last year in their gym, even though we were favored, so we should have extra motivation. These are his players, running his system and we should have Alston back. No excuses, this is a game we should win. This is a game Drew must win.

If this game turns out like so many have over the last year with fouls, turnovers, and poor execution resulting in a loss, I believe Steve has to begin planning to make a change. The University has invested so much in the Men's Basketball program that it can't allow the team to be mediocre. We have the faciilities, financial support and fanbase to succeed...no more excuses.

PS. I agree with the member who said the offense runs better without Alston. I'm not saying that Philip isn't the most talented player on the team, he probably is, but he is impatient and gets himself into too many one on one+ matchups and rarely passes out of the post. It's like he forgets that he has open teammates that have great looks.

PSS. Kenpom has us as 3 point favorites.

Former Head Coach Larry Farmer will be in attendance!

Do we know if Alston will return for this one? Sounded like he was close on Tuesday, but opted to give him more rest to hopefully return Saturday, right?

Up against a hot 3 point shooter. Can we defend against the 3 ball?

during the Moser years our calling card in the Valley was to shut down leading scorers and make somebody else try and beat us...lets see if we can get back to that equation of winning defense.

His son is in his 2nd year as an assistant at Harvard (Larry Farmer III).

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Vegas has a 6.5 point favorite. That's honestly pretty shocking to me.

The last few games, even the loss to UIC we generated good looks at the basket on offense,,,starting to get some back cut baskets.....This has been with out Phil Alston...I am hoping that he can become a wiser offensive player and not a bull in a china shop. In the inter team scrimmage I was impressed that he kicked the ball out to shooters several times...We have also been getting more assists than turnovers..I love that stat....NU in their defeat of Purdue tonight had 22 assists and 3 turnovers!!!!!! I will take that for the Ramblers tomorrow.

FROM DRAFT KINGS
Who Will Win Loyola Chicago vs. Harvard?
Loyola Chicago and Harvard Betting Trends, Records Against the Spread
In games it has played as at least 6.5-point favorites this season, Loyola Chicago is 1-3 against the spread.

Harvard is 1-1 against the spread when an underdog by 6.5 points or more this season.

The two teams average a combined 7.5 more points per game (147.5) than this game’s over/under of 140 points.

Loyola Chicago and Harvard have seen its opponents average a combined 0.6 more points per game than the over/under of 140 set for this matchup.

The average point total for Loyola Chicago’s games this season is equal to the total of 140 in this matchup.

The average point total for the Crimson this season is 8.1 points higher than this game’s over/under.

The Ramblers have covered the spread twice in seven opportunities this season.

The Crimson are 4-3-0 ATS this year.

Loyola Chicago Stats & Insights
Loyola Chicago scores 69.9 points per game (275th in college basketball) and allows 70.1 (162nd in college basketball) for a -2 scoring differential overall.

Loyola Chicago ranks 278th in college basketball at 30.9 rebounds per game. That’s similar to the 30.3 its opponents average.

The Ramblers knock down 8.0 three-pointers per game (125th in college basketball) compared to their opponents’ 8.0. They shoot 35.0% from deep while their opponents hit 37.1% from long range.

Loyola Chicago ranks 240th in college basketball by averaging 91.7 points per 100 possessions on offense, and defensively is 241st in college basketball, allowing 92.1 points per 100 possessions.

Harvard Stats & Insights
Harvard puts up 77.6 points per game (131st in college basketball) while allowing 70.5 per outing (172nd in college basketball). It has a +57 scoring differential and outscores opponents by 7.1 points per game.

The 32.9 rebounds per game Harvard accumulates rank 197th in the country, 1.6 fewer than the 34.5 its opponents collect.

Harvard knocks down 8.9 three-pointers per game (74th in college basketball) at a 39.9% rate (16th in college basketball), compared to the 7.6 per game its opponents make, at a 29.8% rate.

Harvard’s 97.1 points per 100 possessions on offense rank 130th in college basketball, and the 88.2 points it concedes per 100 possessions rank 160th in college basketball.

Loyola Chicago Key Players to Watch
The Ramblers scoring leader is Des Watson, who averages 14.1 per contest to go with 3.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists.

Loyola Chicago’s leading rebounder is Miles Rubin averaging 4.4 boards per game and its best passer is Braden Norris and his 4.9 assists per game.

Watson leads the Ramblers in three-point shooting, knocking down an average of 2.1 shots per game from beyond the arc.

Patrick Mwamba is Loyola Chicago’s leader in steals, averaging 1.0 steal per game, while Rubin leads them in blocks with 2.4 per contest.

Harvard Key Players to Watch
Malik Mack scores 21.8 points and adds 4.9 assists per game, putting him at the top of the Crimson’s leaderboards for those statistics.

Justice Ajogbor’s stat line of 7.6 rebounds, 8.4 points and 1.1 assists per game helps him grab the top spot on the Harvard rebounding leaderboard.

Mack is dependable from deep and leads the Crimson with 2.8 made threes per game.

Harvard’s leader in steals is Chandler Pigge (1.1 per game), and its leader in blocks is Ajogbor (2.9 per game).

Loyola Chicago vs. Harvard Prediction
Pick ATS: Harvard (+6.5)
Pick OU: Over (140)
Prediction:
Loyola Chicago 74, Harvard 72