Sunday, December 16, 2018, 3:00 p.m.
Gentile Arena, Chicago, Illinois

After eight days off for finals, the Ramblers will be back in action against Norfolk State at Gentile Arena on Sunday afternoon. This will be the third consecutive year the Spartans have visited Gentile Arena. Loyola’s 80-52 win over NSU last season held the mark as the highest team field goal percentage in Division I as the Ramblers shot 71.4% from the field, including 76.9% on three-point shots. The men’s basketball game will be played as part of a double-header with the women’s team facing UMKC.

Norfolk State was picked to finish third in the MEAC this season, just behind Bethune-Cookman and North Carolina Central. The Spartans have blown out all their non-Division I opponents, played competitively in D1 losses, and beat local rival Hampton in a double overtime home game. This year’s version of the Spartans is more experienced than the past two years, starting three seniors and two juniors.

Six-two junior guard Nic Thomas is Norfolk State’s leading scorer (14.6 ppg). He takes a lot of shots to get his points, shooting only 41% from the field, but he’s a great free throw shooter and knows how to get to the line. Joining Thomas in the backcourt are 6’4” junior Steven Whitley and 6’5” senior Derrik Jamerson, Jr. Whitley is the best passer (2.8 assists) and defensive player (1.5 steals per game), but only shoots 35.4% from the field. Jamerson is a crafty offensive rebounder and shoots a lot from behind the arc while averaging 7.3 points per game.

The Norfolk State frontcourt is composed of 6’8” senior Alex Long and 6’6” senior Jordan Butler. Long is the better scorer (10.2 ppg) and Butler is the team’s top rebounder (5.5 rebounds on average). Between the two of them, Long and Butler average over 3 blocks per game. The Spartans typically go 9 or 10 deep in closer games against D1 opponents, and they make a lot of substitutions. Besides Nic Thomas, none of their players averages over 25 minutes per game, and 12 players average over 6 minutes per game.

The Ramblers stand at 5-5, having lost four of their last five games. Loyola is 1-2 since Lucas Williamson was sidelined with a broken hand and 0-2 since top reserve guard Bruno Skokna joined Williamson in street clothes. Loyola hasn’t had a three-game losing streak since February 2017. Even with a depleted squad the Ramblers should be able to handle an experienced Norfolk State team, and hopefully get some more game experience for newcomers and bench players.

Loyola game notes: https://loyolaramblers.com/documents/20 ... df?id=8255

Norfolk State game notes: https://nsuspartans.com/documents/2018/ ... hicago.pdf

TV/Streaming video: ESPN + http://www.espn.com/watch/_/id/fd29393b ... olachicago

Live stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=234959

Vegas odds: Loyola by 17.5

Favored by 17.5?? Wow. Would love to see us win by 18+ but I ain't betting on it.

Hope there's a good crowd. I am guessing students are gone. And the Bears play at noon. Could be a quiet day in Gentile. I'm sure that would make swella more comfortable.

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As a fan, I feel more special when the crowd is smaller.

I should feel very special this afternoon.

yea I think a few of us are going to feel quite special today!!! I see another free t-shirt in my son's future this afternoon.

Negron with a start. Will we start to see more and more of him now?

Bruno is looking a lot better tonight than he was earlier this years

Great to have Bruno back. He's a great asset when you've got two freshmen guards forced into heavy minutes.

Absolutely

Good to get a W coming out of finals week. Particularly good to see us make some shots.

Kudos to Bruno and Christian.

The crowd wasn't so bad either!

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How was the crowd? I would’ve gone...but I wasn’t passing up Bears/Packers tickets