Loyola (0-0) vs. Wright State (0-0)
November 10, 2017 | 7 p.m. CT
Gentile Arena | Chicago, Ill.
TV: The Valley on ESPN3 |  Live Stats | Loyola Game Notes

Opening Tip
- Loyola opens its 100^th season of basketball Friday night when it hosts former conference mate, Wright State.
- Coming off of an 18-win season and with three starters returning from a team that picked up wins over San Diego State and Washington State a year ago, Loyola is poised to take the next step and become a contender for the Missouri Valley Conference crown.
- Over the last three seasons, head coach Porter Moser has piloted the Ramblers to 57 victories, their most over a three-year period in over three decades (60; 1984-86).
- Loyola is 5-1 in season openers under Moser and has won five straight lid-lifters. All-time, the Ramblers are 77-22 (.778) in season openers.
- Loyola is an impressive 26-3 (.897) in home non-conference games since the start of the 2013-14 campaign.
- The 2017-18 campaign will be a season-long celebration of the 100th year of Loyola men's basketball. In their storied history, the Ramblers have produced 17 All-Americans, made five appearances in the NCAA Tournament and four in the NIT. Loyola won the 1963 NCAA title and to this day remains the only school from the state of Illinois to have captured the NCAA Division I men's basketball championship.
-  When the NCAA released the latest Graduation Success Rate (GSR) data earlier this week, Loyola was tied with five other schools, including four Ivy League members, for the No. 1 spot in the nation at 99 percent. This marks the second straight year that Loyola has shared the top GSR position among NCAA Division I institutions.
 
Loyola – Wright State - The Series
- Former conference mates Loyola and Wright State are meeting for the 41st time and the Raiders hold a 24-16 edge in the series.
- Last season, the Ramblers halted a seven-game skid to the Raiders with a 77-64 victory at Gentile Arena on December 7, 2016. Clayton Custer scored a team-high 19 points in that contest to lead Loyola to its first win over Wright State since December 31, 2009.
- Wright State has claimed 13 of the last 15 meetings between the teams and three of the last six match-ups have been decided by six points or less.
- Head coach Porter Moser is 1-4 all-time against Wright State.
- Loyola is 11-9 all-time against Wright State when playing on its home floor.
 
Scouting Wright State
- Wright State lost its top two scorers from last season, but returns senior guards Grant Benzinger (12.8 ppg, 5.8 rpg) and Justin Mitchell (11.5 ppg, 8.3 rpg). A year ago, the Raiders put up 77.0 ppg as a team.
- The Raiders went 5-3 down the stretch last season and lost to eventual champion Northern Kentucky in the Horizon League Championship.
- Under then first-year head coach Scott Nagy, Wright State got off to a sizzling start last season, winning six of its first seven games and going 9-4 overall in non-conference action prior to the start of league play.
- Wright State's active roster features one Chicago area native in redshirt freshman Loudon Love, a 6-foot-9 center from Geneva High School in suburban Geneva, Ill.

Up Next
Loyola has a quick turnaround and stays home this weekend to host Eureka on Sunday (Nov. 12) at 2 p.m.