PARADISE ISLAND BAHAMAS (November 24, 2021) - Loyola looks to avoid losing consecutive contests for the first time since last December (to Wisconsin and Richmond), when it faces Auburn Thursday afternoon at the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis. Dating back to last season, the Ramblers have won 23 of their last 26 contests (.885).

The Ramblers are 38-123 (.236) all time versus nationally ranked opponents but have won five of their last eight matchups versus teams in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll. All five of those victories have come since the start of the 2017-18 campaign, with four of those being in NCAA Tournament play. The last time Loyola faced a ranked opponent, it took down No. 2 Illinois, 71-58, in the 2021 NCAA Tournament Second Round. Loyola has defeated at least one ranked opponent in two of the last three years.

Loyola has won five of its last seven games played at neutral sites and has also captured two of its last four meetings versus teams from Power 5 conferences. Since the start of the 2016-17 campaign, the Ramblers have delivered eight wins against Power 5 opponents, two of which were ranked in the top five in the nation at the time - No. 5 Florida (2017-18) and No. 2 Illinois (2020-21). 

First-year head coach Drew Valentine is the youngest head coach in NCAA Division I men's basketball at 30 years of age. He is a year and a half younger than the next youngest head coach in the country, Austin Claunch of Nicholls State.

Loyola – Auburn – The Series

This is the first meeting between Loyola and Auburn, and Loyola is 1-8 all time against teams coached by Bruce Pearl, with all nine of those meetings coming between the 2001-02 and 2004-05 seasons when he was bench boss at Milwaukee.

The Ramblers have done well versus Southeastern Conference teams, winning four of their last five games versus SEC foes. Included among those wins are decisions over No. 5 Florida (65-59) and No. 13 Tennessee (63-62) in 2017-18 and the most recent victory, a 78-70, triumph over Vanderbilt in December 2019.

Loyola is 16-16 (.500) all time versus current members of the SEC.

Scouting Auburn

No. 19 Auburn suffered its first loss of the 2021-22 campaign yesterday when it came up on the short end of a wild, 115-109, double-overtime affair versus Connecticut.

Three Tigers are scoring in double figures, led by sophomore guard K.D. Johnson, who contributes 18.0 points per game, to go with 2.8 steals per game, and shoots a robust 47.6 percent (10-for-21) from three-point land.

Auburn's pressure defense forces 17 turnovers per game, but on the offensive side, if you eliminate Johnson from the equation, the Tigers are connecting on only 28.6 percent (26-for-91) of their attempts from long range.

Freshman Jabari Smith, a 6-foot-10 forward, is off to a great start to his collegiate career and is putting up 15.5 ppg and 8.3 rpg, but shooting only 39.5 (17-for-43) percent from the field.

Up Next

Loyola closes out the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis with a game on Friday against a to-be-determined opponent.