CHICAGO (November 6, 2022) - Fresh off a second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2021-22, Loyola University Chicago officially opens the 2022-23 campaign by entertaining Fairleigh Dickinson (FDU) inside Gentile Arena on Monday evening at 7 p.m. in a game that will be broadcast live on NBC Sports Chicago+.  Second-year head coach Drew Valentine will look to lead the Ramblers to the postseason for a third consecutive year, a feat which has never been accomplished in the storied tradition of the men's basketball program, as the Maroon & Gold begins its first season as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Loyola carries a 10-game win streak in season openers into Monday's lid-lifter.  The Ramblers hold an all-time record of 82-22 (.788) in season openers, winning their last four curtain raisers by an average of 37.8 points, a run highlighted by a 103-45 rout on Coppin State to begin the 2021-22 season.

Gentile Arena has developed into one of the toughest sites in the country for opponents to play, as Loyola has won 34 of its last 39 (.872) non-conference games played in Rogers Park.  

Loyola/FDU – The Series
Loyola and FDU will matchup for the first time in Monday's season-opening clash in Rogers Park.  The Ramblers hold an all-time record of 3-5 (.375) against current members of the Northeast Conference (NEC), the league which the Knights call home.

Loyola's last matchup against a current NEC foe came back on December 13, 1984 when the Maroon & Gold posted an 89-82 victory over Long Island inside historic Alumni Gym.

Scouting FDU
Picked sixth in the Northeast Conference's Preseason Poll, FDU finished the 2021-22 season at 4-22 (5-13 NEC).  The Knights are piloted by first-year head coach Tobin Anderson, who will be making his Division I debut as a head coach after spending the last nine seasons as head coach at St. Thomas Aquinas in Sparkill, N.Y.

Anderson welcomes back six letterwinners from last season, a group highlighted by Joe Munden Jr. and Sébastien Lamaute, both of whom are former NEC All-Rookie Team selections.  FDU also looks to be buoyed on the offensive end by a pair of 1,000-point scorers from Anderson's previous stop in Demetre Roberts and Grant Singleton.

Up Next
Loyola makes the short trip across town to the West Side on Friday, November 11 to battle UIC in a 7 p.m. tip-off inside Credit Union 1 Arena.