CHICAGO - Loyola Chicago takes a three-game winning streak on the road to Tulsa Tuesday night. The Ramblers and Hurricane tipoff at 7:30 p.m. in Oklahoma. The Ramblers look to make it four straight wins in their first true road game of the season, while the Hurricane need to rebound following two straight losses.
Tuesday's game can be listened to on the Rambler Sports Network with Scott Sudikoff (PXP) and Christian Thomas (Analyst). Listen on the Go Ramblers App, Varsity Network App or LoyolaRamblers.com with pregame coverage starting 20 minutes prior to tip-off.
Quick Hits
• Loyola downed Harvard at home over the weekend, 75-53. Three Ramblers scored double-figures helping the team pick up its third straight win.
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Philip Alston returned to the starting line-up and dropped a team-leading 16 points. He added a season-high seven rebounds, two blocks, two steals, and an assist.
• Joining him in double-digits was
Dame Adelekun (12) and
Des Watson (13). Watson has six games in double-figures this season, including a four-game streak earlier this year.
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Miles Rubin grabbed a career and game-high nine rebounds against Harvard. He's averaging 5.0 rpg to lead Loyola.
• The Rambler bench has gone to work this season outscoring their opponent's bench in all but one game this year. Last week, Loyola's bench outscored Chicago State's, 29-12 (+27), and Harvard's, 29-11 (+18). The bench is averaging 27.38 ppg, ranking first in the league and 66th in the country.
• Against the Cougars, two of Loyola's top scorers came off the bench.
Jalen Quinn led the Rambler offense with a season-high 15 points (4-6 FG, 7-8 FT), while
Sheldon Edwards also added a season-best 14 points (4-9 3PT, 2-4 FT).
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Braden Norris's 40 assists is a team-high this season. He's averaging 5.0 apg. His total assists is second in the Atlantic 10 and 56th in the NCAA. Norris also ranks in assist to turnover ration (2.67) at 69th, while teammate
Greg Dolan ranks 15th in the nation at 4.14.
• Defensively, the Ramblers rank inside the NCAA's top-50 in blocks per game (5.4/27th) and field goal percentage defense (.393/44th). Loyola's 28.38 defensive rebounds per game sits 51st in the country.
• Head coach
Drew Valentine is in his third season at the helm. He holds a 40-32 overall career record.
Scouting Tulsa
Tulsa is 4-2 entering the week after dropping its last two games to Oral Roberts and Little Rock. The Hurricane opened the 2023-24 campaign on a 4-0 winning streak beating Central Arkansas, Incarnate Word, Jackson State, and South Carolina State. Tulsa was tabbed 10th in the American Athletic Conference Preseason Poll prior to the season opener.
Four members of the squad are averaging double-digits with PJ Haggerty leading the way at 16.7 points per game. Haggerty has hit at least 10 points in all but one game this season, including a season-best 28 vs. South Carolina State. He went 19-of-22 from the charity stripe helping fuel the performance.
Eric Konkol is in his second season leading the Hurricane with a 9-27 overall record. It's his ninth overall season as a head coach having spent seven years at Louisiana Tech.
Series History
Loyola leads the all-time series 2-1. The Hurricane won the last meeting in 2022, but Alston poured in a team-high 18 points in the loss.
