Game Information
Opponent	Towson Tigers
Date	Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016
Time	7:00 p.m.
Location	Towson, Md. | SECU Arena
Getting There	Directions
Tickets	Purchase
Online Media	Live Stats | Video
Game Notes	Loyola

Quick Hits About The Hounds

• Loyola University Maryland heads on the road for two games this week, first with its closest contest away from the Evergreen campus of the year.
  
• The Greyhounds head to Towson University for a Wednesday, Dec. 7, contest that will start at 7 p.m. at SECU Arena.
• Andre Walker has put together three games with 21 or more points this season, including his season-high 24 last Wednesday night at Stony Brook University.
• Jarred Jones and Andre Walker have combined for 11 of the Greyhounds' 19 games with 10 or more points this season. Jones has posted 10 or more six times, Walker eight. The duo of Jones and Walker lead Loyola with 14.3 and 13.9 points per game this season.
• Nevell Provo made his first collegiate start on Saturday against Mount St. Mary's.
• James Fives pulled down a career-high nine rebounds against The Mount, grabbing four on the offensive glass.
• Chancellor Barnard returned to his late 2015-2016 scoring form last Wednesday, tallying a season-best 16 on 6 of 9 shooting at Stony Brook. He did so in just 22 minutes of action.
• Loyola continues to lead the Patriot League in blocks per game (4.4).

Series History Versus Towson

• Loyola and Towson will meet for the 73rd time when they take the court on Wednesday night. The series is the second most-played in Loyola history, behind only Mount St. Mary's, a team the Greyhounds faced for the 172nd time Saturday.
• Wednesday's game is the second of a four-game series between the schools.
• The Greyhounds hold a 44-28 advantage in the all-time series, but the Tigers won the most-recent meeting, a 65-54 decision in Loyola's Reitz Arena on Dec. 8, 2015.
• A Loyola three-point play by Jarred Jones cut Towson one-time 11-point lead to just one, 41-40, midway through the second half, but the Tigers scored the next 10 points and pulled away for the win.
• Towson led by 11, 28-17, with 4:27 to go in the first half, a lead the Greyhounds cut to just six, 30-24, before halftime.
• Byron Hawkins made a three for the Tigers with the shot clock under five on the first possession of the second half, stretching Towson's advantage to nine, 33-24, but Loyola then reeled off seven in a row to get within a pair, 33-31, on an Andre Walker three at 16:13.
• An offensive rebound by Jones, layup and free throw after drawing a foul at 11:21 pulled the Greyhounds within a point, 41-40, but Towson responded with a traditional 3-point play of its own when Hawkins drove, scored and was fouled.
• That started a 9-0 Tigers run that would put the lead at 10, 50-40, on a William Adala Moto basket with 9:04 left in regulation.
• Eric Laster finished with his first career double-double, scoring 11 points to match Jones for team-high honors, while pulling down a career-best 10 rebounds. Walker and Chancellor Barnard each scored nine, and Walker had a team-high three steals.
• Hawkins led five Towson players in double figures with 15 points, while Foster scored 10, grabbed five rebounds and blocked five shots.

Patriot League Network

• For the fourth year in a row, the Patriot League Network on Campus Insiders will provide an outstanding viewing option for college basketball fans while showing more than 125 contests from Patriot League venues, including every Loyola home game.
• Gary Lambrecht will call the play-by-play with Loyola alum Jim Chivers adding commentary.
• In conjunction with Campus Insiders, the Network launched in 2013 and provides one of the most comprehensive digital packages of any conference nationally. Check LoyolaGreyhounds.com for links to each game.
• Fans can watch the digital broadcasts on desktop or laptop computers, any smart phone or tablet and through a variety of connected television devices. 

Last Time Out

• Loyola went 23 of 27 from the free-throw line and held visiting Mount St. Mary's to just 13 points in the game's final 11-plus minutes, as the Greyhounds delivered a 64-57 win Saturday afternoon.
• Junior Robinson gave the Mountaineers a 44-42 lead with 11 minutes, 46 seconds left in the second half, but after that basket, Mount St. Mary's committed seven turnovers, went 4 of 12 from the field and 5 of 10 from the free-throw line as Loyola closed out the victory.
• Jarred Jones, who led Loyola with 15 points and also had eight rebounds, tied the game 26 seconds after Robinson's three with two free throws. Cam Gregory came the Greyhounds a 46-44 lead at 10:49, catching a Jones pass to score two of his nine points.
• The Greyhounds led for the next four-plus minutes, but a Robinson basket tied the score at 54-54 with 5:27 to play. A Mount St. Mary's steal on Loyola's next possession led to a transition score by Robinson, and the Mountaineers were up two with less than five minutes to go in regulation.
• Chancellor Barnard, who also had nine points for Loyola, knocked down the back end of two free throws to cut the Greyhounds' deficit to one, and a steal and fast-break layup by Jones put Loyola on top, 57-56, at 4:26.
• From that point, Loyola went 6 of 7 at the free-throw line, and Mount St. Mary's managed just one free throw. Andre Walker converted 5 of 6 free throws during that stretch and went 9 of 10 at the line overall in the game, finishing with 12 points for Loyola. 
• Loyola had a commanding 39-28 lead in rebounds, led by a career-high nine from James Fives. Jones had eight, and Gregory added six off the bench.

Graduation Success Rate Plaudits

• Loyola was recognized Nov. 15 for having the No. 3 mark in the NCAA's most recent Graduation Success Rate report. Out of 351 Division I schools included in the report that captures data from students entering programs from 2006-2009, the Greyhounds' 98 percent graduation rate was tied for third.
• The men's basketball program's rate for that cohort was 92 percent, and its Federal Graduation Rate was tops among Division I schools in the State of Maryland.

League Honor For Walker

• Andre Walker was named the Patriot League The Rock Player of the Week on Monday, Dec. 5, after averaging 18.0 points, 3.5 assists, 3.0 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.0 steal in two Loyola wins last week.
• He opened the week by score 24 points and hitting the game-winning shot with less than a second to go at Stony Brook before he made 9-of-10 free throws to score 12 points on Saturday against Mount St. Mary's.
• The award is the first this season for Walker and the second of his career.

Defensive Improvements

• An offseason key for the Greyhounds was to sure up their half-court defense, and through four games, statistics show an improvement in that area.
• Last year, Loyola was 261st in NCAA Division I in scoring defense (75.3 points allowed per game), and it was even worse in opponent 3-point field-goal percentage (307th, .372). 
• This year, however, opponents are shooting just .300 (42-of-140) from 3-point range and averaging 69.2 points per game. Those numbers rank 58th and 128th in NCAA Division I through games of Dec. 4.

Against The Best, No Less

• Loyola's 3-point defense was put to the test in its Nov. 26 game at No. 12 Creighton. The Blue Jays came into the game shooting 50.8 percent from behind the arc, a mark that ranked first in the NCAA.
• The Greyhounds, however, held them to a season-low 5-of-18 (27.8 percent) from distance in the game.
• Mount St. Mary's came into last Saturday's game averaging eight three per game and shooting 35.4 percent, but Loyola limited them to 4-of-13 from behind the arc (30.8 percent) in the game.

Key Contributions

• Loyola's leading scorers, Jarred Jones and Andre Walker, played to their averages against Mount St. Mary's, but there were several other performances that both filled the stat sheet and contributed in the depth for the win.
• Nevell Provo made the first start of his collegiate career, scoring four points to go with three rebounds, and Chuck Champion had a career-high 18 points. He knocked down his first career three and also handled Mount St. Mary's press without committing a turnover.
• Cam Gregory and Chancellor Barnard each scored nine points, going a combined 7-of-9 from the field and 4-of-6 from the free-throw line. Gregory had six rebounds and Barnard four.
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Gregory's Last Two

• Cam Gregory has put up significant numbers off the bench in the Greyhounds' last two games, wins at Stony Brook and against Mount St. Mary's.
• He tallied six points and 10 rebounds against the Seawolves before posting nine and six versus the Mountaineers. Over the last two, he has averaged 7.5 points and 8.0 rebounds in 19.5 minutes.

Clutch Late

• Andre Walker hit a game-winning layup with five-tenths of a second remaining last Wednesday night at Stony Brook, giving the Greyhounds a 71-70 road win.
• It was the third time in the last two seasons that Walker has scored the game-winning points on Loyola's last possession.
• Last year, he scored on a drive to the basket with less than five seconds left at home against Lehigh University, and he hit two free throws with just over three ticks on the clock for a win at the U.S. Military Academy.

Strong Seconds

• Three players have stood out in the second halves of the Greyhounds four wins this season, averaging 23.0 of Loyola's 37.8 points after the break. Andre Walker and Jarred Jones have both scored 32 points, an 8.0 average in the four wins, while Chancellor Barnard is right behind at 28 and 7.0.
• Barnard has made 76.9 (10-of-13) of his shots after halftime in wins this season. 
• Defensively, the Greyhounds are outscoring foes 37.8-31.0 in the second halves of the wins, and they are +12 in turnovers (26-38).

Jones Flourishing

• Jarred Jones has been leading the Greyhounds in scoring and rebounding from the outset this season, and after eight games his averages stand at 14.3 points and 6.9 rebounds per game.
• He has led the team, or tied for team-high honors, in scoring five times this year, something he has done in four of the last five games.  The fifth-year senior – Jones received a medical hardship waiver for the 2014-2015 season – also tops the squad in steals this year (11) and is second with six blocked shots.
• Recently, he broke into Loyola's career top-25 for rebounding and is now 23rd with 462. He logged his 100th career steal against Mount St. Mary's, and he is now tied for 16th all-time with 101. Jones is also sixth on the Greyhounds' career blocked shots list with 95.

Getting To The Line

• Loyola has done a good job of getting to the free-throw line early in the season, as it is leading the Patriot League with 184 attempts as of Dec. 4 games. That translates into 23 attempts per game, and the Greyhounds' opponents have taken more foul shots just once this season (Duquesne). Loyola's free throws attempted are nearly 20 more than the Bucknell (168) and Navy (165), but both of those programs have played nine games to Loyola's eight.
• Opponents, in fact, are averaging almost six fewer attempts from the line this season (137 total, 17.1 per game).
• Andre Walker leads the Patriot League, and he is 28th in NCAA Division I as of Dec. 4 games with a 91.4 percent mark from the stripe this year. 

Finishing Strong

• Loyola did not start the game well against Fairfield on Nov. 23, but the Greyhounds dominated play for the final 29 minutes and finished with a 15-point victory.
• Trailing 27-15 with 9:03 left in the first half, Loyola closed the game outscoring the Stags by 27 points overall. The Greyhounds went on a 21-8 run over the next six minutes, and they then used a 29-8 stretch during the second half to put the game away.
• The Greyhounds started the game sloppily, committing six turnovers in the first 11 minutes, but they had only five more in the next 29.
• The Greyhounds scored a season-high 81 points and committing just 11 turnovers, a season-low.

Provo Providing A Plus

• Nevell Provo came off the bench and scored career highs in consecutive games against Notre Dame and Fairfield. He tallied six points, hitting a pair of threes, against the Fighting Irish on Nov. 18, and the native of Nova Scotia then scored 10 points Nov. 23 against Fairfield for his first career double-digit performance.
• He is one of two active NCAA Division I men's basketball players from the Canadian province of Nova Scotia (UC Riverside senior Gentrey Thomas).

Lucky 13 For Fives

• After scoring 10 or more points just once in 28 previous games, James Fives has logged 13 points in three of Loyola's last four contests. He first set his career high on Nov. 14 against Millersville, and he then hit that total two days later again versus LIU Brooklyn. Fives scored eight points at Notre Dame on Nov. 18 and had a bakers' dozen again Nov. 23 versus Fairfield.
• The sophomore guard received his first career start against the Fighting Irish, and he was in the opening five again against Fairfield. He played a career-high 32 minutes against the Stags.
• Last year, Fives averaged 1.9 points in 11 minutes per game, but through seven games this season, he is averaging 8.6 points in 23.9 minutes of action.
• He is shooting 42.1 percent from the field and 47.1 percent from 3-point range.

Best On The Block

• In early statistical returns this season, Loyola leads the Patriot League in blocked shots per game, averaging 4.4 per game with 35 total. The Greyhound are ranked 86th in blocks per game in NCAA Division I as of Dec. 4.
• Five players have swatted five or more shots this year: Chancellor Barnard (10), Jarred Jones, Andrew Kostecka and Andre Walker (6, each) and Cam Gregory (5).
• In just eight games this year, Loyola is more than 34 percent of the way to its 30-game blocked-shot total from 2015-2016 (102). Last year, Loyola was ninth in the League in blocked shots per game, averaging just 3.4 a contest.

Up Next

• The Greyhounds head to Binghamton University for their last game before final exams on Saturday, Dec. 10.