Quick Hits About The Hounds
- Loyola University Maryland plays its third game in seven days, all on the road, on Tuesday, December 11, when the Greyhounds make the trip down Interstate 95 to face the University of Maryland. The Terrapins are ranked No. 23 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and are receiving votes in the AP media version.
- The game is slated for 7 p.m. and will air on the Big Ten Network.
- In its last two games (at Drexel and Binghamton), Loyola has shot 56.5 percent from the field and 52.8 percent from 3-point range. The Greyhounds have averaged 84.5 points in the two contests. Andrew Kostecka, Brent Holcombe and KaVaughn Scott have combined to shoot 69.8 percent (37 of 53).
- Kostecka has set career-highs in scoring three times in the last 22 days. He is averaging 24 points over Loyola's last six.
- Loyola will have a 10-day layoff for final exams before its next game, a December 21 contest at UMass Lowell.
- Tavaras Hardy is in his first season as head coach of the Greyhounds. He was named the 21st head coach in Loyola men's basketball history on March 28.
- Hardy will be joined on the sidelines by three assistant coaches who are also in this first year at Loyola: A.J. Guyton, Ivo Simović and Brenden Straughn. Kevin Farrell is back for his seventh season as the team's director of operations.
Turn On The Television
- Tuesday night's game will air nationally on the Big Ten Network with Dave O'Brien calling the play-by-play and Dan Bonner handling analysis.
Series History
- Loyola and Maryland, which are separated by 30 miles as the crow flies, will meet for the 16th time in series history when the teams take the floor on Tuesday night. The game will be the first between the schools' men's programs since February 2003 when the Terrapins posted an 85-58 victory in the opening year of the XFINITY Center.
- The Greyhounds hold an 8-7 all-time lead in the series that dates to the 1911-12 season, but Maryland has won each of the last seven meetings since 1971.
- As a note, Maryland lists the series record as 7-6 in the Terrapins season with the 1911-12 campaign not recognized as a varsity season.
- In the team's last meeting on February 2, 2003, Maryland outscored the Greyhounds, 50-26, in the first half and controlled a 40-24 advantage in points-in-the-paint during the contest. Ryan Randle scored a game-high 17 points for the Terrapins, while Drew Nicholas added 15. Bernard Allen paced Loyola with 16 points, while Lucious Jordan had 13. Donovan Thomas grabbed a game-best 11 rebounds for Loyola.
Last Time Out
- Loyola shot 55.2 percent from the field, 58.2 percent from behind the 3-point line, and all five of the Greyhounds' starters scored in double-figures Saturday during an 83-65 victory at Binghamton.
- Andrew Kostecka led the balanced scoring effort with 13 points, while KaVaughn Scott and Chuck Champion each had 12. Brent Holcombe added 11 and Isaiah Hart tallied 10. Scott had a game-best nine rebounds, and Champion grabbed eight, to help Loyola controlled a 38-26 advantage on the glass.
- Sam Sessoms scored the game's first five points for Binghamton, but after he sunk a three at 17:52 in the first half, the Greyhounds went on a 12-0 run and did not allow a Bearcats basket until a Chancellor Barnard dunk with 11:44 was left in the first half.
- During Binghamton's scoreless stretch of more than six minutes, Jaylin Andrews and Sam Norton all knocked down 3-pointers, and Kostecka had a pair of baskets in the paint. The Bearcats got back within four, 17-13, on a Barnard layup at 9:22, but Loyola tallied 12 of the next 16 points to push the advantage to 29-17 on an Andrews' layup with 5:38 on the clock.
- Binghamton had another rally to draw within four, 29-25, when Caleb Stewart made two free throws at 2:49. James Fives responded with a three from the top of the perimeter at 2:32, and Chuck Champion wrapped two jumpers around a Sessoms basket to give Loyola a 36-27 lead going into halftime.
- The Bearcats cut their deficit to five with a Sessoms three and a Barnard free throw to start the second half, but the Greyhounds came back with the next seven points on jumpers by Hart and Kostecka and a Holcombe three. J.C. Show, Binghamton's second-leading scorer who was held to 10 points and none in the first half, made a three with 13:54 left in regulation, cutting Loyola's lead to 49-45, but Champion responded with a three from the right wing.
- After two Bearcats free throws by Richard Caldwell, Jr., Kenneth Jones made a three and Champion knocked down another jumper. Holcombe then scored twice in a row in the paint, the first off an offensive rebound, extending the lead to 15 with 10:37 on the clock. From that point until the final buzzer, Binghamton did not get closer than 12.
Kostecka In The Last Six
- Andrew Kostecka has logged career-high scoring numbers three times in the Greyhounds' last six games, recording four games with 23 or more points and two with 30 or better.
- Over the course of the last five, Kostecka 24.0 points to go with 5.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game. He has shot 58.6 percent from the field during those games.
- Kostecka opened the stretch with a 23-point outing at the University of Detroit Mercy on November 19, topping his previous high of 22 points from 2017. He followed that a day later with his "low" output of 18 against Hampton University. He then poured in 30 points on November 25 at Towson University before going 12 of 12 from the free-throw line in scoring 29 on December 1 against Mount St. Mary's University.
- He upped his career-high by one on Wednesday night at Drexel University, making a career-high 12 field goals in scoring 31 against the Dragons.
- Part of his increased scoring has come from better 3-point shooting. Kostecka missed his first 10 attempts from behind the arc before making one against Temple University in the second half on November 16. Including that made shot, he is 13 of 34 since, and including, that bucket.
- Kostecka leads the Patriot League in scoring this year with 19.7 points per game, and his 5.4 rebounds are 14th, second-most among guards. His 197 total points this year rank 32nd in all of NCAA Division I.
Statistical Differences
- Loyola's four wins and six losses can be seen in statistical differences. The Greyhounds have held opponents to 35.1 percent from the field, 21.8 from 3-point range in their wins; meanwhile, foes are shooting 50.1 percent overall and 47.0 from behind the arc in Loyola's losses.
- The Greyhounds have held opponents to under 70 points in each of its victories.
Patriot League Plaudits
- Andrew Kostecka earned Patriot League Player of the Week honors for the second time in as many weeks on December 3 after recording the first double-double of his collegiate career Saturday in a win over Mount St. Mary's.
- Kostecka, who had averaged 23.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists in three games the week prior, had game-best marks of 29 points and 11 rebounds in the victory. He tallied 16 of his points after halftime for the Greyhounds.
- His 29 points were one off his career-high after he set a career-best totals in points twice during the previous week. First, he scored 23 points on November 19, at the University of Detroit Mercy. After finishing with 18 the following night against the University of Hampton – earning GotPrint.com Legends Classic All-Tournament Team honors in the process – Kostecka came back with 30 points on November 25 at Towson University.
Assists From Everywhere
- Loyola is averaging 15.2 assists per game this season, a number that ranks fourth in the Patriot League. The number is almost four higher than the Greyhounds averaged last year (11.6), and Loyola has not ranked above eighth in the conference since joining the Patriot League in 2013.
- The Greyhounds have reached the 2018-19 total by having not having any players ranked in the top-15 in the Patriot League in per-game assists. Eight Greyhounds are averaging 1.2 assists per game or more. Loyola is 49th in NCAA Division I with 152 total assists this year.
Passing The Boards
- On paper, rebounding looked to be a bit of a question mark for the Greyhounds this season after the departure of 2018 graduate Cam Gregory who finished third all-time at Loyola with 876 career rebounds.
- Through 10 games, however, the Greyhounds have answered that question in a positive sense, outrebounding four of their six opponents by an average of 2.0 per game. Brent Holcombe leads the Greyhounds with 6.4 per game; KaVaughn Scott has grabbed 4.0 per game. Loyola's guards have been a large part of the success on the glass with Andrew Kostecka checking in second on the team at 5.2, and Chuck Champion third at 4.5. One of those two guards has led the team in rebounds in four of Loyola's 10 games.
Champion Doubles Up
- Chuck Champion had his first career double-double November 11 against Dartmouth, scoring 17 points while leading all players with a career-best 11 rebounds.
- The junior guard scored 12 in the first half, including 10 in the final 10 minutes of the stanza. He finished 7 of 12 from the field. In two games (2018 and 2019) against Dartmouth, Champion has averaged 21.5 points against the Big Green. His previous career-high in rebounds was nine against Navy last season. The junior guard scored 17 again, just over a week later, in a win over Hampton, tallying 15 of his points in the second half.
- This season, Champion is second on the Greyhounds with 12.7 points and first with 32.4 minutes. He has scored 10 or more points in all but one of Loyola's games.
Getting To The Stripe
- Loyola has been adept at getting to the free-throw line through the first eight games of the season. The Greyhounds have gone to the stripe 222 times, making 156, and rank 57th in NCAA Division I in free-throws made, 58th in attempts. Both numbers top the Patriot League.
- Andrew Kostecka mad all 12 of his free-throw attempts against Mount St. Mary's, the fifth-most in school history without a miss. He is 33rd in the nation, and first in the conference, with 49 free-throws made this year.
Building An Inside Presence
- A year after averaging 15.2 minutes in 26 games (two starts), sophomore post Brent Holcombe has seen considerably more action through the first eight games this year. He has raised his scoring average from 4.8 last year to 10.9 this season, and his rebounds per game from 3.8 to a team-best 6.6.
- Holcombe has scored seven or more in all but one game this season and is shooting 53.3 percent from the field.
- Holcombe played his best basketball of his 2017-2018 in Loyola's last four games of his freshman season, averaging 11.5 points and 6.8 rebounds in contests against Lehigh, Navy, Army West Point and Bucknell.
- He scored a then-career-high 18 points on at Navy, knocking down 8 of 15 shots in the regular-season finale, both career highs. The 18 points eclipsed his previous-best of 17 points earlier in February against American.
- In the Patriot League Championships First Round against Army West Point, Holcombe scored eight points, including two free throws with under 25 seconds left. He had his second double-digit rebounding effort of the year with 10.
- He followed that with a his first career double-double, a 12-point, 10-rebound outing against eventual Patriot League champion Bucknell University in the quarterfinal round.
Freshmen Earning More Run
- Kenneth Jones and Jaylin Andrews have been the most consistent members of Loyola's freshmen class in terms of minutes played this season. Jones has scored 5.2 points per game in an average of 18.0 minutes, while Andrews has seen 15.9 minutes per game and averaged 3.8 points.
- Andrews scored a to-date career-high nine points, all in the first half, at Binghamton.
- The Mount St. Mary's game brought more significant playing time for fellow freshmen, Jan Dornik and Casmir Ochiaka as both entered the game in the first half for the first time this season. Ochiaka finished with four points in eight minutes, while Dornik had an assist and a rebound in six.
Consistent Like A Champion
- Chuck Champion missed the first five games of the 2017-12018 season with an injury, but he opened his year with a flourish, scoring a career-high 26 points on 12 of 15 from the floor in a game at Dartmouth College.
- Champion followed that effort with 11 or more points in seven-straight games, scoring 15 or better in his next six.
- Champion was one of the team's most-consistent scorers a season ago, topping the 10-point mark in 16 of the 26 games he played during the year, averaging 11.5 points per game, second-best on last year's squad and the top returning mark.
- Champion is also the team's returning leader in minutes played after averaging 30.7 as a sophomore. This season, he is averaging 32.2 minutes per game.
Scholarship For Sam
- After joining the team and playing as a walk-on for the last three years, Sam Norton was awarded a scholarship for his senior season.
- Norton saw increased playing time as a junior, playing in 26 games and starting 10 while averaging 2.7 points and 3.0 rebounds in 17.6 minutes per game. This year, Norton is averaging 16.6 minutes
Hounds Abroad
- Several former Loyola players have, or are about to, start professional seasons overseas. Those players include: Denzel Brito '15 (Onsabruecker T.B., Germany), Julius Brooks '13 (Corio Bay, Australia), Cam Gregory '18 (Tromso Story, Norway), Jarred Jones '17 (Lahti, Finland), Jordan Latham '14 (Hawthorn, Australia) Michael Tuck '08 (Sheffield Sharks, England), and Shane Walker '12 (Al-Ittihad, Bahrain).
Up Next
- The Greyhounds will take a 10-day break for final exams before returning to the court for one final pre-Christmas game. Loyola heads to New England to face UMass Lowell on Friday, December 21, at 7 p.m.
Patriot League Network
- All of Loyola University Maryland non-televised home men's basketball games will air live on the Patriot League Network for the sixth season.
