Quick Hits About The Hounds
- Loyola University Maryland plays the first of three games in seven days – and the opening contest of five-straight on the road – when it heads to Philadelphia to face Drexel University.
- The Greyhounds and Dragons are set to tipoff at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, December 5.
- Andrew Kostecka earned his second-straight Patriot League Player of the Week honor on Monday after logging his first collegiate double-double in Saturday's win over Mount St. Mary's University. He also won the honor on November 26.
- 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.
- Five players – Jaylin Andrews, Brandon Bradsher, Kenneth Jones, Casmir Ochiaka and Markese Redding – made their Loyola debuts in the season-opener at St. John's.
- Three players – Isaiah Hart, Andrew Kostecka and Chuck Champion – who started more than half of last year's 30 games return for the 2018-2019 season.
Series History
- Loyola and Drexel will meet for the 11th time in series history and second time in as many years when the teams take the floor on Wednesday. The contest is the second of a two-game series between the schools.
- In last December's meeting, Loyola held visiting Drexel to just one field goal and four total points in the final 3:30 of regulation, and the Greyhounds dealt the Dragons a 66-62 defeat in Reitz Arena. Chuck Champion scored 21 points, and both Cam Gregory and KaVaughn Scott had career-highs with 16 and 10 rebounds, respectively, for the Greyhounds.
- Loyola led for the majority of the game, going up by eight early in the second half for the largest margin either team led by in the contest, but Drexel rallied to tie the score at 47-47 on a Tadas Karainas 3-pointer with 8:50 to play.
- Champion responded with a three for the Greyhounds on their next possession, but an Austin Williams basket in the paint and a Kurk Lee three at 7:07 pushed the Dragons ahead, 52-50. The lead was Drexel's first since just under 11 minutes remained in the first half. After Lee's three gave Drexel a two-point lead, Champion caught a Scott outlet pass to score in transition, knotting the game at 52-52, but Lee knocked down another three to push Drexel up three with 6:01 left.
- River Reed scored off one of Andre Walker's game-high seven assists for the Greyhounds at 5:11, and 50 ticks later Lee converted in the lane to put Drexel up by three once again, 57-54. With the shot-clock winding down on Loyola's next possession, Walker fed Champion on the top-right of the perimeter, and he drained his fourth 3-pointer of the game, tying the score for the eighth time. Lee was fouled at 3:38, but he made only the front-end of two free throws, giving Drexel a 58-57 advantage with 3:38 to play.
- Walker triggered a highlight-reel play on Loyola's ensuing possession that would put the Greyhounds in front for good. He slung a one-handed bounce pass to Reed on the baseline, and Reed quickly redirected it to Gregory on the left side of the lane. Gregory's one-handed dunk over two Drexel defenders drew a foul, and he made the free throw to put Loyola up a pair, 60-58 with 3:20 on the clock.
- After Lee missed a three for Drexel, Walker fed Reed for a layup at 2:35, giving the freshman post a career-high nine points for the game.
- On the defensive end, Gregory had a steal on one Drexel possession, and Andrew Kostecka blocked a Dragons shot on the next. Champion then pulled up for a jumper with 68 seconds left, pushing the Loyola advantage to six, 64-58.
Last Time Out
- Loyola guards Andrew Kostecka and Isaiah Hart combined to score 43 points Saturday afternoon, and the Greyhounds won their 174th meeting with Mount St. Mary's, 75-65, in Reitz Arena.
- Kostecka scored 29 points and had his first collegiate double-double with 11 rebounds, while Hart added a season-best 14 points. Kostecka's 29 were one off his career-high of 30 set on Sunday night at Towson University, and the point-total was his third of 23 or more in four games.
- Mount St. Mary's led 27-24 on a Jalen Gibbs transition layup with 5:52 left in the first half, but Loyola took a 32-29 lead on a Hart 3-pointer at 3:49, an advantage it would build on for the remainder of the first half and not relinquish throughout the game.
- Four-straight by Kostecka, on two free throws at 1:37 and a layup with 61 seconds to go before halftime, stretched the lead to eight for Loyola (3-5 overall). Malik Jefferson scored two of his team-high 22 for Mount St. Mary's (0-7) on the Mountaineers' next possession, but Sam Norton converted in the paint just before the break, and Loyola took a 40-32 lead into the locker room.
- Hart pushed the lead to double-digits, 45-34, less than four minutes into the second half, and the Greyhounds' advantage stayed at seven or more for the remainder of the game. Mount St. Mary's cut it to seven, 57-50, on two Vado Morse free throws with 7:33 on the clock, but Loyola reeled off eight of the next 10 points to lead 65-52 on two Norton free throws with less than five minutes on the clock.
- Loyola took a season-high 37 free throws during the game, making 28, as Kostecka was 12 of 12 from the stripe. Kostecka's game-high 11 rebounds helped Loyola to a 39-36 advantage on the glass.
- Brent Holcombe added nine points for Loyola, and KaVaughn Scott had seven in limited minutes due to foul trouble.
Patriot League Plaudits
- Andrew Kostecka earned Patriot League Player of the Week honors for the second time in as many weeks Monday 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.
- He has scored an even 100 points in Loyola's last four contests, averaging 25 along with a team-best 7.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists during the span.
- The junior guard leads Loyola and the Patriot League in scoring, this season with 19.1 points per game. His 5.8 rebounds are second on the team, and his 2.3 assists lead the Greyhounds.
Assists From Everywhere
- Loyola is averaging 14.5 assists per game this season, a number that ranks third in the Patriot League. The number is more than three higher than the Greyhounds averaged last year, 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 1.3 assists per game or more.
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 eight games, however, the Greyhounds have answered that question in a positive sense, outrebounding four of their six opponents by an average of 1.9per game.
- Brent Holcombe leads the Greyhounds with 6.8 per game; KaVaughn Scott has grabbed 3.5 per game, while Sam Norton is averaging 3.3 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 5.8, and Chuck Champion third at 4.5.
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 12.8 points and first with 32.4 minutes per game. 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 187 times, making 136, and rank 55th in NCAA Division I in free-throws made, 61st in attempts. Both numbers top the Patriot League.
- Loyola has shot 72.7 percent from the stripe, a mark good for 86th nationally.
- 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 31st in the nation, and first in the conference, with 43 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 10.3 this season, and his rebounds per game from 3.8 to a team-best 6.8.
- Holcombe has scored seven or more in all but one game this season and is shooting 51.6 percent from the field. He also has averaged 2.0 assists per game.
- 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. During the second half against Navy, Holcombe scored 11 of his points; nine of those points came over a seven-minute stretch in which he made a three to tie the game at 43-43 and a layup at 10:16 to push Loyola up two. He later passed up a three to assist on a triple by Andrew Kostecka at 6:41 that would give the Greyhounds a three-point advantage. He then converted free-throw line jumpers on consecutive possession to stretch that lead to seven at 4:27.
- 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 5.4 points per game in an average of 18.8 minutes, while Andrews has seen 14.6 minutes per game and averaged 3.1 points.
- 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.
All-Around Andrew
- Andrew Kostecka earned Patriot League All-Defensive Team honors – the first for a Loyola player since the Greyhounds joined the conference in 2013-14 – last season after finishing second in the conference in steals per game (2.1) and fourth in blocks (1.1). He was the only Patriot League player to rank in the top five of both categories in 2017-18.
- His 29 blocked shots were the most in Loyola history by a non-post player.
- Kostecka was much more than just a defensive player, however, as he scored at every level and averaged 11.0 points per game as a sophomore. He shot .452 overall (.502 from inside the arc and .323 from 3-point range) and .745 from the free-throw line.
- A Maryland native, Kostecka scored 10 or more points 14 times and had a pair of 20-point games in 2017-18 for the Greyhounds.
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 32.4 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 17.5 minutes with 3.1 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.
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
- Loyola stays on the road for its next four games, beginning with a Saturday, December 8, game at Binghamton University..
- The Greyhounds then travel down Interstate 95 to face the University of Maryland on Tuesday, December 11.
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.
