Quick Hits About The Hounds
- Loyola University Maryland returns to Retiz Arena for the first of two-straight home contests. The Greyhounds host the U.S. Military Academy on Saturday, January 12, in a 2 p.m. tipoff.
- The Greyhounds have played eight of nine on the road entering the Army West Point game.
- KaVaughn Scott scored a career-high 21 points at Lafayette, eclipsing his previous best by seven.
- After shooting 38.8 percent from the field in non-conference games, Isaiah Hart has made 18 of 29 (62.1 percent) in the Greyhounds' first three Patriot League games. He scored what was a season-high 17 against Holy Cross before topping that three days later with 21 at Lehigh on Sunday. The sophomore has scored 10 or more points six times in Loyola's last nine. Since December 1, Hart has averaged 11.7 points per game, and he is shooting 54.2 percent.
- Andrew Kostecka has averaged 22.3 points over Loyola's last 12 games, shooting 46.2 percent from 3-point range and 51.7 percent from the field in that stretch.
- Kostecka has seven games with 23 or more points in those games.
- 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.
Series History Versus Army West Point
- Loyola and Army West Point will meet for the 13th time on the basketball hardwood. The Black Knights won both games during the Greyhounds' first Patriot League season, but the teams have split the regular-season series each of the last five years. Loyola won the rubber match between the two schools last year when it won a Patriot League Championships First Round game, 82-79, in Reitz Arena.
- Last season, each team won on its own home court during the regular-season. The Black Knights captured an 86-75 victory in a January meeting at West Point, while Loyola took a 79-68 decision later in the month in Baltimore.
- Loyola shot 65.4 percent from the floor in the second half and made seven of its last eight field goals en route to its first-round victory last year.
- Andrew Kosetcka scored 20 points, and Andre Walker had 13 of his 19 after halftime for the Greyhounds, while Chuck Champion contributed 13 and KaVaughn Scott added 10 with eight rebounds.
- Army West Point built an eight-point lead, 39-31, on a Jordan Fox three less than 30 seconds before halftime, but Walker knocked down an off-balance 3-pointer from the left side to get the Greyhounds within five at the buzzer.
- Fox, however, made another three at 15:44 in the second half, pushing the Black Knights' lead to 10, 50-40. Kostecka scored for Loyola in the paint 34 seconds later to break a 6-0 Army West Point run, but Tucker Blackwell made two of three at the free-throw line at 14:51 to push the lead back to 10.
- Walker scored again in the paint at 6:39 to put Loyola in front by two, but Luke Morrison was fouled and made the front-end of two at the line to cut the Black Knights' deficit to one. Loyola turned the ball over, and Matt Wilson scored on a turnaround layup at 5:46, giving Army a 66-65 lead at 5:46.
- From there, Champion knocked down a 12-foot jumper for Loyola, and Kostecka converted a steal into two fast-break points at 5:09. He then rebounded a Fox miss and sent a long outlet pass to Champion for a transition layup that gave Loyola a five point lead, 71-66, with 4:55 on the clock.
- Funk would get Army West Point within two, 73-71 with a top-of-the-perimeter three at 3:11, but Scott made three of four free throws on the next two Greyhounds possessions to stretch the advantage to seven.
- Army West Point, however, came back with a Funk layup and a King three with 43 seconds left, making it a two-point game. Scott misfired on two free throws for Loyola, but Brent Holcombe's defense altered a Jacob Kessler layup, and Holcombe came down with the rebound the Greyhounds. He was fouled and made both free throws with 18 ticks left to provide a four-point advantage.
- Funk had another three in him for the Black Knights, striking with 11 seconds left. Loyola inbounded the ball, and Champion killed five seconds off the clock before being fouled. He hit two free throws to make it an 82-79 Loyola lead.
Last Time Out
- KaVaughn Scott eclipsed his previous career-high by seven points, scoring a game-best 21 Wednesday night, but Lafayette made 11 of 20 from behind the 3-point line and took an 85-70 win over the Greyhounds at Kirby Sports Center.
- Scott made a career-best nine field goals and hit all but one of his four free throws. He topped his previous high-point total of 14 set twice, most recently against Dartmouth College in this season's second game. The junior post player also had a game-high eight rebounds.
- Lafayette, however, made six of its first nine 3-point attempts and went 8 of 14 from behind the arc in the first half, building a 38-29 lead at the break. Justin Jaworski hit four 3-pointers on five attempts, all in the first half, and scored 17 points, while Alex Petrie went 3 of 7 from deep to lead Lafayette with 19 points. Paulius Zalys added 16 points and seven assists off the bench.
- Lafayette went up by 14, 51-37, on an E.J. Stephens 3-pointer with 14:52 left in regulation, but Loyola scored the next eight points to narrow the gap to six. Jaylin Andrews hit a 12-foot jumper in the lane to make it a 51-43 game, and he then came up with a steal on the defensive end and went the distance for a transition layup at 13:10, forcing a Lafayette timeout with the score, 51-45.
- The Leopards' Myles Cherry scored out of the timeout, but Scott responded with a layup for the Greyhounds, and it was a six-points game again with 12:12 on the clock. Lafayette, however, reeled off 17 of the next 19 points to lead 70-49 on a traditional 3-point play by Stephens.
- Chuck Champion added 14 points for Loyola, while Isaiah Hart added 11 and Kenneth Jones scored nine.
Career Night For KaVaughn
- KaVaughn Scott established himself as a scoring presence early in Thursday night's game, scoring eight points in the first six minutes, 10 in the opening eight against Lafayette. He continued his output in the second half, finishing with a career-high 21 points.
- Scott's 21 were seven more than his previous best of 14, a total he scored earlier this year against Dartmouth College and during his 2016-17 freshman campaign against Millersville University.
- Scott also had career-highs of nine field goals made and 15 attempted. His eight rebounds against the Leopards are tied for his second-best total of this season.
Kostecka In The Last 12
- Andrew Kostecka has logged career-high scoring numbers three times in the Greyhounds' last 12 games, recording seven games with 23 or more points and two with 30 or better. He has scored 13 or more in all 11 of those games and has had 18 or more in all but two.
- Over the course of the last 12, Kostecka 22.3 points to go with 5.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.7 steals per game. He has shot 51.7 percent from the field during those games 46.2 from 3-point range.
- 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 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 at Drexel University, making a career-high 12 field goals in scoring 31 against the Dragons. He had his fifth outing with 23 or more, hitting that number at UMass Lowell and added a sixth with 27 on December 28 at then-No. 20 North Carolina State.
- Kostecka did not score for nearly 15 minutes in the Patriot League opener against Holy Cross, but he tallied 24 points in the second half and 29 in the game. He then had 18 at Lehigh.
- Part of his increased scoring has come from better 3-point shooting. Kostecka missed his first 10 attempts of the season from behind the arc before making one against Temple University in the second half on November 16. Including that made shot, he is 25 of 55 since, and including, that bucket.
- Kostecka leads the Patriot League in scoring this year with 20.0 points per game, and his 5.1 rebounds are 16th, third-most among guards. His points per game rank 42nd, and his 320 total points this year rank 29th in all of NCAA Division I. His is one of 43 players to average 20 or more points per game.
Statistical Differences
- Loyola's four wins and 11 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 52.8 percent overall and 47.6 from behind the arc in Loyola's losses.
- The Greyhounds have held opponents to under 70 points in each of its victories.
Points From The Point
- After battling through a rough start to the season in which he averaged 3.0 points over the Greyhounds' first five contests, Isaiah Hart has rebounded to average 10.7 in Loyola's last 11 games. During that stretch he is the team's third-leading scorer behind Kostecka and Champion.
- Hart has shot 53.1 percent from the field over the Greyhounds' last 11 games, a mark buoyed by shooting 62.1 percent from the field in the Greyhounds first three Patriot League games. In those first two outings, he has his two highest scoring outputs of the year with 21 at Lehigh after tallying 17 against Holy Cross.
- Hart converted six of his nine shot attempts in the Patriot League opener against Holy Cross and finished with 17 points, a season-high. He then made eight of 12 against the Mountain Hawks. He also had four assists and three steals at Lehigh.
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.
- He had his best statistical game of 2018-2019 in the Patriot League opener against Holy Cross, scoring seven points to go with seven rebounds – both season-highs – to go with two assists and two steals. He was the Greyhounds' best plus-minus player in the game as Loyola outscored Holy Cross by nine during his 25 minutes of action. The game garnered Norton his first start of the 2019 season at Lehigh.
Assists From Everywhere
- Loyola is averaging 13.8 assists per game this season, a number that ranks fifth in the Patriot League. The number is more than two 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. Six Greyhounds are averaging 1.5 assists per game or more.
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 31.9 minutes. He has scored 10 or more points in all but two of Loyola's games.
Getting To The Stripe
- Loyola has been adept at getting to the free-throw line through the first 16 games of the season. The Greyhounds have gone to the stripe 322 times, making 231, and rank first in the Patriot League in both categories.
- 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 29th in the nation, and first in the conference, with 81 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 11.0 this season, and his rebounds per game from 3.8 to a team-best 6.0.
- Holcombe has scored seven or more in all but one game this season and is shooting 54.6 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 5.9 points per game in an average of 18.5 minutes, while Andrews has seen 6.8 minutes per game and averaged 3.3 points.
- Andrews scored a to-date career-high nine points, all in the first half, at Binghamton. Jones tallied a career-best with 12 points at UMass Lowell, making five of nine shots from the field.
- Jones has found his range from 3-point distance with a 41.15percent mark from behind the arc, making 17 of 41 attempts. He is also second on the team with 33 assists this year.
Up Next
- Loyola continues action at home on Wednesday, January 16 when it hosts Boston University in a 7 p.m. game.
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.
