Game Information
Opponent	Marquette Golden Eagles
Date	Tuesday, November 5, 2019
Time	7:00 p.m. (Central) | 8:00 p.m. (Eastern)
Location	Milwaukee, Wis. | Fiserv Forum
Tickets	Purchase
Getting There	Directions
Watch	Fox College Sports
Online Media	Live Stats
Follow Us	Facebook | Twitter
Game Notes	Loyola

Quick Hits About The Hounds

• Loyola University Maryland officially opens its 110th season of men's basketball on Tuesday, November 5, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the Greyhounds will take on Marquette University in a 7 p.m. (Central)/8 p.m. (Eastern) game.
• The will be broadcast nationally on Fox College Sports.
• The game is the first of two-sraight the Greyhounds will play in the Central Time Zone to start the year. Loyola follows the game against the Golden Eagles with a Saturday, November 9, outing at Chicago State.
• Tavaras Hardy starts his second season on the Loyola sidelines after he was named the 21st head coach in Loyola men's basketball history on March 28, 2018.
• Hardy is joined on the sidelines by assistant coaches Ivo Simovic, Freddie Owens and Taj Finger. Kevin Farrell is back for his seventh season as the team's director of operations.
• In Hardy's first season, Loyola improved its field-goal percentage from .438 in 2017-18 to .459 in 2018-19, rising from 218th in NCAA Division I in the category to 85th. The Greyhounds' assists per game jumped from 11.6 to 14.0, moving from 309 to 124.
• The Greyhounds return 94.6 percent of their scoring and 86.79 percent of rebounds from a year ago. 

Turn On The Television

• Tuesday's game will air nationally on Fox College Sports, although the channel is not available on Baltimore-area cable providers. The channel is available on DirectTV channel 609 and on many streaming/over-the-top platforms.

About The Golden Eagles

• Marquette picked up an 88-51 over St. Norbert, an NCAA Division III team, in exhibition play on October 29. The Golden Eagles shot 56.9 percent from the field, knocking down 11 of 24 from 3-point range in the process.
• Four players scored in double-figures in the game, led by Brendan Bailey's 15. Koby McEwen added 14, while Markus Howard tallied 12 and Ed Morrow had 10 with nine rebounds off the bench.
• The Golden Eagles finished 24-10 last year with a 12-6 record in BIG EAST Conference play. They drew advanced to the NCAA Championships where they lost 83-64 in the first round to Murray State.
• Howard was the unanimous BIG EAST Player of the Year and a consensus All-American after leading Marquette with  25.0 points per game, setting a Golden Eagles' single-season record with 851 points. 

Exhibition Action

• Loyola tipped off its season Friday night with an exhibition game against Johns Hopkins, posting an 80-77 victory over the  Division III second-round team.
• Brent Holcombe scored all 13 of his points in the second half, including a go-ahead free throw in the last minute. Isaiah Hart then made both from the line with 20 seconds left before Loyola had two defensive stops to seal the game.
• Loyola scored the first 11 points of the second half to cut a 45-26 halftime deficit to eight just over three minutes into the frame. Johns Hopkins, which led by as many as 21 in the first half, shot 62.1 percent before the break, making 7 of 12 from 3-point range. The Blue Jays had a 14-point lead, 64-50, with 10:02 left in regulation after two Braeden Johnson free throws, but Loyola reeled off 15 of the next 17 points to close within one on a Chuck Champion layup at 6:06.
• Andrew Kostecka led Loyola with 22 points as one of five players with 10 or more points. Champion poured in 15, Holcombe added 13, KaVaughn Scott tallied 11 and Jaylin Andrews finished with 10.

Bring Back The Most

• Loyola returns more of its scoring from a year ago than any school in the Patriot League. Led by three players who averaged 10 or more points per game, the Greyhounds return 94.6 percent of their points from last season.
• Andrew Kostecka (21.3), Brent Holcombe (11.0), Chuck Champion (10.7) and Isaiah Hart (10.1) all averaged 10 or more points for the Greyhounds, although Holcombe was limited to 12 games before he was sidelined for the year with an injury.
• The three players – James Fives, Sam Norton and Jan Dornik – who are not back this year combined for 125 of the Greyhounds' 2,332 points in 2018-2019.

Preseason Prognostications

• Loyola was picked to finish fourth in the Patriot League Preseason Poll, the highest the Greyhounds have been tabbed before the year since joining the conference in 2013-14.
• Colgate was picked first, followed by Bucknell, American, the Greyhounds and Boston University in the top-five. Army West Point, Lehigh, Lafayette, Navy and Holy Cross rounded out the poll.
• Andrew Kostecka was selected to the Preseason All-Patriot League First Team by the coaches. He was also named the top small forward in Mid-Major basketball by College Basketball Central.

Season For The Books

• Andrew Kostecka had one of the most statistically prolific seasons in Loyola men's basketball history last year when he averaged 21.3 points, scoring 682 in 32 contests. His 682 points were second in program history behind only Andre Collins' 2005-06 total of 731 which is the school record. 
• The All-Patriot League First Team and All-Defensive Team honoree's 152 free throws made were eighth in single-season history, and Kostecka's 85 steals were good for third and are the most since Jason Rowe set the school record with 95 in 1998-99.
• Andrew Kostecka scored the game's first point February 9, 2019, at Colgate, and in the process became the 38th player in Loyola history to reach 1,000 career points. On February 23 at Boston University, he became the 33rd in school history to reach 1,100.
• Kostecka also has 166 career steals, good for sixth in school history, and is one of nine Loyola players to amass 1,100 points and 100 steals.

Think Globally, Not Just Locally

• Not only did Andrew Kostecka's statistics and play resonate at Loyola, but his 2018-19 campaign stacked up against some of the best in nation.
• He was the only player in NCAA Division I to average 21 points or more and 2.5 steals or more per game last year, and he was also one of only four players – Duke's Zion Williamson, St. John's Shamorie Ponds and Louisiana Monroe's Daishon Smith – to average 20 or more points and two or more steals. Throw in blocked shots, and he was the only player to average 21 or more points, 2.5 steals and 0.9 blocks per game.
• Four players – Kostecka, Hofstra's Justin Wright-Foreman, Charleston's Grant Riller  and Austin Peay's Terry Taylor – took 450 or more shots from the field while shooting 52.1 percent of better. In the history of the Patriot League, only one player had accomplished that, Colgate's Adonal Foyle (1996-97). Research via sports-reference.com.
• Overall, he finished eighth nationally in steals per game, 11th in total steals, 27th in points per game, 30th in field goals made and 36th in total points.

In The Patriot League, Too

• In the history of the Patriot League, only two players have averaged 20+ points, 4.5+ rebounds, 2.0+ steals and 2.0+ assists. NBA All-Star C.J. McCollum did it for Lehigh University in both 2010-11 and 2011-12, and Andrew Kostecka did so in 2018-19.

Cementing His Status

• Jaylin Andrews joined the Greyhounds' starting lineup on January 12, 2019, and was a fixture there ever since, en route to earning Patriot League All-Rookie Honors
• At Holy Cross, Andrews connected for 12 points on 4 of 6 from the field, 2 of 3 from 3-point range. He also had four rebounds and a career-best and team-high four assists. He had his second double-figure scoring output with 10 points at Bucknell and four boards
• He then went for 15 points, 10 after halftime, against Colgate for his third-straight game with 10-plus. Andrews was 4 of 4 from the free-throw line in overtime and also had two of his career-high four steals. He earned Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors after the Bucknell and Colgate games.
• Andrews finished with 11 points and a season-high eight rebounds in the Greyhounds' second meeting with Bucknell, and he set a new career-best with 17 points when Loyola hosted Navy. Andrews eclipsed that best with a 21-point outing, making 5 of 6 threes and 8 of 11 overall field goals in the regular-season finale against Lehigh.
• In Patriot League games, Andrews averaged 8.8 points and 3.0 rebounds in 29.3 minutes of action in 2018-19. Prior to the conference starting, Andrews was averaging 3.2 points in 14.8 minutes per game.

Dishing And Taking

• Starting with a February 2, 2019, game in which he had career-high numbers in both assists (9) and steals (4) at Navy, Isaiah Hart increased his production in those statistical categories over Loyola's last eight games of the season.
• Hart has averaged 4.8 assists and 1.8 steals in those games, and he had a 2.5:1 assist:turnover ratio in the eight. Hart also averaged 12.3 points per game during those outings, buoyed by a 25-point outburst at Boston University, one off his career-high.
• After battling through a rough start to the season in which he averaged 3.0 points over the Greyhounds' first five contests, Hart rebounded to average 11.4 in Loyola's last 27 games. During that stretch he is the team's second-leading scorer behind Kostecka. He averaged 12.8 points in Patriot League games.
• In his first two seasons at Loyola, Hart has played in 63 games, averaging 27.8 minutes per, and has scored 642 points to go with 187 assists. He is averaging 10.2 points and 2.96 assists per game.

Leading In The Post And On Campus

• KaVaughn Scott stepped into a starting role as a post player last season and turned in career-highs of 7.3 points and 4.5 rebounds per game while shooting 54.3 percent from the field.
• Off the court, Scott has stepped into a leadership role in several areas. He serves as the co-president of Loyola's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, and he is also a member of the school's Green & Grey Society, a group of 14 seniors selected to represent their peers with the university president and administration.

Two Over Ten

• Chuck Champion is one of three players returning for the Greyhounds who have averaged 10 or more points over each of the last two seasons (Andrew Kostecka and Isaiah Hart). 
• Champion has averaged 9.0 points over his 87 career games, scoring 10 or more 39 times entering his senior campaign. The Philadelphia native has tallied 781 points in a Greyhounds uniform.

Closing On A High Note

• Kenneth Jones finished his freshman season with a flourish, posting four of his seven games with 10 or more points in the Greyhounds' final seven games. The guard averaged 10 points per over that span, capped by a 14-point effort at American and a 15-point game against Lehigh, both Loyola victories.
• During his freshman campaign, Jones played in all 32 games, seeing 20.3 minutes of action while averaging 6.4 points. He also finished third on the team with 70 assists, and he had a 1.62:1 assist:turnover ratio.

New Kids In Town

• Tavaras Hardy and his staff welcomed four scholarship players and a walk-on to the program this fall in Santi Aldama, Garren Davis, Golden Dike, Cam Spencer and Daraun Gray.
• Aldama and Dike recently won gold with the Spanish National Team at the FIBA European Championships where Aldama was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. Aldama led all players in the tournament in efficiency (22.9), and his plus-minus of +141 (+20.1 per game) was tops, too. He finished as the championships' third-leading scorer at 18.0 points per game.
• Dike was a member of three championship teams in 2018-19, the FIBA U-18 European Championships and helping Real Madrid to the 2019 Spanish National Championship and the Euroleague U-18 Adidas Next Generation crown when he averaged 9.3 points and 7.0 rebounds in the 2019 tournament in Munich.
• Davis comes to Baltimore from the Dallas area where he was an All-District player at The Colony High School, averaging 16 points per game and helping the Cougars to the third-round of the state playoffs.
• Spencer starts his Loyola career after earning Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) Player of the Year honors in 2018-19 when he averaged 25 points, seven rebounds and 4.5 assists in conference games, helping the Lakers to a 30-6 overall mark and 15.2 record in MIAA play. He was an All-MIAA honoree in both basketball and lacrosse, and his family comes with a significant Loyola past. His older brother, Pat, was a four-time All-American for the Loyola men's lacrosse team, earning the Tewaaraton Award as the nation's top player in 2019 when he set the NCAA all-time record for assists. Pat is now a graduate transfer playing basketball at Northwestern.
• Gray also has a sibling who has been a standout at Loyola. His older sister, Alexis, has started 40 games for the Loyola women's basketball team and has averaged 9.2 points over the last three seasons, entering her senior season.

Kostecka In The Last 28

• Andrew Kostecka has logged career-high scoring numbers four times in the Greyhounds' last 28 games, recording 17 games with 21 or more points, 12 with 26 or better and four with 30 or higher. He scored 13 or more in all but one of those games and had 18 or more in all but four.
• Over the course of the last 28, Kostecka scored 629 points, an average of 22.5 to go with 4.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.7 steals per game. He shot 54.4 percent from the field during those games.
• During that stretch, he scored 32 points and had seven steals at Army West Point on February 27, 2018, posting career-highs in both categories. His five 3-pointers made were also a career-best.
• He is the one of only two players in NCAA Division I to score 30 or more points with seven steals in 2018-19, joining St. John's Shamorie Ponds who had 35 and seven against VCU in November.
• Per sports-reference.com, only 17 players have had 30 and seven since the 2010-11 season with Kostecka being the first Patriot League player.

Making Big Strides

• In the Greyhounds' first 11 games, Casmir Ochiaka saw time in only eight, playing limited minutes (33 total, 4.1 average). His minutes and production jumped, however, due to available rotation time since the December 28, 2018, game at North Carolina State.
• In 18 Patriot League games, Ochiaka averaged 5.3 points and 5.1 rebounds in 17.3 minutes of action. 
• Ochiaka had scored seven points three times prior to February 13, 2019, but he broke out in a big way that night at American, logging his first collegiate double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds in the come-from-behind win. He scored 15 of his points in the second half and converted three and-ones with layups and free throws in the final 2:19.
• He logged his second double-double in nine days with 10 points and a game-best 11 boards against Navy, and he then added a third double-double in the regular-season finale with 11 of each against Lehigh.

Graduation Success

• Loyola University Maryland tied for the fourth-highest overall Graduate Success Rate (GSR) in the NCAA report released in October, highlighting the Greyhounds success in the classroom. Loyola had a 97 percent GSR marking the sixth time the Greyhounds have had a GSR of 97 or better. Loyola has ranked in the top-25 of the GSR in all 15 years since the report's inception.
• Loyola's basketball program was one of two in the State of Maryland that had a NCAA Graduation Success Rate of 100 percent for the most-recent report.

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 seventh season.