Quick Hits About The Hounds
- Loyola University Maryland returns to Reitz Arena on Sunday, December 1, for its second home game of the year.
- The Greyhounds will host Binghamton University at 6 p.m. to start a stretch of three out of five at home.
- The Greyhounds had 20 assists on Monday night against IUPUI, the third time in six outings this year they have posted 20 or more.
- Andrew Kostecka scored in double-figures for the 23rd-straight game on Tuesday when he scored 25 against Omaha. The game marked the 24th time in his career, and fourth time this year, that he has scored 20 or more; he also has three games with 25+ this year. The Nov. 17 game when he had 31 against Fairfield was his fourth career 30-plus point performance. He has finished with 10 or more 52 times since the start of his sophomore year (2017-18). He has averaged 17.3 points during that stretch.
- Tavaras Hardy is in 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.
- 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.
Series History
- Loyola and Binghamton will play for the sixth time in series history on Sunday evening, the first two times coming during the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 seasons when Loyola won both contests of a two-game series. Sunday is the last tilt of a four-game series between the programs.
- The Greyhounds posted an 83-65 victory on December 8, 2018, in Vestal, New York, to take a 4-1 advantage in the series.
- In last year's game, 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. 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.
About The Bearcats
- After falling in its first three games of the season, Binghamton has won four in a row, defeating Sacred Heart, NJIT, Army West Point and Oneonta.
- Tuesday night, the Bearcats scored a 90-69 victory over Division III Oneonta with four players scoring 12 or more points.
- Sam Sessoms leads Binghamton with 19.4 points per game, while he also averages 6.7 rebounds and a team-high 5.0 assists. Brenton Mills comes into Sunday with an 11.6 points per game average, and fellow freshman George Tinsley is averaging 10.7.
Last Time Out
- Loyola trimmed a one-time 13-point Omaha lead to just three with under a minute left in regulation, and the host Mavericks held on for a 70-65 win in the championship game of the Cayman Islands Classic Mainland Tournament on Tuesday night.
- Andrew Kostecka led all players with a game-high 25 points, and Cam Spencer scored a career-best 15in a team-high 34 minutes for Loyola.
- Omaha's K.J. Robinson made threes on back to back possessions, stretching the Mavericks' lead to 59-46 with 6:35 left. The lead was 12 moments later with 4:23 on the clock as Wanjang Tut hit a pair of free throws.
- Golden Dike converted in the paint with 44 seconds left, and after the Greyhounds forced a turnover in the backcourt, Kostecka was fouled going to the basket and made two free throws to close the gap to one possession, 68-65, with 38 ticks remaining.
- After Kostecka made it a three-point game, Dike blocked a Robinson shot in the lane, and he grabbed the rebound before Loyola called a timeout. Out of the break, Kostecka got a look from three on the left side, but the shot rimmed out with Omaha coming down with the rebound. Zach Thornhill was fouled after grabbing the board, and he made two free throws to secure the Mavericks' win.
Playing Tight Games
- During Loyola's last four games – Fairfield, George Mason, IUPUI and Omaha – the score margin has been under 10 for all but four of the 165 minutes.
- Fairfield pushed a lead to double digits for one minute of the second half before the Greyhounds came back for the overtime win. Omaha then had leads of 10 or more for three minutes of Tuesday's game.
- In the game at George Mason, neither the Patriots, nor the Greyhounds led by more than seven, and Loyola's largest advantage against IUPUI was nine, while the Panthers once held an eight-point lead.
Moving Up The Charts
- Andrew Kostecka's six steals against IUPUI, which are tied for sixth-most in school single-game history, moved him into fourth all-time at Loyola, passing Tracy Bergan's 177 from 1989-94. Now with 183 swipes, next up on the career swipes chart is Dylon Cormier who had 185 from 2010-14.
- Kostecka is also tied for 14th in Patriot League history for steals. With 12 more, he'll tie his former teammate, Andre Walker (2014-18) for 10th with 195.
- The senior from Germantown, Maryland, is also climbing the school and Patriot League all-time scoring charts. Seven games into his final year, he has scored 1,322 points, he is 16th at Loyola, 16 points from passing Gene Gwiazdowski and into the top-15 all-time. Kostecka is also 69th in conference history.
Dishing It Out
- Loyola has posted 20 or more assists three times this year through just six games, marking the seventh time since Tavaras Hardy took over as head coach in 2018-19 the Greyhounds have had 20-plus.
- In the eight years prior to Hardy's arrival, the Greyhounds had 20 or more assists just three times and only twice against NCAA Division I teams.
- Last year, Loyola averaged 14.0 assists, up from 11.9 in 2017-2018.
Assists All Around
- Loyola ranks second in the Patriot League and 28th in NCAA Division I in assists per game (17.3), but the Greyhounds do not have any players ranked in the top 240 of the NCAA of assists per game. Isaiah Hart leads Loyola and is tied for seventh in the conference with 3.3 assists per game, pacing six players who have averaged 1.9 assists or more thus far.
Moving In The Right Direction
- Last season, the Greyhounds finished 347th out of 351 NCAA Division I teams in field-goal percentage defense as opponents hit 48.7 percent of their shots. Through seven games this year, the Greyhounds are 263 nationally at 44.6 percent. Currently, Loyola is fourth in the category in the Patriot League after finishing 10th last season.
Bolstering The Bench
- Cam Spencer is tops in the Patriot League in assist-to-turnover ratio at 6.7:1. He has 20 assists and just three turnovers, aided by posting five assists without a turnover against IUPUI, and five and one versus Omaha to go with six and one against Fairfield.
- The freshman from nearby Boys' Latin School has come off the bench in all seven games this year, but with Kenneth Jones he is a main reason the Greyhounds' bench has outscored its counterparts in every outing.
- Spencer is second on the team with 8.9 points per game, while he is third with 25.3 minutes.
- After scoring just five points over a two-game stretch against Old Dominion and Fairfield, Spencer has tallied 11 or more in three-straight with 11 at George Mason, 13 against IUPUI and a career-best 15 versus Omaha.
- He has seen 29 or more minutes of action in each of the last four Greyhounds' games.
- Spencer is not the only member of his family with a strong start to the season. His older brother, Pat, has started all six games as a graduate transfer at Northwestern, averaging 11.8 points and a team-high 4.7 assists per game. The elder Spencer was a four-time All-American and the Tewaaraton Award winner in 2019 for the Loyola men's lacrosse team.
- Both Spencers had career-high scoring numbers Tuesday night; Cam had 15 against Omaha, while Pat dropped 23 on Bradley.
Doubled Up
- Brent Holcombe saw his longest playing time of the season – 30 minutes – at George Mason, and the junior post player responded with his first double-double of the year. He scored 13 points to go with 11 rebounds and logged his fourth career double-double.
- Holcombe knocked down 6 of 12 shots and nine of his boards came on the defensive glass. He also matched his career-high with three blocked shots.
Conference, National Honors
- Loyola players swept the Patriot League weekly awards on Nov. 18 after the Greyhounds posted their win over Fairfield in overtime. Andrew Kostecka was named the conference's Player of the Week and Golden Dike took home Rookie honors.
- Kostecka scored 31 against the Stags and averaged 22.5 as he also led Loyola with 14 points at Old Dominion. Dike scored 18 points to go with eight rebounds, three assists and two steals versus Fairfield.
- The award was the fifth of Kostecka's career after he was a four-time Player of the Week last season. Dike's award is the sixth for Loyola since the Greyhounds joined the Patriot League in 2013-14.
- Kostecka was also named the Jesuit Basketball Spotlight National Player of the Week for the second time in his career.
From Downtown
- Kenneth Jones knocked down all five of his 3-point attempts against Fairfield en route to scoring a to-date career-high 19 points in the overtime win against the Stags.
- His 5 of 5 performance is tied for the third-best 3-point percentage in school history, matching what Anthony Walker did in a 2000 game against Canisius. Marquis Sullivan (2007 vs. Rider) and Andre Walker (2016 at American) share the school record for six 3-pointers without a miss.
Big Man Making Contributions
- At 6-foot-10, 250 points, Golden Dike has brought an immediate physical presence to the post for the Greyhounds. He scored 18 and grabbed eight rebounds against Fairfield, and he then grabbed seven boards, scored six and had five assists at George Mason. Dike is shooting 69.6 percent from the field, going 16 of 23 with 5.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.
30 This Decade
- Andrew Kostecka's 31-point performance against Fairfield marked the 13th time since 2010 that a Loyola player has scored 30 or more in a game. Kostecka has done it five times, more than any other player. Andre Walker scored 30 or more four times, Dylon Cormier did it three times and Erik Etherly accomplished it once.
Kostecka In The Last 35
- Andrew Kostecka has logged career-high scoring numbers four times in the Greyhounds' last 35 games, dating back to last season. During that stretch, he has recorded 21 games with 20 or more points, 16 with 25 or better and five with 30 or higher. He scored 13 or more in all but one of those games and had 18 or more in all but six.
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.
- 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. He is also one of six players in school history with 1,300 points and 150 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.
- 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
- Andrews set a new career-high 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.
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.
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.
