Quick Hits About The Hounds
- Loyola University Maryland finishes its 2019-20 regular-season non-conference schedule on Sunday, December 29, when it heads to Richmond, Virginia, for its first-ever meeting with VCU in a 5 o'clock tipoff.
- NBC Sports Network will televise the game nationally.
- The Greyhounds start their seventh Patriot League campaign on January 2.
- Andrew Kostecka scored in double-figures for the 28th-straight game on Friday night when he scored 27 against UMass Lowell. His point-total marked his 27th career game with 20 or more, his seventh this season; he also has six 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 57 times since the start of his sophomore year (2017-18). He has averaged 17.7 points in that span.
- 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.
Turn On The Television
- The Greyhounds will face Virginia Commonwealth on national television with NBC Sports Network providing the pictures.
- Rich Lerner will call the play-by-play, while Tim McCormick provides analysis.
Series History
- Loyola and VCU will meet for the first time on Sunday. The Greyhounds are 0-1 this season against Atlantic 10 Conference teams this year after falling 65-61 at George Mason on November 19.
- Sunday's game will be Loyola's 122nd all-time against current members of the Atlantic 10; the Greyhounds are 27-94 all-time against the 14-member league.
About The Rams
- VCU enters Sunday's game with a 9-3 overall record after having a three-game winning streak snapped in its last game. Wichita State dealt the Rams a 73-63 defeat in Kansas on Saturday, December 21.
- Three Rams are averaging 10 or more points per game, led by Marcus Santos-Silva's 13.0 and Marcus Evans' 12.3. Santos-Silva paces VCU with 8.7 rebounds per game.
Last Time Out
- Loyola shot 62.7 percent from the field on Friday night, the fourth-best field-goal percentage in school history, but it was a late defensive stretch that lifted the Greyhounds to a non-conference win, 93-81, over visiting UMass Lowell at Reitz Arena.
- Loyola held a tenuous one-point lead, 71-70 with just over eight minutes to play in regulation after the River Hawks' Kalil Thomas made a 3-pointer. From that point forward, however, the Greyhounds held UMass Lowell to just 11 points, seven of which came at the free-throw line.
- The River Hawks made only 2 of 10 shots in the final eight minutes, none of their four 3-pointers, and they committed three turnovers which all came on Loyola steals.
- Offensively, Loyola had its best shooting performance since the 2011-2012 season by making 37 of 59 field goals. Andrew Kostecka broke out for 19 of his game-high 27 points in the final 16 minutes of the game, and he finished with his third career double-double, posting a season-best 10 rebounds.
- KaVaughn Scott scored 11 of his 13 in the second half and grabbed eight rebounds. He had four boards and a key blocked shot in the last eight minutes of the game. Jaylin Andrews made all four of his 3-point attempts in the game and matched his season-high with 14 points off the bench. Cam Spencer scored eight and tied his season-high with six assists.
Solid Streak
- Loyola's win over UMass Lowell was its fifth in a row, it's longest winning streak since it put together six-straight in November 2012.
On Target
- Loyola not only had its best shooting night of the season Friday versus the River Hawks, it was the fourth-best performance from the field in school history.
- The Greyhounds knocked down 37 of 59 shots, good for 62.7 percent. The percentage was its best since March 3, 2012, when it shot March 3, 2012, win over Niagara in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Quarterfinals. Loyola's 37 made field goals on Friday are tied for eighth-most in school history.
- The 62.7 percent mark is the best by a Patriot League team in a game this season.
One And Only
- Andrew Kostecka does a lot of everything for the Greyhounds, and it is reflected in his statistics. He is the only player in NCAA Division I (through games of December 27) with more than 250 points (he has 260), 25 steals (29) and 10 blocked shots (12).
Rebounding Record
- Loyola's 53 rebounds against Elizabethtown on December 21 set a new school single-game record, eclipsing the 52 Loyola had in 2017 and the 51 it posted last year against Delaware State.
- All four of the Greyhounds' games with 50 or more rebounds have come in the last three seasons, including a 50-rebounding game at Lehigh in 2018.
Moving Up The Charts
- Andrew Kostecka had four steals on Dec. 27 against UMass Lowell, tying him with his former Loyola teammate Andre Walker (2014-18) for second all-time at Loyola and 10th in Patriot League history with 195. Jason Rowe (1996-2000) is the Greyhounds' all-time record-holder with 272 steals.
- Kostecka, a senior from Germantown, Maryland, is also climbing the school and Patriot League all-time scoring charts. Against UMass Lowell, Kostecka passed Bob Connor (1,431, 1967-71) and moved into 13th in Loyola history with 1,435 points. With 22 points, he will tie B.J. Pendleton (1,457, 1991-95) for 12th. Kostecka is 47th in Patriot League history.
At The Top
- Cam Spencer enters Sunday's game at VCU ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division I in assist-to-turnover ratio. The freshman has 44 assists with just six giveaways this year, good for a 7.33:1 ratio (a minimum of three assists per game are needed to qualify for the NCAA list).
- Spencer, a freshman from nearby Boys' Latin School, has dished out at least five assists in six of the Greyhounds' last seven games with just four total turnovers.
- He made his first collegiate start on December 1 against Binghamton and is now second on the team in scoring with 10.0 points per game, having scored 10 or more in seven of the last eight
- 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 9.5 points and a team-high 3.9assists 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 and is the NCAA's all-time leader in assists in that sport.
- Both Spencers had career-high scoring numbers on Nov. 26; Cam had 15 against Omaha, while Pat dropped 23 on Bradley.
Dishing It Out
- Loyola has posted 20 or more assists four times this year through 12 games, marking the eighth 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. This season, it is averaging 17.3.
Assists All Around
- Loyola is first in the Patriot League and 13th in NCAA Division I in assists per game (17.3), but Cam Spencer is the only player on the team ranked in the top-200 nationally in assists per game at 3.6. Isaiah Hart is close behind Spencer with 3.0 per game, and the two of them pace five players who average 1.5 or more per game.
- Of the Greyhounds' 320 made field goals this year, 65.0 percent of them have been assisted. According to kenpom.com, that percentage is 11th-best in the nation. As recently as two years ago, Loyola ranked 332nd nationally in assist percentage.
Not Just Volume Scoring
- Andrew Kostecka is 14th nationally in points per game (21.7), but he is eighth amongst players averaging 21 or more with a 50.8 field-goal percentage. Inside the 3-point arc, Kostekca has made 58.1 percent of his 2-point attempts, good for fourth among players averaging 21 or more.
- In addition to his high ranking in points per game, Kostekca is 20th in steals per game (2.4), 17th in total points (260) and 19th in field-goals made (92).
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 nine games this year, the Greyhounds are 171st nationally at 42.0 percent. Currently, Loyola is third in the category in the Patriot League after finishing 10th last season.
Shooting Numbers
- In addition to the aforementioned field-goal defense improving, the Greyhounds' offense is trending positively, too. Two years ago, the Greyhounds were 318th in adjusted offensive efficiency, and they moved up to 226th last year. Through 12 games, Loyola ranks 150th in the nation at 101.5, a measure of points per 100 possessions with quality of defense factored in.
- Additionally, the Greyhounds were 305th in effective field-goal percentage in 2017-18, and they now rank 32nd (54.5) in the category that weights 3-pointers more significantly.
- Loyola has made 56.1 percent of its 2-point field goal attempts this year, good for 12th nationally (h/t kenpom.com).
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, tying for the third-best performance in school history.
- Through nine games, Jones is 19 of 38 from 3-point range and is second in the Patriot League with a .500 percentage from behind the arc among qualified players (minimum 1.5 made per game).
KaVaughn Converting
- KaVaughn Scott has averaged 9.6 points over a seven-game stretch starting on November 25, a span that includes three 14-point efforts against IUPUI, Binghamton and Delaware State, and a 13-point game versus UMass Lowell. During the stretch, he has made 28 of 45 shots (62.2 percent), and he is now fourth in the Patriot League with a 62.1 field-goal percentage.
- 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.
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 60.4 percent from the field, going 29 of 48, while he is second on the team with 5.2 rebounds per game.
Cementing His Status
- Jaylin Andrews joined the Greyhounds' starting lineup on January 12, 2019, and was a fixture there for the rest of the year, 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.
- He had his best game of 2019-20 against UMass Lowell, coming off the bench to make all four of his 3-point attempts en route to 14 points and three steals.
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 40
- Andrew Kostecka has logged career-high scoring numbers four times in the Greyhounds' last 40 games, dating back to last season. During that stretch, he has recorded 25 games with 20 or more points, 19 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.
- 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. 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.
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.
