Quick Hits About The Hounds
- Loyola University Maryland plays its penultimate road game of the 2018-19 regular-season on Saturday, February 23. when it travels to New England to face Boston University at 4:30 p.m.
- Andrew Kostecka has averaged 22.8 points over Loyola's last 24 games, shooting 41.8 percent from 3-point range and 5423 percent from the field in that stretch. Kostecka has 16 games with 21 or more points in those contests, 11 with 26 or higher.
- Kostecka is the only player in NCAA Division I to have scored 575 or more points and grabbed 60 or more steals. He are also one of five players nationally to average 20 points and two steals per game; he is averaging 2.5 steals, good for first in the Patriot League. Duke's Zion Williamson, Murray State's Ja Morant, Louisiana Monroe's Daishon Smith and St. John's Shamorie Ponds are the other four.
- Kostecka's 11 games with 26 or more this season are eighth-most nationally.
- Jaylin Andrews shot just 28.9 percent from the field in Loyola's 13 non-conference games, but the freshman has connected on 43.8 percent during 13 Patriot League outings (he missed the first two due to an injury). As a result, Andrews is averaging 8.2 points in the League after posting 3.2 in non-conference play; he is also averaging 3.3 rebounds in those 13.
Series History Versus Boston University
- Loyola and Boston U. will meet for the 15th time in eight years and 16th overall when they take the hardwood on Saturday afternoon. The Terriers are 8-5 against Loyola since both teams joined the Patriot League in 2013-2014. Boston U. now leads the all-time series, 9-6 after Loyola scored an overtime win on January 16, 2019, in this season's first meeting.
- Isaiah Hart hit a 3-pointer from the top of the perimeter with less than 50 seconds to play in overtime, and he then knocked down a pair of free throws with 29 ticks on the clock to help seal Loyola's 81-73 victory over visiting Boston University on January 16.
- The Greyhounds trailed by as many as 13 in the first half and were down 55-43 with 12:02 left in regulation. A layup and free throw by the Terriers' Max Mahoney with 12:02 on the clock gave Boston University a 12-point lead, but the Greyhounds used a 17-4 run to go up a point on two Andrew Kostecka free throws for their first lead of the night.
- The Terriers quickly scored the next five points with Alex Vilarino's traditional 3-point play making it a 64-60 Boston University lead, but Chuck Champion would get Loyola within a point, 67-66, scoring off an offensive rebound with just over two minutes left.
- Less than 10 seconds later, Kostecka had a steal and went the distance for a two-handed dunk which put the Greyhounds up 68-67 at 1:49. Mahoney drew a foul in the post for Boston University, and he hit two free throws at 1:28 to swing the lead back to the Terriers' side, but KaVaughn Scott was fouled and made the second of two at the line with 41 ticks left to tie the game.
- Loyola forced a Mahoney turnover on Boston University's next possession, but a Kostecka jumper just before the second half's final buzzer went offline, and the teams headed to overtime tied at 69-69.
- Mahoney and Kostecka traded layups for the team, but Kostecka's came while being fouled, and his free throw gave Loyola a 72-71 lead 1:17 into the extra period. Mahoney connected again in the paint at 3:26, but that would be Boston University's final points of the game as Loyola ended on a 9-0 run.
- Kostecka led five Loyola scorers in double-figures with 29 points. Hart and Champion each scored 11, while Scott and Fives tallied 10 apiece. Loyola had a 38-29 advantage on the boards with Scott and Fives each grabbing six.
Last Time Out
- All five of Loyola's starters scored in double-figures – led by 17 each from Jaylin Andrews and Andrew Kostecka – and the Greyhounds turned away a second-half run by Navy for a 79-70 victory on Thursday afternoon in Reitz Arena.
- Casmir Ochiaka had the second double-double of his young career, both of which have come in the last eight days, with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Isaiah Hart scored 13 points and had seven assists, and Chuck Champion added 11 points for the Greyhounds.
- Andrews' 17 points are a career-high, besting the 15 he had on January 26 against Colgate University. Ochiaka's 11 boards match his career-high from last Wednesday in a win at American University when he had his first double-double.
- An Andrews 3-pointer, one of his three in the game, with 14:02 left in the second half gave Loyola a 51-44 lead, but minutes later, Navy (9-17, 6-9) would cut the lead to a single point when George Kiernan hit a three at 9:17. Loyola came back to score the next six points on back-to0back jumpers by Champion and a putback by Sam Norton at 6:43 that made it 61-54 Greyhounds.
- Navy got back within five, 63-58, at 5:35, on a Hasan Abdullah layup, but after a flagrant foul was assessed to the Midshipmen, Ochiaka hit two free throws, and Hart hit a jumper in the lane to stretch the lead to nine over a 22-second span. The Midshipmen missed two shots on its next trip down the court, and Andrews made a pair of free throws at 2:15 to give Loyola an 11-point advantage.
- Navy would get back within six, 74-68, on two John Carter Jr. free throws with just under 27 seconds left, but Loyola made five of six free throws during the remainder of the game to seal the win.
- Kiernan led Navy with 18 points, while Carter Jr. and Wieck each had 11, and Luke Loehr added 10.
Fourth Patriot League Honor
- Andrew Kostecka picked up his fourth Patriot League Player of the Week award on Monday, February 18, after averaging 26.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.0 steals and 3.0 assists in games against American and Lafayette.
- No other player has won more than two this season.
38th To 1,000
- Andrew Kostecka scored the game's first point February 9 at Colgate, and in the process became the 38th player in Loyola history to reach 1,000 career points. With his next point, he will be the 33rd to score 1,100 points at Loyola.
- Kostecka also has 153 career steals, good for eighth in school history, and is one of 11 Loyola players to amass 1,000 points and 100 steals.
Season Ranks
- Andrew Kostecka's 599 points this season are 10th-most in school single-season history. With 15 more points, he will pass Gerald Brown (613, 2007-08), Jason Rowe (612, 1998-99) and Mike Morrison (611, 1988-89) to move into seventh.
- His 138 free throws made rank 14th, and his 72 steals are good for fourth and are the most since Jason Rowe set the school record with 95 in 1998-99.
Stacking Up Nationally
- Andrew Kostecka not only leads the Patriot League in points and steals this season, but several of his statistical numbers stack up very favorably across NCAA Division I.
- He is the only player to average 21 points or more and 2.5 steals or more per game this year. He is also one of only five players – Duke's Zion Williamson, St. John's Shamorie Ponds, Murray State's Ja Morant and Louisiana Monroe's Daishon Smith – to average 20 or more points and two or more steals.
- Throw in blocked shots, and he is the only player to average 21 or more points, 2.5 steals and 0.9 blocks per game.
- Four players – Kostecka, BYU's Yoeli Childs, Charleston's Grant Riller and Austin Peay's Terry Taylor – have taken 405 or more shots from the field while shooting 51.8 percent of better. Research via sports-reference.com.
- Overall, he is ninth in Division I in total steals (72) and 16th in points (599) through games of February 21. His 2.5 steals per game are 11th, and his 21.6 points per game rank 25th. Kostecka checks in 14th, as well, in field-goals made, but he has only taken the 31st-most field goals nationally.
Kostecka In The Last 24
- Andrew Kostecka has logged career-high scoring numbers three times in the Greyhounds' last 24 games, recording 16 games with 21 or more points, 11 with 26 or better and three with 30 or higher. He has scored 13 or more in all but one of those games and has had 18 or more in all but three.
- Over the course of the last 24, Kostecka has scored 546 points, an average of 22.8 to go with 5.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.6 steals per game. He has shot 54.2 percent from the field during those games 41.8 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 posted back-to-back games with 26 points at both Holy Cross and Bucknell. Kostecka also dished out a career-high seven assists against the Bison.
- Kostecka recorded his second double-double of the season at Navy, scoring 20 of his 27 points after halftime and grabbing 10 rebounds. He followed that game by scoring 23 of his 29 points in the second half against Bucknell.
- Kostecka matched his career-high of 31 points on February 13 when he went 13 of 20 from the field and finished with 31 in a come-from-behind win at American.
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 have jumped, however, due to available rotation time since the December 28 game at North Carolina State.
- In 15 Patriot League games, Ochiaka is averaging 4.9 points and 4.8 rebounds in 16.7 minutes of action. He made his first career start at Colgate.
- Ochiaka had scored seven points three times prior to February 13, 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.
Dishing And Taking
- Isaiah Hart had career-high numbers in both assists and steals at Navy on February 2. The sophomore guard passed out a career-high nine assists and also finished with four steals against the Midshipmen. He followed that with seven assists when Loyola played Navy at home, and he leads the team this year with 78 assists.
Sticky Fingers
- Loyola leads the Patriot League in steals per game (8.5) this season, a number that jumps to 10.1 in the Greyhounds first 15 conference games of the year.
- The Greyhounds are 13th in NCAA Division I with 237 total steals this year, and their 8.5 steals per game are 19th.
- In Patriot League games, four Greyhounds rank in the top-15 in steals per game: Andrew Kostecka (1st, 3.3), Isaiah Hart (5th, 1.7), Chuck Champion (T-7th, 1.5) and Jaylin Andrews (T-15th, 1.2).
Cementing His Status
- Loyola's modest three-game wining streak in January coincided with the insertion of Jaylin Andrews to the Greyhounds' starting lineup. The freshman drew his first start against Army West Point and finished that game with six points and four rebounds, numbers he matched against Boston University.
- 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.
- In Patriot League games, Andrews has averaged 8.2 points and 3.2 rebounds in 28.6 minutes of action. Prior to the conference starting, Andrews was averaging 3.2 points in 14.8 minutes per game.
National Honors For Kostecka
- Andrew Kostecka had a first for a Loyola player on January 21 when he was named the Lou Henson National Player of the Week, an honor given to mid-major players. He also picked up his third Patriot League Player of the Week award.
- The next day, he was named the Jesuit Basketball Spotlight National Player of the Week.
- He received the recognition after averaging 27.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.5 steals in two overtime wins over Boston University and Holy Cross. He scored the game-winning layup against the Crusaders with two-tenths of a second left in overtime.
Statistical Differences
- Loyola's 10 wins and 18 losses can be seen in statistical differences. The Greyhounds have held opponents to 42.9 percent from the field, 28.7 from 3-point range in their wins; meanwhile, foes are shooting 51.5 percent overall and 46.2 from behind the arc in Loyola's losses.
- The Greyhounds have held opponents to 73 or fewer points in all but one of their wins (at American, 84).
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 10.8 in Loyola's last 23 games. During that stretch he is the team's third-leading scorer behind Kostecka and Champion.
- In the first two Patriot League outings, he had his two highest scoring outputs of the year with 21 at Lehigh after tallying 17 against Holy Cross. He has averaged 11.9 points in Patriot League games, second on the team.
Getting To The Stripe
- Loyola has been adept at getting to the free-throw line through 28 games of the season. The Greyhounds have gone to the stripe 557 times, tops in the Patriot League, making 394, second in the conference.
- Andrew Kostecka made 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 with 138 free-throws made this year.
Up Next
- Loyola travels to the U.S. Military Academy on February 27 for a 7:00 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.
