Quick Hits About The Hounds
- Loyola University Maryland takes the court in Reitz Arena on Wednesday, January 22, at 7 p.m. when American University visits Baltimore.
- The game will stream live on the Patriot League Network.
- Jaylin Andrews and KaVaughn Scott both had double-doubles at Army on January 18, the first time since 2016-17 that Loyola teammates have done it in the same game..
- Andrew Kostecka had his 10th game this season with 20 or more points, and the 30th of his career, on January 18 at Army West Point; he also has eight games with 25+ this year. His January 2 game against Holy Cross was also his seventh career 30-plus point performance, second in a row and third this season. He has finished with 10 or more 61 times since the start of his sophomore year (2017-18). He has averaged 17.9 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.
Series History Versus American
- American is Loyola's most-played Patriot League opponent, as Wednesday's game will be the 97th all-time installment in the series. The programs have a evenly split the previous 96 games with each team winning 48 times.
- The Eagles, who are Loyola's seventh most-played opponent in program history, and Greyhounds were former Mason-Dixon Conference opponents prior to each joining NCAA Division I.
- Since Loyola joined the Patriot League for the 2013-14 season, the teams are 6-6 against each other, having split every regular-season series over the six years.
- Last year, each won on the other's home floor with Loyola pulling out an 86-84 win on February 13, 2019, in Washington, D.C., after the Eagles won, 74-68, in Baltimore the month prior.
- In the Greyhounds' win, Andrew Kostecka scored 31 points, and Casmir Ochiaka had a career-high 17 points to go with 11 rebounds.
About The Eagles
- American enters Wednesday night's game with an 8-9 overall record and 4-2 mark in Patriot League play, having won its last two games – 61-60 over Bucknell and 81-69 against Holy Cross.
- Sa'eed Nelson leads the Eagles with 16.0 points per game, while Jamir Harris is averaging 11.4. Mark Gasperini averages a team-best 5.2 rebounds per game.
Last Time Out
- Josh Caldwell scored his only points of the game by hitting a 3-pointer from the right corner with 1.9 seconds left to give Army West Point an 81-80 victory over Loyola on Saturday afternoon in Christl Arena.
- Caldwell's three capped a 25-10 run for the Black Knights that brought them back from a 70-56 deficit with 6:23 to play in regulation.
- Andrew Kostecka, who had a game-high 22 points for Loyola, put the Greyhounds on top by 14 with a pair of free throws with 6:23, capping a string of seven-straight Loyola points that came via the foul line.
- A Tommy Funk basket with 49 seconds left got the Black Knights within two, 77-75, but Jaylin Andrews scored again to push it back to a two-possession game. Tucker Blackwell knocked down his third three of the second half with 19.9 seconds left, and the Loyola lead was down to one, 79-78. Isaiah Hart was fouled in the backcourt, but his two free throws went off line. Andrews came down with the rebound for Loyola, and he made the second of two foul shots to put the score at 80-78 with 13.7 seconds left.
- Army West Point took the ball to the other side and found Caldwell in the corner where he shot bounced off the rim multiple times before falling through with 1.9 on the clock. Loyola's last second shot did not draw rim, and the Black Knights had the win.
- Andrews recorded his first career double-double with a season-high 15 points and a career-best 10 rebounds. Scott also had a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards. Jones finished with 14 to give Loyola four players in double-figures. Hart added nine points and six assists, while Kostecka also had five assists and five boards. Funk and Wilson led Army West Point with 18 points each, and Blackwell came off the bench to score 16.
Sidelined
- Loyola was missing six players due to injury on January 11 against Lafayette, including its top-two scorers – Andrew Kostecka (21.9) and Cam Spencer (9.9). While Kostecka missed just one full game, Spencer has now been out five-straight, while Kostecka and Luke Johnson both went down with injuries against Colgate; Kostecka came back to play against Boston University.
- Overall, Loyola players have missed 64 games this season due to injury or illness.
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 January 15) who is averaging 20 points, five rebounds (5.4), two steals, two assists (2.5) and half a block (0.8) per game this year.
- This year, Kostecka is 15th in Division I in points per game (20.9), 45th in steals (2.06), 23rd in field goals made (133) and 20th in total points (377).
Stepping Up Scoring
- With injuries up and down the Greyhounds lineup since the start of Patriot League games, Isaiah Hart has increased his scoring output by more than five points per game. He tied KaVaughn Scott for team-high honors with 17 points at Colgate and then scored a to-date season-high 21 points versus Lafayette, making a career-best four 3-pointers.
- In six Patriot League games this year, Hart has averaged 12.0 points, up from 6.6 he was averaging in non-conference games. He has played 42 career Patriot League regular-season games and has averaged 11.5 points over those contests. He also has a 9.8 overall career scoring average with 800 total points.
Make It A Double
- Two Loyola players recorded double-doubles on Saturday at Army West Point as Jaylin Andrews had a season-best 15 points and a career-high 10 rebounds, while KaVaughn Scott logged 12 and 10.
- The pair was the first Loyola duo since the 2016-2017 season to post double-doubles in the same game. Cam Gregory and Jarred Jones did it twice that year.
- The double-double was the first of Andrews' career and the second for Scott.
Golden's First Double-Double
- Golden Dike re-entered the starting lineup at Lehigh for an injured KaVaughn Scott and logged his first career double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
- He then had his fourth game this season with 10 or more points on January 13 against Boston University, making 5 of 8 shots to score 11 in only 19 minutes.
- The Spanish freshman now leads the Greyhounds with 5.3 rebounds per game, while he is averaging 6.7 points per game. He is second amongst qualified Patriot League freshmen in rebounds per game and third in points.
Moving Up The Charts
- Andrew Kostecka had three steals on Jan. 2 against Holy Cross, moving him past former teammate Andre Walker (2014-18) for second all-time at Loyola. Now with 203, he trails only Jason Rowe (1996-2000) who is the Greyhounds' all-time record-holder with 273. Kostecka is also 10th all-time in the Patriot League in the category.
- Kostecka, a senior from Germantown, Maryland, is also climbing the school and Patriot League all-time scoring charts. Against Holy Cross, Kostecka passed Maurice Hicks (1,494, 1981-85) and Tom Gormley (1,497, 1983-87) to reach 10th in school history in points (now 1,552). With 28 points, he will tie Mike Powell (1,580, 1995-98) for ninth. Kostecka is 26th in Patriot League history.
Kostecka's Big Night
- Andrew Kostecka had one of the finest performances in school history on January 2, making 15 of 21 field goals to score a career-high 37 points against Holy Cross. His 15 field goals made are tied for fourth-most in school history, and his 37 points are tied for 13th.
- He also moved into the top-10 in career scoring at Loyola, becoming the 10th player to score 1,500 or more in a career.
Non-Conference Numbers
- Loyola finished its regular-season non-conference schedule at 8-5, marking a four-win improvement over last year's 4-9 mark. The eight wins are the most by a Greyhounds' team since 2012-14 when the team also went 8-5 outside of the league (then the Greyhounds were in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference).
- The Greyhounds' 5-1 record during December was its best since it had the same record in February 2013.
30 Last Decade
- Andrew Kostecka's 30-point performance against VCU marked the 15th time since 2010 that a Loyola player scored 30 or more in a game. Kostecka did it six 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.
And, 30 This Decade
- Kostecka also had the first 30-point performance of the 2020s, finishing with 37 on January 2 against Holy Cross. He now has seven games with 30 or more points in his career, three this season.
Dishing It Out
- Loyola has posted 20 or more assists four times this year through 18 games, making it eight times 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 16.0.
- Of the Greyhounds' 486 made field goals this year, 62.6 percent of them have been assisted. According to kenpom.com, that percentage is 13th-best in the nation. As recently as two years ago, Loyola ranked 332nd nationally in assist percentage.
Shooting Numbers
- The Greyhounds' offense is trending positively in many metrics this season. Two years ago, the Greyhounds were 305th in effective field-goal percentage, and they now rank 55th (52.6) in the category that weights 3-pointers more significantly.
- Loyola has made 54.4 percent of its 2-point field goal attempts this year, good for 23rd 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 19 games, Jones is 30 of 65 from 3-point range and leads the Patriot League with a .462 percentage from behind the arc among qualified players (minimum 1.5 made per game).
KaVaughn Converting
- KaVaughn Scott averaged 9.6 points over a seven-game stretch from November 25-December 27, a span that included three 14-point efforts against IUPUI, Binghamton and Delaware State, and a 13-point game versus UMass Lowell. During the stretch, he made 28 of 45 shots (62.2 percent).
- In games at Colgate and against Lafayette, Scott has averaged 13.0 points per game with a season-high 17 coming against the Raiders. Overall, in Patriot League games, he's averaging 9.6 points to raise his season average to 8.2.
- 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.
Kostecka In His Last 46
- Andrew Kostecka has logged career-high scoring numbers four times in his last 46 games, dating back to last season. During that stretch, he has recorded 28 games with 20 or more points, 21 with 25 or better and seven with 30 or higher. He has scored 13 or more in all but two of those games and had 18 or more in all but nine.
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.
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 and is on pace to do it again this year.
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.
