Quick Hits About The Hounds
- Loyola University Maryland plays its final regular-season game of the year on Saturday, February 29, when it hosts Lehigh University in a 5 p.m. game in Reitz Arena.
- The game will stream live on the Patriot League Network.
- Santi Aldama has averaged 13.6 points in his first eight games for Loyola, a stretch in which Loyola is 6-2.
- KaVaughn Scott has two double-doubles in Loyola's last four games.
- Andrew Kostecka had his 14th game this season with 20 or more points, and the 34th of his career, February 12 at American when he scored 28; he also has nine games with 25+ this year, and his 32 versus American on January 22 marked his eighth career 30-plus point performance and fourth this season. He has finished with 10 or more 37 times since the start of his sophomore year (2017-18). He has averaged 18.2 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 two seasons, Loyola improved its field-goal percentage from .438 in 2017-18 to .464 in 2019-20, rising from 218th in NCAA Division I in the category to 43rd. The Greyhounds' assists per game have jumped from 11.6 to 15.5.
Series History Versus Lehigh
- Lehigh and Loyola will meet for the 23rd time on the basketball court and 14th time as Patriot League opponents Saturday when the teams take the floor.
- The teams split the season series last year, each winning on its own home floor. Lehigh won the first meeting this year, 78-71, on January 5, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to even the all-time series at 11 wins for each program.
- Loyola played the January game with a depleted lineup as it was without then-starters KaVaughn Scott and Cam Spencer, and Andrew Kostecka was limited due to injury. It was the first of nine-straight games Spencer would miss, and the Greyhounds were 1-8 in that stretch. Also, Chuck Champion suffered a season-ending foot injury in the game.
- Kostecka led Loyola with 15 points, while Brent Holcombe had 12, and Golden Dike recorded his first career double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
About The Mountain Hawks
- Lehigh enters the final regular-season game with a 9-20 overall record and a 6-11 record in the conference after beating Boston University on Wednesday night.
- Jordan Cohen is the Mountain Hawks' leading scorer, averaging 14.5 points per game, while James Karnik averages 12.2. Karnik is also the team's leading rebounder with 7.2 per game.
Make The Leap
- Saturday's game will be Loyola's first on February 29 since the final regular-season game of the 2004 season when it lost 81-53 to Fairfield University. It will be Loyola's third all-time game on Leap Year.
Patriot League Championships Scenarios
- The winner of the Loyola-Lehigh game on Saturday will host a First Round contest in the Patriot League Championships on Tuesday, March 3.
- Loyola can be as high as the No. 7 seed with a win and a loss by Navy at Lafayette.
- If Loyola beats Lehigh and Navy wins at Lafayette, the Greyhound will be the No. 8 seed and host the Mountain Hawks on Tuesday.
- A Lehigh win means Loyola would be the No. 9 seed and travel to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, for a rematch on Tuesday.
Last Time Out
- Santi Aldama had his second double-double in as many games on Wednesday, but the Navy held off the Greyhounds for a 62-57 victory in Annapolis, Maryland.
- Aldama scored 18 points and grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds for Loyola. Golden Dike added 12 points, and Jaylin Andrews had 10.
- Cam Spencer hit a 3-pointers with 3:38 left in the first half to get the Greyhounds within a point, 23-22, but Navy responded with a John Carter, Jr., three, and the Midshipmen later took a 31-26 lead into the locker room at halftime.
- The Midshipmen extended the lead to 10, 39-29, on a Cam Davis three just over four minutes into the second half, an advantage at which Loyola who eat into over the next several minutes. Over the next four, Loyola went on an 11-3 run to close within a pair on a traditional 3-point play by Aldama at 11:02. Back-to-back baskets by Navy's Evan Wieck got the Midshipmen back up by five, but an Aldama dunk and a steal and transition basket by Andrews made it 46-44 with 7:37 left in regulation.
- Davis scored for the Midshipmen, but layups by Dike with 6:51 and 5:21 on the clock tied the score at 48-48. From there, however, Navy scored the next six points, and the Midshipmen were up 54-48 after two Davis free throws. Loyola got within three after Isaiah Hart stole an inbound pass and assisted on an Andrews layup with 14 ticks left, but Navy made it a two-possession game, 59-54, after Greg Summers made two free throws a second later.
- Aldama knocked down a three with eight ticks left, and Loyola trailed by only a pair, but those were the last Greyhounds points as Navy made three of four free throws in the final seconds.
Into Third
- Andrew Kostecka had his 34th career game with 20 or more points on February 12 at American with his 28 total also providing him with a couple of milestones.
- He jumped three players on the school's all-time scoring list to finish the night in third. Only Jim Lacy (2,199, 1943-44 and 1946-49) and Kevin Green (2,154, 1988-92) have scored more career points than Kostecka who now has 1,751.
- Kostecka also became the 16th player in Patriot League history to score 1,700 career points, and he is now 14th in conference history in scoring.
- He is also second all-time at Loyola with 222 steals, a mark that's seventh in conference history.
Doble-Doble
- Doble-doble is Spanish for "double-double," and that's what the two Spaniards on Loyola's posted when the Greyhounds took a 70-68 road decision at Lafayette on February 23.
- Santi Aldama had the first double-double of his collegiate career with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Golden Dike scored the same amount and matched his career-high with 12 rebounds.
- It marked the second time this season two Greyhounds have posted double-doubles in the same game (Jaylin Andrews & KaVaughn Scott, January 18 at Army West Point).
Long-Awaited Debut
- Freshman post Santi Aldama had to wait until the fourth month of the 2019-2020 season to make his Loyola debut after missing the first 22 games of the year with an injury.
- Aldama, who was ranked as high as the No. 65 recruit in the nation prior to the season, came off the bench early in the first half against Navy on February 1 and scored 11 points, on 4 of 6 shooting from the field, to go with three assists and a blocked shot. He followed that with two more 11-point performances, scoring the same amount at Holy Cross and against Bucknell while grabbing eight and seven rebounds, respectively.
- The Most Valuable Player of the 2019 FIBA U-18 European Championships then broke out with 22 points, making five 3-pointers, and eight boards in a win over Colgate. He posted his first collegiate double-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds at Lafayette. He then had another with 18 points and 12 rebounds at Navy.
- Through eight games, Aldama is averaging 13.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.5 blocked shots per game.
Triple Threat
- Santi Aldama was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week on February 10, becoming the third Loyola player to garner the award this year, following Golden Dike and Cam Spencer.
- Loyola is the only team in the League to have three different freshmen win the rookie award this year.
- Aldama earned the award again on February 24 after averaging 13.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in wins over Army West Point and Lafayette.
Another Freshman Returns
- Cam Spencer was Loyola's second-leading scorer after the first 14 games of the year, and he led the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio by a wide margin following the Patriot League opener on January 2.
- That game, however, was Spencer's last until February 5 when he returned to action after an injury. He missed nine-straight games, a stretch in which the Greyhounds went 1-8.
- Spencer had his best performance since his return in an 84-80 win over Colgate on February 16, scoring 13 while pushing out four assists. He followed that with 11 points, all in the second half, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 40 seconds left against Colgate, and nine at Lafayette.
- In those games, he has shot 61.1 percent from the field and 60 percent from 3-point range.
Freshmen In The League
- Golden Dike is the only Loyola freshman to qualify for league stats based on the number of games he's played, but Santi Aldama and Cam Spencer would also fare well among Patriot League rookies.
- Aldama would lead all freshmen in rebounds and blocks per game and be second in points per game. Spencer would lead in assists per game and be third in points.
- Dike is second among qualified freshmen in points and rebounds per game.
Not A Coincidence
- The Greyhounds have gone 7-2 in Patriot League games this year in which Cam Spencer and/or Santi Aldama have been on the court.
- Spencer played in the opening win over Holy Cross, and Aldama came back on February 1 when Loyola started a stretch of six wins in its last seven games. Spencer played in the last six of those games, and the Greyhounds are 14-7 in the games he has played this year.
Stats That Matter
- Improved play was been reflected in Loyola's stats over its recent six wins as the Greyhounds snapped an eight-game skid on February 1.
- During the eight losses, opponents shot 49.5 percent to Loyola's 45.0. In its six wins since then, Loyola held opponents to 38.9 percent from the field while shooting 49.2 percent. The different has been significant in 3-point defense, too, where Loyola allowed 39.5 percent in the losses to 25.4 percent over the six wins.
Getting To The Line
- Loyola took 46 free throws in both games it played this year against Bucknell, the most by a Greyhounds team since November 2011 when it had the same number at UMBC.
- Overall, Loyola has gone to the line 722 times this season, good for third in the NCAA. It leads the Patriot League in both free throws made and attempted.
- Loyola's free-throw rate is third-best in the nation this year, according to KenPom.com. The Greyhounds get to the line at rate of 44.2, dividing free-throws attempted (722) by field-goals attempted (1,660).
Strong Stretch
- KaVaughn Scott has posted the best numbers of his collegiate career this season, what will be his last for Loyola. In his freshman, sophomore and junior campaigns, he averaged 4.5 points and 3.3 rebounds over 81 games. This year, the senior is averaging 8.8 and 5.2.
- In 16 Patriot League games – he missed the January 5 contest at Lehigh with an injury – Scott has averaged 9.6 points and 6.0 rebounds after finishing non-conference play with averages of 7.6 and 4.2. He has scored in double figures in four of Loyola's last six games with two of his four career double-doubles during that run.
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 February 26) who is averaging 19.9 points, five rebounds (5.2), 1.9 steals and two assists (2.5) per game this year.
- This year, Kostecka is 30th in Division I in points per game (19.9), 17th in total points (576), 28th in total steals (56), 34th in field goals made (192) and 12th in free throws made (146).
- Discard the two games – at Colgate and at Navy – in which Kostecka was injured in the first half and did not score a point, and he is averaging 21.3 this year.
Rounding Into Form
- Jaylin Andrews shook off a slow start to the 2019-20 season, averaging just 5.2 points in Loyola's 13 non-conference games, shooting 31.9 percent from the field and 20.9 from 3-point range. Since Patriot League games have started, though, Andrews is averaging 9.8 points.
- In Loyola's last 12 games, Andrews has averaged 11.3 points.
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 almost six 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 17 Patriot League games this year, Hart has averaged 11.5 points, up from 6.6 he was averaging in non-conference games. He has played 53 career Patriot League regular-season games and has averaged 11.8 points over those contests. He also has a 9.9 overall career scoring average with 923 total points.
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 46th (52.7) in the category that weights 3-pointers more significantly.
- Loyola has made 54.9 percent of its 2-point field goal attempts this year, good for 15th nationally (h/t kenpom.com).
Dishing It Out
- Loyola has posted 20 or more assists five times this year through 29 games, making it nine 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 15.5 a mark that ranks 25th in NCAA Division I, while its 464 total dimes are 16th. That total is also fifth-most in school single-season history.
- Of the Greyhounds' 771 made field goals this year, 59.8 percent of them have been assisted. According to kenpom.com, that percentage is 19th-best in the nation. As recently as two years ago, Loyola ranked 332nd nationally in assist percentage.
From Downtown
- Through 30 games, Kenneth Jones is 38 of 91 from 3-point range and leads the Patriot League with a .418 percentage from behind the arc among qualified players (minimum 1.5 made per game).
- 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.
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.
