Quick Hits About The Hounds
- Loyola University Maryland returns to Reitz Arena on Saturday, February 8, for a 5 p.m. game against Bucknell.
- The game will stream live on the Patriot League Network.
- Santi Aldama has scored 11 points in each of his first two games as a Greyhound, and he had eight rebounds Wednesday.
- Cam Spencer returned to play at Holy Cross after missing the last nine games.
- Andrews is averaging 13.0 points in Loyola's last seven games.
- Andrew Kostecka had his 12th game this season with 20 or more points, and the 32nd of his career, on February 1 against Navy when he scored 21; 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 65 times since the start of his sophomore year (2017-18). He has averaged 18.1 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 .467 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 15.9.
Series History Versus Bucknell
- Loyola and Bucknell will meet for the 23rd time on the hardwood when the teams take the floor Saturday evening in a series that the programs played the past four years prior to Loyola joining the Patriot League in 2013-2014.
- Bucknell holds an 19-3 lead in the all-time series sweeping the last two year's regular-season series, and also winning a narrow decision in the 2018 Patriot League Championships Quarterfinals.
- The teams met on Saturday, January 25, in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, where Bucknell took a 98-83 win on its home court. Andrew Kostecka and Isaiah Hart each scored 18 in the game for the Greyhounds.
About The Bison
- Bucknell enters Saturday's game with a 9-15 overall record and a 5-6 showing in Patriot League games after dropping a 65-62 game on Monday night to Lafayette.
- John Meeks is Bucknell's leading scorer at 12.3 points per game, leading four players who are averaging 10.4 or more. Paul Newman leads the Bison with 5.1 rebounds.
Last Time Out
- Andrew Kostecka scored 18 points and had five assists with four steals to lead four Loyola players in double-figure scoring on Wednesday night as the Greyhounds posted a 74-60 road win at Holy Cross. The Greyhounds shot 53.7 percent from the field while holding Holy Cross to 38.8 percent and 17.4 from 3-point range.
- Isaiah Hart added 12 points for Loyola, Santi Aldama had 11 and a game-high eight rebounds and Jaylin Andrews posted 10 points with four steals.
- Trailing 19-18 with 12:10 left in the first half after Holy Cross' Austin Butler scored a layup, Golden Dike scored after an Andrews steal to start a 17-5 run that would cover almost nine minutes and see Kostecka put the Greyhounds in front, 35-24, on two Kostecka free throws. Kostecka had eight of the 17 points during the stretch that would put Loyola in front for good.
Maybe It Was The Month
- Loyola has won its last two since the calender turned to February after going through a 1-8 stretch in January. That followed a 5-1 record that the Greyhounds put up in December, their best record for a month since February 2013
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 another 11 points to go with eight rebounds versus Holy Cross.
- Aldama was the Most Valuable Player of the 2019 FIBA U-18 European Championships while leading Spain to the title.
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.
- The Davidsonville, Maryland, native is averaging 9.5 points, 3.3 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game. He has dished out 50 assists with just eight turnovers (6.25:1), but he no longer qualifies for the national rankings since he has not played in 75 percent of Loyola's games.
Stats That Matter
- Improved play has been reflected in Loyola's stats over the last two games as the Greyhounds snapped an eight-game skid and have won two-straight.
- During the eight losses, opponents were shooting 49.5 percent to Loyola's 45.0. Against Navy and Holy Cross, Loyola has held the pair to 42.3 percent from the field while shooting 52.1 percent. The different has been significant in 3-point defense, too, where Loyola allowed 39.5 percent in the losses to 18 percent over the two wins.
Getting To The Line
- Loyola took 46 free throws at Bucknell on January 25, the most by a Greyhounds team since November 2011 when it had the same number at UMBC. A week later, it went 28 of 35 from the line versus Navy.
- Overall, Loyola has gone to the line 557 times this season, good for ninth in the NCAA. It leads the Patriot League in both free throws made and attempted.
Sidelined
- Since the Patriot League opener on January 2, Loyola has missed at least three players and as many as six in its last 10 games. The Greyhounds were missing six players due to injury on January 11 against Lafayette, including its top-two scorers – Andrew Kostecka and Cam Spencer. While Kostecka missed just one full game, Spencer has now been out eight-straight.
- Overall, Loyola players have missed 81 games this season due to injury or illness.
Elite Company
- Andrew Kostecka scored 32 points January 22 against American, the eighth time in the last two years he has reached or exceeded 30 points in a game.
- Since the 2010-11 season, only one Patriot League player has scored 30-plus on more occasions; NBA All-Star C.J. McCollum hit that mark 15 times while he was a player at Lehigh. No one else in the League has done it more than five times. (h/t sports-reference.com)
- As a team, Loyola has had 16 occurrences of a player scoring 30 or more points, 14 of those coming since the Greyhounds joined the Patriot League in 2013-14. The 14 times are more than any other Patriot League team except Lehigh.
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 5) who is averaging 20 points, five rebounds (5.1), two steals and two assists (2.6) per game this year.
- This year, Kostecka is 12th in Division I in points per game (21.1) and total points (483), 29th in steals (2.13), 20th in field goals made (165) and 16th in free throws made (113).
Rounding Into Form
- Jaylin Andrews finished the 2019-20 season by earning Patriot League All-Rookie honors after averaging 8.8 points in conference play. He averaged 12.2 points over Loyola's last five of the season with three games of 12 points or more.
- Andrews had 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 11.1 points while shooting 44.1 percent overall.
- In Loyola's last six games, Andrews has averaged 15.0 points, thanks in part to getting to the free-throw line 26 times where he has made 21. He also is Loyola's leading rebounder in that stretch at 76.5 per game.
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 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 11 Patriot League games this year, Hart has averaged 12.6 points, up from 6.6 he was averaging in non-conference games. He has played 47 career Patriot League regular-season games and has averaged 11.9 points over those contests. He also has a 10.0 overall career scoring average with 867 total points.
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 is second on the team with 5.0 rebounds, while he is averaging 6.8 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 215, he trails only Jason Rowe (1996-2000) who is the Greyhounds' all-time record-holder with 273. Kostecka is also ninth 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 American, Kostecka scored 32 points to pass Mike Powell (1,580, 1995-98) and reach ninth in school history in points (now 1,640). With one more point, he will tie Dylon Cormier (1,659, 2010-14) for eighth. Kostecka is 17th in Patriot League history.
Dishing It Out
- Loyola has posted 20 or more assists five times this year through 24 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 15.9, a mark that ranks 24th in NCAA Division I, while its 381 total dimes are 14th.
- Of the Greyhounds' 619 made field goals this year, 61.1 percent of them have been assisted. According to kenpom.com, that percentage is 15th-best in the nation. As recently as two years ago, Loyola ranked 332nd nationally in assist percentage.
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. After scoring 32 against American on January 22, he has four games this season with 30-plus and eight in his career.
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 (52.8) in the category that weights 3-pointers more significantly.
- Loyola has made 54.6 percent of its 2-point field goal attempts this year, good for 20th 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 20 games, Jones is 36 of 81 from 3-point range and is first in the Patriot League with a .444 percentage from behind the arc among qualified players (minimum 1.5 made per game).
KaVaughn Converting
- In games at Colgate and against Lafayette, Scott averaged 13.0 points per game with a season-high 17 coming against the Raiders. Overall, in Patriot League games, he's averaging 9.5 points to raise his season average to 8.5. He is also averaging 65.7rebounds in the league.
- 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.
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.
- 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.
