Quick Hits About The Hounds
- Loyola University Maryland opens the 2020 Patriot League Championships on Tuesday, March 3, when it plays at Lehigh University in a 7 p.m. first-round game at Stabler Arena.
- The game will stream live on the Patriot League Network.
- Santi Aldama has averaged 14.3 points in his first nine games for Loyola, a stretch in which Loyola is 6-3.
- KaVaughn Scott has two double-doubles in Loyola's last five 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 .463 in 2019-20, rising from 218th in NCAA Division I in the category to 47th. The Greyhounds' assists per game have jumped from 11.6 to 15.4.
Series History Versus Lehigh
- Lehigh and Loyola will meet for the 24th time on the basketball court and for the first time in postseason play on Tuesday.
- 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 and the Mountain Hawks then took a 12-11 lead with a 74-71 victory when the teams met on February 29, 2020.
About The Mountain Hawks
- Lehigh enters the postseason with a 10-20 overall record after winning their last three regular-season games to post a 7-11 mark in Patriot League games.
- Jordan Cohen is the Mountain Hawks' leading scorer, averaging 14.0 points per game, while James Karnik averages 12.6. Karnik is also the team's leading rebounder with 7.4 per game.
Patriot League Championships History
- Loyola is making its seventh appearance in the Patriot League Championships since joining the conference in 2013-14. The Greyhounds are 2-6 in the Championships overall, 2-4 in first-round games.
Postseason Honors
- Andrew Kostecka was named to the All-Patriot League First Team for the second year in a row on Monday when the conference released its postseason honors.
- Kostecka also earned Patriot League All-Defensive team honors becoming just the second in conference history (Stephen Brown, Bucknell, 2015-18) to receive that recognition three times in a career.
- Three Greyhounds – Santi Aldama, Golden Dike and Cam Spencer – were named to the All-Rookie Team, marking the second time a team has had three rookies so honored. Bucknell University – with Bryson Johnson, Mike Muscala and Joe Willman in 2009-10 – was the first recognized as such.
Last Time Out
- Cam Spencer cut Lehigh's lead to three with less than three seconds to play, and Loyola got one more possession after a turnover on the Mountain Hawks' inbound attempt, but a tying 3-point attempt went just long and Lehigh held on for a 74-71 victory in the regular-season finale.
- Lehigh built a 12-point lead on an Evan Taylor three with 7:28 left in regulation, but Santi Aldama drove down the middle of the lane and scored with 4:59 on the clock to get the Greyhounds within seven.
- Loyola held the Mountain Hawks scoreless for more than four minutes during a 5-0 run until James Karnik converted in the paint for Lehigh with 3:12 on the clock, stretching the advantage back to nine.
- An Aldama jumper at 2:15 pulled Loyola within six, and a Jaylin Andrews basket with 63 ticks on the clock made it a 70-65 Lehigh lead, but two James Karnik free throws nine seconds later pushed the Mountain Hawks' lead back to seven.
- Aldama then made a three off a Jones assist with 45 seconds to go, and Loyola was within four. Aldama had a steal on the defensive end, but the Greyhounds could not convert offensively. Marques Wilson was fouled on the rebound, and he made two free throws with 32 seconds left for Lehigh.
- Loyola misfired on two 3-point attempts seconds later, and Lehigh came away with the rebound after the second. The Mountain Hawks, however, called a timeout and promptly turned the ball over with a pass that sailed out-of-bounds.
- Spencer missed his first 3-point attempts with seven seconds left, but he grabbed his own rebound, back out behind the line and then hit his second attempt to make it a 3-point game. Loyola called a timeout with 2.7 seconds on the clock, and Lehigh again turned it over against Loyola pressure with under two seconds to play. Loyola got an inbound pass to Jaylin Andrews, but his long 3-point attempt went off the back of the iron, and Lehigh secured the win.
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.
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, followed by 20 points and eight boards against Lehigh.
- Aldama was named Patriot League Rookie of the Week three times during the last four weeks of the season.
- Through nine games, Aldama is averaging 14.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.7 blocked shots per game.
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 Army West Point. Spencer later had nine at Lafayette and made four 3-pointers en route to 14 versus Lehigh.
- In Loyola's last four games, Spencer is 14 of 28 from 3-point range and has averaged 10.8 points per.
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 7-3 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 14-8 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 was significant in 3-point defense, too, where Loyola allowed 39.5 percent in the losses to 25.4 percent over the six wins.
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).
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 736 times this season, good for fifth in the NCAA. It leads the Patriot League in both free throws made and attempted.
- Loyola's free-throw rate is fifth-best in the nation this year, according to KenPom.com. The Greyhounds get to the line at rate of 43.1, dividing free-throws attempted (736) by field-goals attempted (1,731).
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 8.7 and 5.3.
- In 17 Patriot League games – he missed the January 5 contest at Lehigh with an injury – Scott has averaged 9.5 points and 6.1 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 seven 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 March 1) 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), 29th in total points (576), 38th in total steals (56), 57th in field goals made (192) and 17th 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 9.9 points.
- In Loyola's last 13 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 18 Patriot League games this year, Hart has averaged 11.4 points, up from 6.6 he was averaging in non-conference games. He has played 54 career Patriot League regular-season games and has averaged 11.7 points over those contests. He also has a 9.9 overall career scoring average with 933 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 54th (52.4) in the category that weights 3-pointers more significantly.
- Loyola has made 55.0 percent of its 2-point field goal attempts this year, good for 14th nationally (h/t kenpom.com).
Dishing It Out
- Loyola has posted 20 or more assists five times this year through 31 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 15.4 a mark that ranks 23rd in NCAA Division I, while its 478 total dimes are 18th. That total is also fifth-most in school single-season history.
- Of the Greyhounds' 801 made field goals this year, 59.3 percent of them have been assisted. According to kenpom.com, that percentage is 18th-best in the nation. As recently as two years ago, Loyola ranked 332nd nationally in assist percentage.
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.
Up Next
- The winner of the first round game between Loyola and Lehigh will advance to the quarterfinal round where it will head to Hamilton, New York, to face Colgate University at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 5.
