Quick Hits About The Hounds
- Loyola University Maryland men's basketball starts its ninth season in the Patriot League as the calendar turns to a new year on January 1, 2022.
- The Greyhounds will play at the U.S. Military Academy in a 2 p.m. game at Christl Arena.
- Loyola will return from a 20-day layoff when it plays the Black Knights.
- Cam Spencer leads the Patriot League in points (17.6) and steals per game (2.3) as of December 29. He also tops the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (4.3:1), a stat that ranks him No. 6 in NCAA Division I. He is 19th nationally in steals per game.
- Kenneth Jones tops the conference in assists per game (4.6).
- As a team, the Greyhounds rank 107th in NCAA Division I in total assists (181) and 36th in assists per game (16.5).
- The 10-point deficit Loyola faced early in the second half on November 28 at Fairfield is the largest it has overcome for a win since January 2, 2020.
- Tavaras Hardy is in his fourth 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 three seasons, Loyola improved its field-goal percentage from .438 in 2017-18 to .465 in both 2019-20 and 2020-21, rising from 218th in NCAA Division I in the category to 51st.
Happy New Year!
- The last time Loyola men's basketball played a game on New Year's Day was to start a new decade. The Greyhounds, then a NCAA Division II school, played a January 1, 1970, contest against the University of Bridgeport, falling 89-68 in the first round of the East Stroudsburg University New Year's Tournament.
Series History Versus Army West Point
- Loyola and Army West Point will meet for the 18th time in series history when they take the court on Saturday. The Black Knights won both games during the Greyhounds' first Patriot League season (2013-14), but the teams split the regular-season series each of the next seven years.
- They did not play during the 2020-2021 regular-season due to a modified COVID schedule for the conference, but Loyola claimed a 67-63 victory on March 10, 2021, in the Patriot League Semifinals on the Black Knights' home floor.
- Santi Aldama, now a forward for the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies, went 13 of 15 from the floor in the game, 5 of 6 from 3-point range, and scored 33 points to go with 12 rebounds. Cam Spencer added 16, making 6 of 10 shots, in the win. Loyola had a 38-27 rebounding advantage, as well.
- From 2018-20, each team won on its own home court during the regular-season, and Loyola took a home-court.
Last Time Out
- Four Loyola men's basketball players scored in double-figures, and seven had six or more points on December 12 as the Greyhounds defeated visiting Hampton, 67-54, in Reitz Arena.
- Jaylin Andrews and Cam Spencer tied for team-high honors with 11 points, while Milos Ilic and Kenneth Jones each tallied 10 points.
- Loyola outrebounded the Pirates, 39-28, in the game, and Loyola held Hampton to 35.6 percent from the field, 21.4 from 3-point range.
- Hampton went more than nine minutes without a field goal in the second half as Loyola extended its lead.
- The Greyhounds never trailed in the game and took a 12-point lead with 4:07 to go in the first half when Nick Marshall threw a long outlet pass to Spencer, and he finished with a layup to put Loyola in front, 24-12.
- Hampton trimmed its disadvantage to 24-17 just over two minutes later, but a Golden Dike layup off a high-to-low pass from Alonso Faure made it a nine-point Greyhounds' lead. The Pirates, however, scored the first half's final five points to trail by just four, 26-22, at the break. Loyola quickly scored the first five of the second half to make it a nine-point lead again, but a three by Hampton's Marquis Godwin and a putback by Najee Garvin trimmed the Pirates' deficit back to four.
- Midway through the second half, Veljko Ilic tracked down a long rebound, toeing the sideline to stay in bounds, and the ball then ended up in the hands of Wade Jackson. With the shot-clock under three, Jackson hit a three from more than 28 feet to extend the lead back to double digits.
- Veljko Ilic ended the game with eight points and a team-high seven rebounds, while Jackson scored seven.
- Hampton responded with a Rio Haskett three at 9:30 that made it 47-40 in Loyola's favor, but that was the last field goal for nine minutes, 16 seconds until DeAngelo Epps had a steal and fast-break basket while the Pirates were still pressing with less than 20 seconds in regulation.
Rookie Honors
- Milos Ilic became the second Loyola freshman to earn Patriot League Rookie of the Week recognition this season when he received the award on December 13.
- Ilic averaged 11.5 points and 4.5 rebounds while shooting 75 percent from the field and 57.1 percent from 3-point range in game against St. Bonaventure and Hampton. He scored in double-figures in both games with 13 against the Bonnies and 10 in Sunday's game.
- Ilic has made a significant jump in his efficiency since the first week of the season when he started the year 3 of 20 from the field in the Greyhounds' first four games. Since then, he has made 20 of 38 shots (.526).
- Two weeks prior, fellow freshman David Brown III received the award after wins over Elizabethtown and Fairfield.
No Bragging Rights
- Neither Milos Ilic, nor his brother, Veljko, could obtain bragging rights for highest point totals in a game on December 8 as the pair both had career-high outputs of 13 at St. Bonaventure. They combined to make 11 of 14 shots from the field with Milos going 5 of 6 and Veljko 6 of 8. Milos was 3 of 4 from 3-point range, too.
Better Starts
- Loyola's four-game winning streak that was broken at St. Bonaventure could be attributed, at least in part, to improved first-half shooting. During the recent stretch, the Greyhounds shot a modest 46.8 percent from the field, a number that is far better than the 34.4 percent they shot in their first five games of the season.
- As a result – Loyola was also improved in first-half 3-point and free-throw shooting – the Greyhounds have averaged eight more points (35.2-27.2) in the first half of the last four games.
Dishing
- Cam Spencer and Kenneth Jones both had seven assists December 1 in the Greyhounds' win over Chicago State, the first time two Loyola players have reached that total in the same game in at least a decade.
- Spencer's assist total against the Cougars was a new career-high for the junior, while Jones was one off his previous best of eight that came earlier this season against College of Charleston.
- Jones now leads the Patriot League with 4.6 assists per game and has averaged 5.5 in the last six Loyola contests. This season, Jones has three games with seven or more assists, the first three of his career.
- As a team, the Greyhounds have now recorded 20 or more assists three times this season (24 versus Elizabethtown, 22 against Chicago State and 21 at St. Bonaventure). In Tavaras Hardy's three-plus years as Loyola's head coach, the Greyhounds have 13 games with 20 or more assists. In the prior eight years, they had just three such games.
Shooting The Difference
- Shooting success has played a pivotal role in Loyola's wins and losses this season, bared out by statistics.
- The Greyhounds have shot 45.7 percent from the field in their six victories, 36.0 percent from 3-point range. Meanwhile, they are shooting 39.3 percent, overall, in five losses, while their 3-point average dips to 26.5 percent.
- Individually, Loyola has had better balance in its scoring during the wins where Cam Spencer and Jaylin Andrews are averaging 16.5 and 16.3 points per game, respectively, in the victories, while Kenneth Jones is at 10.0 points. In the four losses, Spencer has averaged 19.0 points, Andrews 11.6 and no other player more than eight per game.
Taking Care Of The Ball
- Loyola has committed the same or a fewer number of turnovers in eight of its 11 games this season, totals that help it lead the Patriot League in turnover margin with a positive 2.4 per game mark. Overall, the Greyhounds are averaging just 13.2 giveaways per game this year while forcing 15.5.
- Loyola is second in the Patriot League in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.25:1, while Cam Spencer leads the conference and is No. 6 nationally at 4.3:1.
Sticky Fingers
- Thanks to Cam Spencer and Jaylin Andrews ranking one-two in the Patriot League in steals per game at 2.3 and 1.9, respectively, Loyola is 64th in steal percentage according to KenPom. The Greyhounds are swiping a steal on 11.4 percent of opponents' possessions and are second in the Patriot League with 8.2 steals per game.
Keep Playing The Stags
- Kenneth Jones made 6 of 9 field goals, 4 of 6 from behind the 3-point line, and scored a season-high 16 points on Sunday, the most he has scored in a game since a November 17 contest against the same Stags team.
- He followed this year's game against Fairfield with a 15-point, 7-assist output versus Chicago State, and over his career, Jones has played in 87 games, starting 21, and averages 6.3 points and 2.4 assists per game. His 208 career assists rank No. 24 in school history.
Stepping Into A Leading Role
- Jaylin Andrews is the Greyhounds top returning scorer, after averaging 11.6 points per game as a junior in the shortened 2020-2021 season, and he showed his ability to step into a leading role during Loyola's 2021-2022 opener at North Carolina. Andrews started his senior year with a team-high 17 points, knocking down 4 of 8 shots from 3-point range.
- The game against the Tar Heels follows an exhibition outing against Johns Hopkins that Andrews led the team with 18 points, making 3 of 7 from behind the arc.
- Andrews then blew up for a career-high 30 points on November 12 against South Carolina State, going 11 of 15 from the field and 5 of 7 from 3-point range. The 30 points exceeded his previous career-best of 25 points from January 2020 against American.
- Andrews continued his climb as a consistent scorer and rebounder for the Greyhounds during the 2020-2021 season. He went for 13 points twice during the first two games of the year before breaking out for 22 on January 24 against American.
- He averaged 14.3 points during the Patriot League Championships, scoring 17 in the quarterfinal at Navy and 20 in the title game at Colgate. Overall, Andrews wrapped up his junior campaign by averaging 11.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game in the 17 contests.
- Andrews also became a more efficient shooter, knocking down 44.8 percent of shots from the field during his junior season, an improvement of more than five percent over his first two years with the Greyhounds. He also picked up his rebounding by almost 1.5 per game.
- Through 90 career games, of which he has started 67, Andrews is averaging 8.9 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.
Spencer Returns
- Cam Spencer missed the 2020-2021 season's first 12 games recovering from off-season surgery, but he made his presence felt in the Greyhounds last five games. He came off the bench in each of the last two regular-season games, scoring 10 while logging three rebounds, two assists and two steals on February 27 in 17 minutes. Spencer then had 11 points and five rebounds in 25 minutes the following day. He made his first start of the year in the Patriot League Quarterfinal, playing 33 minutes while scoring 10 to go with seven assists, five rebounds and two steals.
- Spencer raised his minutes played to 35 in the semifinal against Army West Point, posting to-date season-highs with 16 points and seven rebounds. In the five games, Spencer averaged 11.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists.
- The junior guard opened the 2021-2022 season with a 15-point, 3-steal effort at No. 19 North Carolina, scoring 11 of his points in the second half against the Tar Heels. He then had 16 points and six rebounds against South Carolina State, following by outputs of 32 and 23 points to close the Rising Coaches Classic against College of Charleston and Lipscomb.
- Spencer went off for 26 points in the Greyhounds' December 4 win over Mount St. Mary's, turning in the No. 7 free-throw performance in school history as he made all 12 of his attempts.
- During his freshman campaign of 2019-2020, Spencer averaged 10.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 23 games. He had a 3.8:1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
- In the 39 games Spencer has played at Loyola, the Greyhounds are 23-16. He has averaged 12.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists during his career and has a 3.25:1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
First In The First
- The offseason news out of Loyola basketball was monumental as the Greyhounds had their first-ever NBA First Round Draft Pick when Santi Aldama was selected No. 30 by the Memphis Grizzlies after spending two seasons with the Greyhounds.
- Aldama was just the second Loyola player to be selected in the modern NBA Draft after Mike Morrison was a second-round pick in 1988. He also became the fourth Patriot League player drafted and third in the first round.
- Aldama's contributions will be missed by the Greyhounds as he was the only player in the NBA to average more than 18 points, eight rebounds, two assists and 1.5 blocked shots per game last year (per SportsReference.com).
- The sophomore from the Canary Islands of Spain finished 12th in NCAA Division I in scoring (21.2 ppg) and 14th in rebounds (10.1).
Glass Ceiling Shattered
- When Corin 'Tiny' Adams assumed her seat on the Loyola bench January 16, 2021, in its game at Lafayette, she became the first female assistant coach of a Patriot League men's basketball team.
- Adams joined the Loyola staff in October 2020, and she became the fifth female assistant coach in NCAA Division I history. Currently, she is the only female to hold such a spot after Maine's Edniesha Curry moved to the NBA's Portland TrailBlazers.
- Head Coach Tavaras Hardy added a second female to the coaching staff during the most recent offseason as Sydney Hines was named the program's director operations. The former player at Central Connecticut State, Hines replaces longtime director of operations Kevin Farrell who took an assistant coaching job at Belmont Abbey College.
Up Next
- The Greyhounds' game at Army West Point is slated to be the first of three it will play in a seven-game stretch.
- Loyola returns to Reitz Arena for a home game on Tuesday, January 4, against College of the Holy Cross, before heading to New England to face Boston University on Friday, January 7.
