Game Information
Opponent	St. Bonaventure Bonnies
Game Notes	Loyola
Date	Wednesday, December 8, 2021
Time	7:00 p.m.
Location	Olean, N.Y. | Reilly Center
Tickets	Purchase | COVID Protocols
Directions	Click Here
Watch	ESPN+ | International Video Stream
Online Media	Live Stats

Quick Hits About The Hounds

• Loyola University Maryland men's basketball takes its four-game winning stream on the road Wednesday, December 8, to face St. Bonaventure University.
• The Bonnies, who are receiving votes and both the AP and coaches' polls, will host the game at 7 p.m. in Olean, New York. Wednesday's game will stream live on ESPN+.
• Loyola's four-game winning streak is its longest since December 1-27, 2019, when it won five in a row.
• Cam Spencer leads the Patriot League in steals per game (2.3), and he is second in points per game (18.9). He also tops the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (4.71), a stat that ranks him No. 8 in NCAA Division I. He is 27th nationally in steals per game.
• Kenneth Jones tops the conference in assists per game (4.4).
• 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.

Series History    

• Loyola and St. Bonaventure will meet for the 10th time in men's basketball action on Wednesday with the Bonnies winning each of the previous nine. The game will be the Greyhounds third in Olean over the last 11 seasons.
• The teams first met on the hardwood in March 1927, a 33-18 St. Bonaventure victory. The sides met again in 1936-1937 and then not again until Nap Doherty's Greyhounds took on the Bonnies on Dec. 22, 1967. They met again during the 1969-1970 and 1970-1971 seasons when St. Bonaventure was ranked No. 5 and No. 19 by The Associated Press. St. Bonaventure's 1969-1970 team, a squad that advanced to the Final Four with future Basketball Hall of Famer Bob Lanier in his senior year, was the highest-ranked team Loyola would face until playing No. 3 Kansas on January 8, 2008.
• The teams played three more times during the 1970s before meeting again on December 18, 2011. The Bonnies won that game, 76-66, and they scored another victory, 94-82, on November 21, 2015.
• In that game, Loyola shot 52.5 percent from the field and made 11 of 21 from 3-point range, but the Bonnies made 55.6 percent of their shots. Tyler Hubbard knocked down seven 3-pointers for the Greyhounds, a mark that tied him for second-most in school single-game history.

Last Time Out    

• Milos Ilic's lone field goal of the game Saturday came at a pivotal moment, giving Loyola a two-point lead with 2:01 left in regulation, and the Greyhounds would hang on to the advantage for a 61-55 victory over visiting Mount St. Mary's in the 176th all-time meeting between the schools.
• Cam Spencer, who led all players with 26 points, kicked a pass into the deep, right corner to Ilic, and he buried the three to give Loyola a 55-53 lead after the Mountaineers had briefly taken the lead on two Mezie Offurum free throws.
• Mount St. Mary's got back within one just over a half-minute later as Nana Opoku made one of two at the free-throw line, but Jaylin Andrews scored on a second-chance opportunity for the Greyhounds with 50 seconds on the clock, and the lead was back to three.
• Loyola's defense held the Mountaineers to a less-than-desirable shot at the end of the shot clock on the ensuing possession, and Opoku's attempt rimmed off, and Spencer grabbed the board and called a timeout. He was fouled bringing the ball up the court, and he converted two free throws to stretch the margin to two possessions.
• Ilic then blocked a Jalen Benjamin attempt from behind, and Spencer picked up the rebound only to be fouled again. He sunk both shot, and Loyola led 61-54.
• Spencer finished with the fifth-best free-throw shooting performance in Loyola history, making all 12 of his attempts from the charity stripe.
• Jaylin Andrews added 19 points for the Greyhounds, all coming after the under-four timeout in the first half. Golden Dike led Loyola with eight rebounds while managing foul trouble, and Milos Ilic grabbed seven and Veljko Ilic had six.

Better Starts    

• Loyola's four-game winning streak can be attributed, at least in part, to improved first-half shooting. During the recent stretch, the Greyhounds have 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 is 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 4.4 assists per game and has averaged five in the last three Loyola contests.
• As a team, the Greyhounds have now recorded 20 or more assists twice this season (24 versus Elizabethtown, 22 against Chicago State. In Tavaras Hardy's three-plus years as Loyola's head coach, the Greyhounds have 12 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 46.1 percent from the field in their five victories, 35.7 percent from 3-point range. Meanwhile, they are shooting almost 10 points lower, 37.0 percent, overall, in four losses, while their 3-point average dips to 22.4 percent.
• Individually, Loyola has had better balance in its scoring during the wins where Cam Spencer and Jaylin Andrews are averaging 17.6 and 17.0 points per game, respectively, in the victories, while Kenneth Jones is at 10.0 points. In the four losses, Cam Spencer has averaged 20.5 points, the only Loyola player with 10 or more per game.

Taking Care Of The Ball    

• Loyola has committed the same or a fewer number of turnovers in eight of its nine games this season, totals that help it lead the Patriot League in turnover margin with a positive 3.4 per game mark. Overall, the Greyhounds are averaging just 12.8 giveaways per game this year while forcing 16.22.
• The Greyhounds lead the Patriot League and are one of the top teams in the nation in turnover margin this year, averaging 3.8 fewer giveaways fewer than opponents, a stat that ranks 58th nationally. They are forcing opponents to turn the ball over on 21.9 percent of their possessions, good for No. 67 in Division I according to KenPom.com.
• Loyola is third in the Patriot League in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.25:1, while Cam Spencer leads the conference and is No. 8 nationally at 4.71:1.

Sticky Fingers    

• Thanks to Cam Spencer and Jaylin Andrews ranking one-three in the Patriot League in steals per game at 2.3 and 1.9, respectively, Loyola is 48th in steal percentage according to KenPom. The Greyhounds are swiping a steal on better than 11 percent of opponents' possessions to lead the League at 8.6 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 to raise his season averaged to 9.8 points and a Patriot League-best 4.5 assists per game.
• Over his career, Jones has played in 85 games, starting 19, and averages 6.3 points and 2.3 assists per game.

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 88 career games, of which he has started 65, Andrews is averaging 8.8 points and 3.7 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 37 games Spencer has played at Loyola, the Greyhounds are 22-15. He has averaged 12.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists during his career and has a 3.2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Golden Touch    

• Golden Dike has been a vital part of the Greyhounds' post rotation since coming to Loyola, and he averaged 25.7 minutes in 2020-2021 while starting every game but Senior Day.
• He finished the year averaging 7.1 points per game, just up from his 7.0 as a freshman in 2019-2020 when he made the Patriot League All-Rookie Team. Dike raised his rebounding average by a board per game, finishing ninth in the Patriot League with 6.2 per contest.
• This season, he had a standout performance against South Carolina State, grabbing a career-high 18 rebounds while dishing out six assists.
• In his 58 games played over two-plus seasons, Dike has shot 57.6 percent from the field, and finishing in the paint is not the only touch he's shown. He also has dished out 98 assists.
• Dike continued to compete with the Spanish National Team program last summer, competing for the U20 team at the FIBA European Challengers event. He led Spain with 8.0 rebounds per game as his side went 4-1 in the top division of the event.

Rookie Honors    

• David Brown III was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week on November 29 after seeing the most-extended playing time of his young career last week.
• He logged 21 minutes off the bench Wednesday against Elizabethtown and scored eight points, and he then earned his first collegiate start and helped Loyola to its second-straight win on Sunday at Fairfield. He made a pair of 3-pointers for the second game in a row and had seven points.

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    

• Loyola returns to Reitz Arena for a Sunday, December 12, game against Hampton University before taking a nine-day break for final exams.