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Game Information
Opponent	Lafayette Leopards
Game Notes	Loyola
Date	Thursday, January 13, 2022
Time	7:00 p.m.
Location	Baltimore, Md. | Reitz Arena
Directions	Click Here | Spectator Information
Watch	ESPN+ | International Video Stream
Online Media	Live Stats

Quick Hits About The Hounds

• Loyola University Maryland men's basketball plays its second-straight home game on Thursday, January 13, when it hosts Lafayette College.
• Tip-off against the Leopards is set for  7 p.m. in Reitz Arena on ESPN+.
• The game will be Loyola's fifth in a 13-day stretch and fifth of eight in a 23-day span to open Patriot League action.
• Cam Spencer leads the Patriot League in both points (18.9) and steals (2.1) per game as of January 9. He also tops the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.5:1), a stat that ranks him No. 5 in NCAA Division I. He is 32nd nationally in steals per game.
• Kenneth Jones tops the conference in assists per game (5.0) and is No. 42 nationally in that category..
• As a team, the Greyhounds rank 29th nationally 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.

Series History Versus Lafayette    

• Loyola and Lafayette will play for the 25th time in series history when the teams take the floor on Thursday night. The Leopards hold a 13-11 all-time advantage in the series.
• The teams met six times during the COVID-shortened 2020-2021 season due to other games being canceled or rescheduled. The Leopards won 4 of the 6 games, but their wins came by a combined 11 points. Loyola had an 88-69 win on Valentine's Day in Reitz Arena and a 75-62 victory on February 7, also at home.

Last Time Out    

• Cam Spencer made two free throws with 4.8 seconds left on the clock to raise his game-high scoring total to 26 points and seal a 71-67 Patriot League victory over Bucknell as Loyola won its third-straight game on Monday.
• Spencer grabbed a loose ball on the defensive end with just under nine seconds left on the clock, dribbled into the corner to burn time off the clock and was fouled to go to the line with one-and-one free throws. He made both, and Bucknell's last-second 3-point attempt was off the mark as Loyola left with a win.
• Jaylin Andrews scored 15 of his 19 points in the first half as the duo from Boys' Latin School of Maryland combined for 45 in the game. Spencer gave Loyola a 12-point lead, 51-39, with 14:20 to go in regulation on a driving layup off a Veljko Ilic pass, but the Bison (3-13, 0-4) rattled off eight-straight points to draw within four on a traditional 3-point play by Alex Timmerman just over two minutes later.
• Loyola built its advantage back to eight on two occasions, baskets in the paint by Kenneth Jones and Andrews, but Andrew Funk drove through the key and scored at 5:01 to cut the margin to a point, 64-63, at 5:01. The Greyhounds turned it over on the ensuing possession, but Bucknell misfired on shots over its next two trips to the offensive end, and the gap was still one over two minutes later.
• Jones then slipped behind a perimeter screen and took a Golden Dike pass, knocking down a three at 2:36 to push the margin back to four, 67-63. Jake van der Heijden immediately scored for the Bison to bring it back to a one-possession game, but Spencer scored on a step-back fading jumper with 78 seconds on the clock, and Loyola led 69-65.
• Xander Rice got into the paint and drew significant contact for Bucknell a few possessions later, and his layup rattled in. He went to the free-throw line to shoot one. Rice entered the game ranked No. 54 in the nation in free-throw percentage (87.1 percent) missed the shot, and Andrews rebounded for the Greyhounds. He was fouled, but he missed the front end of one-and-one.
• The Bison called a full timeout with 18 seconds left, and van der Heijden appeared to have room on a backdoor cut, but Andre Screen's pass went low and bounced off van der Heijden, off the bottom of the backboard and into Spencer's hands.

Spencer To The Top    

• Cam Spencer has asserted himself this season as one of the top players in the Patriot League, leading the conference, as of games of January 11, in points (18.9)and steals (2.1) per game. In 15 games this season, the junior guard has scored 284 points and has scored in double figures in all 15.
• He is also fourth in the conference in assists per game (3.7), and he ranks fifth in all of NCAA Division I with a 3.5:1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
• This year's start has come after Spencer played just 28 of 49 games over his first two seasons at Loyola due to injury. In his 43 career games, Loyola is 26-17 as he averages 13.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He has a career 3.3:1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
• Spencer has scored 20 or more points six times, logging 26 or higher four times. He set a to-date career-high with 32 points at College of Charleston and came back the next day to score 23 against Lipscomb on November 14.
• He went for 26, making 12 of 12 free throws, versus Mount St. Mary's on December 4, a point total he would equal on January 1 in the Patriot League opener at Army West Point and again on January 10 versus Bucknell.
• 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.
• 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.

Dishing    

• Kenneth Jones now leads the Patriot League with 5.0 assists per game and has averaged 5.7 in the last 10 Loyola contests. This season, Jones has five games with seven or more assists, the first five of his career. Loyola is tied for the conference lead with 16.5 total per game.
• As a team, the Greyhounds have recorded 20 or more assists five times this season (24 versus Elizabethtown, 22 against Chicago State, 21 at St. Bonaventure, 20 at Army West Point and 21 versus Holy Cross). Loyola is 29th nationally in assists per game.
• Per KenPom.com, the Greyhounds dish out assists on 62.0 percent of their made baskets, the 15th-highest percentage in NCAA Division I this year.
• In Tavaras Hardy's three-plus years as Loyola's head coach, the Greyhounds have 15 games with 20 or more assists. In the prior eight years, they had just three such games.
• Cam Spencer and 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.
• Jones tallied a career-best nine assists in the Patriot League opener at Army West Point, finishing one away from his first career double-double.

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 47.5 percent from the field in their nine victories, 35.8 percent from 3-point range. Meanwhile, they are shooting 40.8 percent, overall, in six losses, while their 3-point average dips to 28.1 percent.
• Individually, Loyola has had better balance in its scoring during the wins where Cam Spencer and Jaylin Andrews are averaging 18.1 and 16.2 points per game, respectively, in the victories, while Kenneth Jones is at 9.6 points. In the six losses, Spencer has averaged 20.2 points, Andrews 11.6 and no other player more than eight per game.

Building On Consistency    

• The four-game stretch from the St. Bonaventure game through the home win over Holy Cross saw Milos Ilic score in double-figures three times and score nine in the fourth game. This came after he recorded 10 or more points just once in the Greyhounds' first nine games of the year.
• He was held to two points at Boston University while playing limited minutes with foul issues, but over those four outings, Ilic made 17 of 25 (.680) shots from the field, 5 of 9 (.556), from 3-point range to average 10.5 points per game, raising his season scoring average to 5.6 points per game.
• He also has raised his rebounding average to 3.6 per game with 4.8 in the four.
• After his two-point game at Boston University, Ilic tallied nine points, five rebounds and three steals versus Bucknell.

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 versus Hampton.
• 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 33 of 62 shots (.532).
• Two weeks prior, fellow freshman David Brown III received the award after wins over Elizabethtown and Fairfield.

Sticky Fingers    

• Thanks to Cam Spencer and Jaylin Andrews ranking one-two in the Patriot League in steals per game at 2.1 and 1.9, respectively, Loyola is second in the Patriot League with 7.8 steals per game.

On The Right Track    

• Kenneth Jones has been a consistent member of the Greyhounds' rotation throughout his career, averaging 20.8 minutes over 76 games heading into his senior season. This year, however, Jones has stepped into the role of a full-time starter and seen his minutes, and production, soar.
• Through 14 games, he has averaged 33.2 minutes per game, while producing 8.7 points, 2.4 rebounds and 5.0 assists per contest, all career-highs. He has a 2.1:1 assist-to-turnover ratio that ranks fourth in the Patriot League and is a career-high, as well. His 5.0 assists are 42nd in NCAA Division I.
• Over his career, Jones has played in 91 games, starting 25, and averages 6.4 points and 2.5 assists per game. His 232 career assists rank No. 21 in school history.

Stepping Into A Leading Role    

• Jaylin Andrews was the Greyhounds' top returning scorer this year, 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.
• 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.
• During Andrews' seven most-recent games, he has scored 11 or more in each contest, averaging 16.9 points per contest.
• 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.
• Through 93 career games, of which he has started 69, Andrews is averaging 9.1 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.

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 head on the road for their next game, a Patriot League contest on Sunday, January 16, at Lehigh University. They are then home for two more in a row, hosting Boston University (January 19) and American University (January 22).