Quick Hits About The Hounds
- Loyola University Maryland plays its second-straight home game on Thursday, November 17, when the Greyhounds welcome Washington College to Reitz Arena for a 7 p.m. contest.
- The game will stream live on ESPN+.
- Jaylin Andrews (17.7 ppg) and Kenneth Jones (15.7) are the Patriot League's highest scoring duo early in the season.
- The Greyhounds return 13 players from a year ago, including three fifth-year players who are pursuing their graduate degrees at Loyola: Jaylin Andrews, Kenneth Jones and Markese Redding.
- Andrews and Jones are the team's top two returning scorers after posting 13.9 and 8.7 points per game, respectively, last season.
- Jones led the Patriot League in assists (139) and assists per game (4.6), while Andrews was ninth in the conference in points per game. The duo ranked third and fourth in the Patriot League in steals per game, averaging 1.6 and 1.5.
- Jones finished the year ranked No. 58 in NCAA Division I in assists per game, while the Greyhounds were 51st as a team, averaging 15.0.
- Tavaras Hardy is in his fifth season on the Loyola sidelines after he was named the 21st head coach in Loyola men's basketball history on March 28, 2018.
Watch The Action
- Thursday's game, and all non-televised Loyola home games, will stream live on ESPN+.
Series History Versus Washington College
- Despite not having played in nearly 40 years, Washington College is Loyola's second-most played opponent in program history.
- The teams will meet for the 114th time when they play on Thursday with Loyola holding an 81-32 all-time lead in the series. The Shoremen and Greyhounds played at least twice each year as members of the Mason-Dixon Conference, prior to Loyola joining NCAA Division I in 1981-82.
- Washington College last played the Greyhounds on January 8, 1985, when Loyola took a 54-47 decision in Reitz Arena. The Greyhounds have won the last 13 meetings of the programs.
Last Time Out
- Loyola used a 10-0 run before the midway point in the second half to turn a five-point deficit into a lead of the same margin, and the Greyhounds fended off a late challenge by visiting Brown on Sunday for a 75-70 non-conference victory.
- Jaylin Andrews and Kenneth Jones each scored 18 points in the win, while Deon Perry had 13. Alonso Faure and Isaiah Alexander came off the bench to score eight and seven points, respectively, with a Faure three coming late to help seal the win.
- Nana Owusu-Anane dunked off an Aaron Cooley assist with 14:05 left in regulation, giving the Bears a 48-43 lead, but Jones would hit a 3-pointer from the top-left of the perimeter, sparking the 10-0 run.
- Andrews made two free throws at 12:04 to tie the game at 48-48, and Faure caught a feed from Chris Kuzemka to score in the paint less than 30 seconds later.
- Perry then grabbed a long rebound along the left baseline off a missed Brown 3-pointer following Faure's basket, and the Loyola freshman transitioned up the court, pulling up for a three at the top of the key that would go in, giving Loyola a 53-48 lead and forcing a Bears timeout with 11:12 on the clock. Brown got its deficit to three with a basket 49 seconds later, but Alexander made two free throws, and the margin stayed at four or higher the rest of the game.
- Loyola went up by eight, 66-58, with an Andrews traditional 3-point play at 5:37, but the Bears got back within four three times thereafter. Paxson Wojcik went 1 of 2 at the line – Brown struggled shooting free throws, making just 11 of 30, while Loyola went 24 of 34 – with 1:47 left, cutting the Loyola lead to 69-65.
- Loyola turned the ball over on its next possession, but Wojcik was fouled again and both shots from the charity stripe were off the mark with 1:11 on the clock. The Greyhounds then used a good chunk of the shot clock on the ensuing possession. Perry drove the baseline and sent a pass to Jones in the right corner. The feed was high, but Jones grabbed it and threw a skip pass to Faure on the top-left.
- From there, Faure knocked down his first three of the season to put Loyola back up by seven, 72-65, with 43 ticks remaining. David Brown III went 3 of 4 at the free-throw line in the final 33 seconds to help seal the victory for Loyola.
- Loyola's defense caused 23 Brown turnovers, 14 coming off of Greyhounds steals. Andrews, Jones and Perry each had three.
Putting Up Numbers
- Kenneth Jones opened his fifth season with the Greyhounds in impressive fashion, tying his collegiate-high with 20 points in the opener at DePaul. He made 4 of 7 from 3-point range and 8 of 13 from the field.
- The total matched his previous high of 20 points set on February 23, 2022, at the U.S. Naval Academy where he made 7 of 10 shots and 4 of 5 from behind the arc.
- Jaylin Andrews then had the second game with 20 or more points this year for Loyola, tallying 23 in the second contest at Penn State. He went 9 of 16 from the field and logged his 10th career game with 20 or more points.
- Andrews and Jones tied for team- and game-high honors in Loyola's third game, scoring 18 points each. They are the leading point-scoring duo in the Patriot League with Andrews averaging 17.7 and Jones 15.7.
Behind The Numbers
- A look into the field-goal percentages of the Greyhounds top-three scorers – Andrews, Jones and Deon Perry (10.3 points per game) – show how each is getting the job done.
- Jones has made 56.3 percent (9-16) of his 3-point attempts so far this year, and he is shooting 57.6 percent overall from the field.
- Andrews, meanwhile is shooting 58.3 percent from inside the 3-point arc and 47.2 overall.
- Perry has connected on 7 of 13 shots from 3-point range, good for 53.8 percent, and is 10 of 28 overall (.357).
Big On The Boards
- Golden Dike finished the DePaul leading all players with 11 rebounds, six coming on the offensive glass. The game was the seventh of his career with 10 or more rebounds, and he finished a point shy of his fifth career double-double.
- Dike is now in 26th-place all-time at the school with 472 in his career.
Taking Advantage Of Time
- Chris Kuzemka missed two-thirds of his freshman season with an ankle injury suffered during the preseason, but he came back to average 7.8 minutes in 11 outings late in the year.
- Monday night at DePaul, he had his most productive game, statistically speaking, scoring seven to go with four rebounds in nearly 13 minutes of action. The 2021 Virginia Class 6A State Player of the Year set a career-high in both points and rebounds against the Blue Demons.
- He followed that with six points and four boards at Penn State.
Chart Climbers
- Jaylin Andrews and Kenneth Jones both took advantage of their fifth years of eligibility, and they are continuing to climb the Loyola career-record charts.
- Andrews is now 34th in points (1,094), tied for 14th in 3-pointers made (114) and ninth in steals (144).
- Jones is eighth in 3-pointers made (148), 12th in assists (306) and 17th in steals (110).
Looking Back
- Loyola finished the 2021-2022 season with a 14-16 record, finishing sixth in the Patriot League standings with an 8-10 record. The sixth-place finish was the Greyhounds' highest since joining the conference for the 2013-14 season.
- The Greyhounds opened the year with a 1-4 record through November 17, but they then won four in a row and 10 of 12 games through the middle of January to get to 11-6 after a 69-57 win at Lehigh.
- Cam Spencer led Loyola and the Patriot League with an 18.9 points per game scoring average, while Jaylin Andrews joined him to form the Patriot League's top-scoring duo by averaging 13.7.
- Kenneth Jones led the conference in assists (139) and assists per game (4.6), posting eight games of seven or more assists during the season.
- Loyola was second in the conference in scoring defense, holding opponents to 65.7 points per game during the year. It led the Patriot League in steals per game with 7.9 as three of the top four players in the conference were Greyhounds (Cam Spencer, 2.1; Jaylin Andrews, 1.4; Kenneth Jones, 1.3).
Business Suits Required
- Three Greyhounds – Jaylin Andrews, Kenneth Jones and Markese Redding – returned to the Loyola roster this season as graduate students. All three are completing classes in the fall and spring semesters to earn their M.B.A. degrees.
Scorers Under Hardy
- Loyola has had the total points scored leader in the Patriot League fourth year in a row since Head Coach Tavaras Hardy came to the Evergreen campus for the 2018-19 season.
- Andrew Kostecka led the conference in points scored during the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons, as did Santi Aldama during 2019-20.
- Last year, Cam Spencer leads all Patriot League players with 566 points.
Guardian of the Game
- Tavaras Hardy was named the recipient of the 2022 National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Guardian of the Game Award for Inclusion, honoring Hardy and the Greyhounds' commitment to building a program that embodies all cultures and backgrounds.
- Hardy formed a coaching staff that includes the only female assistant coach at the NCAA Division I level, a female director of operations and previously a former European coach.
- The Greyhounds have also recruited student-athletes from diverse backgrounds, including from four other countries.
Dishing
- Kenneth Jones led the Patriot League with 4.6 assists per game, and last season, he had eight games with seven or more assists, the first eight of his career. Loyola was third in the conference with 15.0 assists per game. Its 449 assists last season ranked sixth most in school history.
- As a team, the Greyhounds recorded 20 or more assists five times last season (24 versus Elizabethtown, 22 against Chicago State, 21 at St. Bonaventure, 20 at Army West Point and 21 versus Holy Cross). Loyola was 51st nationally in assists per game.
- Per KenPom.com, the Greyhounds dished out assists on 59.5 percent of their made baskets, the 24th-highest percentage in NCAA Division I last year.
- In Tavaras Hardy's four-plus years as Loyola's head coach, the Greyhounds have 16 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. He then had the same total on January 13 against Lafayette.
Stepping Into A Leading Role
- Jaylin Andrews was the Greyhounds' top returning scorer last 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.
- He finished the 2021-22 season ranked ninth int he Patriot League in points per game at 13.7, while he also averaged 1.4 steals and 4.1 rebounds per game.
- Andrews became the 39th player in school history to score 1,000 points in a career when on February 16, 2022, at Lafayette, his 104th career game .
- 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 that year's 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 111 career games, of which he has started 98, Andrews is averaging 9.9 points and 3.9 rebounds per game.
On The Right Track
- Kenneth Jones was a consistent member of the Greyhounds' rotation throughout the first three years of his career, averaging 20.8 minutes over 76 games heading into his senior season. In 2021-22, however, Jones stepped into the role of a full-time starter and saw his minutes, and production, soar.
- He averaged 33.3 minutes per game, while producing 8.9 points, 2.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists per contest, all career-highs. He had a 2.21:1 assist-to-turnover ratio that ranks third in the Patriot League and is a career-high, as well. His 4.6 assists were 58th in NCAA Division I.
- His 139 assists were 10th in school single-season history.
- Jones averaged 4.6 assists in 18 Patriot League regular-season games last year, and his total of 83 dimes were 14 more than any other player in conference play.
- This season, Jones started with a 20-point outing at DePaul, matching his career-high set late in 2021-2022.
- Over his career, Jones has played in 109 games, starting 43, and averages 7.0 points and 2.8 assists per game.
At The Next Level
- Former Loyola standout Santi Aldama has made a considerable impact in his second NBA season. Aldama, who played for the Greyhounds from 2018-2020, earning 2019 Patriot League All-Rookie honors and then 2020 All-Patriot League First Team recognition, was a first-round pick of the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2021 NBA Draft.
- After seeing action in 32 games a rookie, Aldama has stepped into Memphis' starting lineup this year at the four spot and is averaging 9.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocked shots per game for the Grizzlies through 15 games.
Up Next
- The Greyhounds head to Clemson for a Monday, November 21, game before traveling to Destin, Florida, for the Emerald Coast Classic November 25-26.
