Quick Hits About The Hounds
- Loyola University Maryland men's basketball starts a two-game road trip to close the 2021-2022 regular-season on Wednesday, February 23.
- The Greyhounds play at the U.S. Naval Academy in a 7 p.m. in a game streamed live on ESPN+.
- Cam Spencer leads the Patriot League in both points (18.8) and steals (2.3) per game as of February 22. He also is second in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.53:1), a stat that ranks him No. 28 in NCAA Division I.
- Spencer is 14th nationally in steals per game, and eighth in total steals. His 62 steals through 27 games are tied for seventh-most in school single-season history and the most since Dylon Cormier had the same total in 2012-13.
- Jaylin Andrews and Kenneth Jones are third and fourth in the conference in steals per game, too.
- Jones tops the conference in assists per game (4.7) and is No. 53 nationally in that category. Loyola is 45th in assists per game (15.4) as a team.
- The Greyhounds have the top scoring duo in the Patriot League with Spencer and Jaylin Andrews (14.4). Together, they average 33.2 points per game.
- 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.
Series History Versus Navy
- Loyola and Navy will meet for the 43rd time in school history when the teams take the floor on Wednesday night in Annapolis. The Midshipmen own a 32-10 advantage in the series after a 56-55 victory on February 5, 2022 in Baltimore.
- Cam Spencer scored 18 points, and Jaylin Andres had 13, for the Greyhounds in the one-point loss.
Last Time Out
- Loyola held visiting Lehigh University to under 30-percent from the field and only 42 points as the Greyhounds cruised to a 69-42 Patriot League win on Sunday.
- Cam Spencer scored 23 points and matched his career-high with nine rebounds, while Jaylin Andrews collected his fourth career double-double with 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds and Kenneth Jones added 16 points and four assists.
- Loyola's lead escalated quickly during the early portions of the game as threes by Andrews, Spencer and David Brown III helped Loyola led 19-2 with 10 minutes to play in the first half before the Mountain Hawks made their second field goal of the game, a Keith Higgins Jr. basket, with 9:57 to play.
- Lehigh did chip away at the deficit, getting to within four, 23-19, on an Evan Taylor layup with 3:26 to go before halftime, but Spencer knocked down his second three of the half 19 seconds later. Higgins then converted a pull-up jumper for the Mountain Hawks at 2:18 to make it 26-21, but Golden Dike scored in the paint at 1:59 to spark what would turn into a 22-2 Loyola run which spanned both halves.
- Spencer made a three with 37 second left before the break, and then after Loyola forced a shot-clock violation by Lehigh, the Greyhounds had a sideline inbounds play with two seconds left in the half. Jones inbounded the ball to Andrews, and he hit a falling 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded to send Loyola to the locker room up 34-21.
- Loyola came out of the locker room and scored the first seven points on a layup by Spencer, a Jones three and a Dike layup, forcing a Lehigh timeout with the Mountain Hawks down, 41-21. The lead stretched to 45-22 on an Andrews basket just over four minutes into the half, and the Loyola advantage never dipped below 20 the rest of the way.
- No Lehigh player scored in double figures, and only two had more than five.
Locked Down
- The 42 points Loyola yielded to Lehigh on Sunday night were the fewest the Greyhounds have allowed in a Patriot League game since joining the conference in 2013-2014. The Mountain Hawks' 29.8 percent from the field was the second-lowest by a Loyola opponent during the same span.
- Lehigh entered the game averaging 47.3 percent from the 3-point range, but Loyola held the Mountain Hawks to 4 of 19 (21.1 percent) from behind the arc.
Crossing The Plateau
- Jaylin Andrews became the 39th player in school history to score 1,000 points in a career when on February 16 at Lafayette. The senior did so in his 104th career game and is now averaging 9.7 points over his career.
Scorers Under Hardy
- Loyola is on track to have the total points scored leader in the Patriot League for the fourth year in a row since Head Coach Tavaras Hardy came to the Evergreen campus.
- Andrew Kostecka led the conference in points scored during the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons, as did Santi Aldama during 2019-20;
- This year, Cam Spencer leads all Patriot League players with 508 points through games of February 22.
Spencer Named To Lou Henson Award Watch List
- Cam Spencer became the first player in Loyola history to earn a spot on the Lou Henson Award Midseason Watch List. The junior guard was one of 40 players – one of two in the Patriot League (John Carter, Navy) – to be listed as midseason candidates for the mid-major player of the year honor.
- He was also named the Patriot League Player of the Week on January 17 after averaging 22 points in three wins.
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 February 22, in points (18.8) and steals (2.3) per game. In 27 games this season, the junior guard has scored 508 points and has scored in double figures in all but one contest.
- He is also seventh in the conference in assists per game (3.4), and he ranks 28th in all of NCAA Division I with a 2.53:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. His steals per game mark is 14th nationally, and he is eighth in total steals (62), 27th in total points and 48th in points per game.
- This year's start has come after Spencer played just 28 of 49 games over his first two seasons at Loyola due to injury, and the Greyhounds were only 4-17 in games he did not play during that stretch. In his 55 career games – Loyola is 31-24 in games he has played – as he averages 14.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game. He has a career 2.69:1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
- Spencer has scored 20 or more points nine times this year, logging 25 or higher six 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.
- Spencer has two games this year with nine rebounds, home contests against Army West Point and Lehigh, and is second on the team with 4.9 boards per game.
- He went for 26 points, 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, again on January 10 versus Bucknell and once more on January 17 at Lehigh. He had his fifth game with 26 or more this season on February 9 when he went 11 of 15 from the field and finished with 27 at Holy Cross.
- 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 leads the Patriot League with 4.7 assists per game, and this season, Jones has eight games with seven or more assists, the first eight of his career. Loyola is third in the conference lead with 15.3 assists 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 44th nationally in assists per game.
- Per KenPom.com, the Greyhounds dish out assists on 59.8 percent of their made baskets, the 25th-highest percentage in NCAA Division I this year.
- In Tavaras Hardy's three-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 assist total on January 13 against Lafayette.
Hitting Twos
- Loyola is second in the Patriot League in 2-point field-goal percentage this season, shooting 52.3 percent from inside the arc. In conference games, they're clicking at a clip of 53.3 percent on twos.
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 48.8 percent from the field in their 14 victories, 37.5 percent from 3-point range. Meanwhile, they are shooting 40.8 percent, overall, in 13 losses, while their 3-point average dips to 28.2 percent.
- Individually, Loyola has had better balance in its scoring during the wins where Cam Spencer and Jaylin Andrews are averaging 19.3 and 16.6 points per game, respectively, in the victories, while Kenneth Jones is at 9.9 points. In the 13 losses, Spencer has averaged 18.3 points, Andrews 11.9 and no other player more than 7.5 per game.
Don't Forget The Defense
- The Greyhounds' defense has been putting in the work, too, during the wins. Loyola has limited opponents to 40.6 percent from the field in its 14 wins, 32.3 percent from 3-point range. Meanwhile, teams have shot 46.3 percent in the 13 Loyola losses, 35.9 percent from behind the arc.
Sticky Fingers
- Thanks to Cam Spencer, Jaylin Andrews and Kenneth Jones ranking first, third and fourth in the Patriot League in steals per game at 2.3, 1.7 and 1.5, respectively, Loyola is second in the Patriot League with 7.9 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 27 games, he has averaged 33.3 minutes per game, while producing 8.2 points, 256 rebounds and 4.7 assists per contest, all career-highs. He has a 2.2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio that ranks third in the Patriot League and is a career-high, as well. His 4.7 assists are 53rd in NCAA Division I.
- His 128 assists are tied for 12th in school single-season history.
- Jones is averaging 4.9 assists in 15 Patriot League games this year, and his total of 77 dimes are 10 more than any other player in conference play.
- Over his career, Jones has played in 103 games, starting 37, and averages 6.6 points and 2.8 assists per game. His 285 career assists are 13th 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.
- 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 105 career games, of which he has started 82, Andrews is averaging 9.7 points and 3.9 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 was 12th in the NCAA in scoring (21.2 ppg) and 14th in rebounds (10.1).
Up Next
- Loyola closes the regular-season on Saturday, February 26, with a 2 p.m. game at American University.
