Quick Hits About The Hounds
- Loyola University Maryland men's basketball returns for the first of two home games in the three days, starting on Saturday, January 14, against the U.S. Naval Academy in Reitz Arena.
- The game is set for tipoff at 5 p.m. and will stream live on ESPN+.
- Loyola has shown a balanced scoring attack this season with six players averaging better than 6.4 points per game and seven at five or more.
- Deon Perry scored 22 points on January 11 at Bucknell, becoming the first Loyola freshman to score 20+ since 2018-19.
- Golden Dike has raised his rebounding numbers over the last eight games, averaging 8.8 boards per game since January December 10. During that stretch, he has three games with 10 or more rebounds.
- Kenneth Jones is the only Patriot League player to have 10 assists in a game this season, a feat he's accomplished twice.
- The Greyhounds are second in the conference in steals going into the third game of League play with an average of 7.90 per game. Jones is second individually with 35 total and 2.2 per game.
- 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
- Saturday's game, along with all non-televised Patriot League games will stream live on ESPN+.
Series History Versus Navy
- Loyola and Navy will meet for the 44th time in series history on Saturday and the 21st time since Loyola joined the Patriot League for the 2013-14 season.
- The Midshipmen hold a 33-10 all-time lead in the series after winning both regular-season meetings last year. Navy has six of the last seven games with the outlier being Loyola's win in the 2021 Patriot League Championships Quarterfinals.
- Last year, Navy won the two games by a combined three points. The Midshipmen were 56-55 winners at Reitz Arena on February 5, 2022, before scoring a 52-50 decision 18 days later in Annapolis, Maryland.
Last Time Out
- Deon Perry made five 3-pointers and scored a career-high 22 points on Wednesday night, leading visiting Loyola to a 67-57 Patriot League win on the road at Bucknell in Sojka Pavilion.
- The freshman guard was 7 of 13 from the field and converted on half of his 10 3-point attempts. In addition to his game-high in points, he led all players with four assists while not committing a turnover in 31 minutes of action.
- Chris Kuzemka added 12 points, and Jaylin Andrews had 11 for the Greyhounds in their first win at Bucknell as a Patriot League team and first since December 28, 2011, when Loyola's 72-67 win snapped an 18-game home court winning streak for the Bison.
- Loyola never trailed in the game, but a Xander Rice basket with 10:40 to go in the first half made it 12-11 Greyhounds. Loyola scored 10 of the next 12 points and led 22-12 on two Alonso Faure free throws at 6:18.
- Rice made a three with 84 seconds left in the first half, but Perry responded in kind, pulling up for a three off a Bucknell turnover with 44 ticks on the clock, and Loyola went to the locker room up, 31-25.
- The Bison trimmed the six-point halftime deficit to one, 37-36, on a Rice three at 15:58, but Loyola went on a 13-3 run capped by a Kuzemka three to build a 50-39 advantage at 13:01.
- A Perry free throw with 10:12 to go stretched the advantage to 56-43, but a Rice jumper cut it to 57-51 at 6:45. Rice finished with a team-high 18 points for the Bison.
- David Brown III came up with a long rebound off the defensive glass for Loyola and scored in transition at 3:32, pushing the lead to 11, and Loyola would stay up by eight or more the remainder of the game.
- Golden Dike led all players with nine rebounds, while Faure had eight to go with seven points.
Big Game For The Freshman
- Deon Perry led the way to a 67-57 win at Bucknell on Wednesday night, making 7 of 13 shots, 5 of 10 from 3-point range to eclipse his previous career-high of 22 points.
- Perry scored 11 of his 22 in the first 11 minutes of the game, draining three of his shots from behind the arc. He ended the first half with 14.
- The freshman from Baltimore also had four assists without a turnover in the contest, and Loyola outscored the Bison by 27 in the 30-plus minutes he was in the game.
- Perry's 22-point game raised his season scoring average to 7.7 points per game.
Winning Formulas
- Loyola's wins this season have come with several common denominators. The Greyhounds are 5-0 when having the same or better field-goal percentage than their opponents, and all six of their wins have come when turning the ball over fewer times than opponents.
Back In The Rotation
- Sophomore Veljko Ilic returned to the Greyhounds rotation on December 30 for the start of Patriot League play. The post player missed the first 14 games of the year with a knee injury after averaging 14.6 minutes in 30 games during 2021-22. He averaged 5.7 points and 3.4 rebounds per game as a freshman.
Dealing Dimes
- Loyola's record-setting 30 assists on December 22 against Goucher broke the previous school-best of 27 from a January 8, 1994, game against the University of Maine.
- It 32nd time in record history that the Greyhounds have had 20 or more in a game and sixth time with 25-plus. It was the first time Loyola had 25 or more since January 5, 2000, when it had 25 against Canisius University.
- In Tavaras Hardy's four-plus years as Loyola's head coach, the Greyhounds have 19 games with 20 or more assists. In the prior eight years, they had just three such games.
Sharing The Scoring
- Through 17 games, six different players have led, or shared for the team-lead, in scoring this season. Ten different Greyhounds have logged games with 10-plus points, as well.
- Four of the players who have led the team in scoring this year – David Brown III, Alonso Faure, Chris Kuzemka and Deon Perry – had not led the team in scoring prior to this season, and only Faure (three times) had a game with 10 or more points.
Ten Dimes
- Kenneth Jones dished out 10 assists for the first time in his career on November 30 at Binghamton, posting his first double-double in the process (13 points). He repeated the performance less than two weeks later when he had 16 points, 10 assists and six steals on December 13 against UMBC.
- Jones is one of 15 players nationally to have two games with 10 or more assists this season.
- Jones had nine assists in a pair of games last season while leading the Patriot League in helpers. His 10 in the two games this year are the most by a player in the conference. He is one of 29 players in Loyola history with 10 or more assists in a game.
Swiping Steals
- The Greyhounds are second in the Patriot League in steals per game through 17 contests, averaging 7.6 per game with 129 total.
- Kenneth Jones is third in the conference, averaging 2.0 per game, an average that ranks No. 55 in NCAA Division I. His 35 total steals are 31st in the nation.
- Loyola also ranks first in the conference, and 86th in the nation, in turnovers forced per game, averaging 14.56.
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.
- He opened the season with seven points and four rebounds at DePaul and has continued to contribute significantly since.
- In the finale of the Emerald Coast Classic, Kuzemka made 4 of 7 from 3-point range and scored 12 points to go with three assists in 27 minutes during the win.
- Then, for the second game in a row, Kuzemka had a career-high night in the points column, making 6 of 7 shots, 5 of 6 from 3-point range, finishing with 18 points at Binghamton. He posted his third double-digit scoring night at Hampton, making 4 of 5 from three and scoring 14, a point total he matched on December 13 against UMBC. He led Loyola with 14 points on January 8 at Holy Cross, and he added 12 in a win at Bucknell.
- In 18 games this year, Kuzemka has averaged 8.2 points per game, and his .441 mark from 3-point range ranks 10th in the Patriot League.
Faure Rounding Into Form
- Alonso Faure did not play in the Greyhounds' preseason scrimmage or exhibition due to an injury, and he played just nine minutes in the opener against DePaul before a hand injury forced him out for the second half and the following game at Penn State.
- The native of Alicante, Spain, scored eight in 19 minutes versus Brown and then had a career-best 18 points – making 8 of 11 shots – and three steals in 20 minutes versus Washington College.
- He then saw 26 minutes of action against Clemson and went 6 of 9 from the field to score a game-high 15 points while leading Loyola with six rebounds. In the first game of the Emerald Coast Classic in Florida, Faure went 5 of 7 from the field and scored 10 to go with seven rebounds.
- He continued to convert from the field, making 7 of 10 for 17 points and a team-high seven rebounds at Binghamton. Faure logged his first collegiate double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds against Goucher, making 7 of 9 baskets in 21 minutes.
- Faure is shooting a team-best 56.0 percent from the field this year, making 61 of 109 shots, and his 2-point field goal percentage is 60.8 percent (59 of 97). His field-goal percentage this season ranks fifth in the Patriot League. Entering this year, he was shooting 50.7 percent in his career after putting up nearly identical numbers of 34 of 67 (.5074) in 2020-2021 and 35 of 69 (.5072) last year.
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 26th in points (1,206), tied for 11th in 3-pointers made (125) and tied for ninth in steals (154).
- Jones is seventh in 3-pointers made (169), 10th in assists (355) and 10th in steals (141). He is 93 points away from 1,000 for his career.
- Golden Dike, meanwhile, is now 19th in rebounds (560) and second in career field-goal percentage (.565).
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.
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.
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 in the 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 123 career games, of which he has started 100, Andrews is averaging 9.8 points and 3.8 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.
- Over his career, Jones has played in 124 games, starting 58, and averages 7.3 points and 2.9 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 as a rookie, Aldama stepped into Memphis' starting lineup early this year at the four spot and is averaging 9.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 0.8 blocked shots per game for the Grizzlies in 38 games played.
Up Next
- Loyola continues its homestand on Monday, January 16, when it hosts Lehigh University at 7 p.m. in a game that will be televised live on CBS Sports Network.
