Quick Hits About The Hounds
- Loyola University Maryland men's basketball returns to Reitz Arena for the first time in the new calendar year on Thursday, January 5, to host the U.S. Military Academy.
- Thursday's night's game is slated for a 7 o'clock tipoff and will stream live on ESPN+.
- The game is the lone home contest during three out of four on the road.
- Loyola has shown a balanced scoring attack this season with five players averaging better than seven points per game and nine at five or more.
- The Greyhounds, American and Navy are the only three Patriot League teams with as many players averaging 7.0 or more entering conference play, and the Loyola is the only team with nine averaging five-plus.
- 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 lead the conference in steals going into the third game of League play with an average of 7.87 per game. Jones is third individually with 32 total and 2.1 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
- Thursday's game, along with all non-televised Patriot League games will stream live on ESPN+.
Series History Versus American
- Loyola and Army West Point will meet for the 20th time in series history on Thursday and the 19th time since the Greyhounds joined the Patriot League prior to the 2013-14 season.
- The teams first played on January 13, 1990, in Reitz Arena when they were both members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Loyola won that game, 62-55, but the teams would not meet again until January 5, 2014, as Patriot League members.
- Last season, the teams split the two-game series, each winning on its own home court.
- The Greyhounds carded a 61-57 win on February 2, 2022, in Baltimore and now hold a 10-9 all-time lead in the series.
Last Time Out
- American scored the game's first seven points and then used a 19-10 run to build a 14-point lead with just over six minutes to play in the first half, and the Eagles went on to a 71-55 win over Loyola on Monday afternoon in Washington, D.C.
- Kenneth Jones knocked down a three from the top-right of the perimeter at 15:50, and Loyola trailed 11-9. Connor Nelson responded with a three for the Eagles, however, kicking off the Eagles' run.
- After a Deon Perry jumper for the Greyhounds at 10:28 cut it to 19-13, Matt Rogers made a layup for American, Johnny O'Neil hit a three, and Colin Smalls converted a traditional 3-point play, and the lead was 12, 27-15 at the 8:00 mark.
- Elijah Stephens scored in the paint for American, pushing the lead to 37-20 with just over 30 ticks left in regulation, but Jones hit a fading baseline jumper from 18 feet at the buzzer to send Loyola to the locker room down 15.
- Loyola got a spark in the second half from Jaylin Andrews, starting at 13:30 when he made a free-throw line jumper. He then grabbed a steal and converted an and-one moments later. At 12:09, he made two more at the line, and after an O'Neil jumper stopped the 7-0 run, Andrews had another jumper fall to cut the deficit to nine, 48-39, at 11:33. Geoff Sprouse, however, made a three for the Eagles at 10:47 to start a 14-2 run that would move the lead to 62-41 at 6:49.
- Chris Kuzemka made a three at 3:09 to pull the Greyhounds within 12, and Isaiah Alexander came up with a steal on the next defensive possession, but Loyola would not draw closer than a dozen.
- Andrews finished with 13 points and three steals for the Greyhounds, while Golden Dike added nine and team highs of seven rebounds and three assists. Kuzemka and Alonso Faure each scored eight. O'Neil led all players with 21 points.
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 15 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.
- Three 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 lead the Patriot League in steals per game through 15 contests, averaging 7.87 per game with 118 total.
- Kenneth Jones is third in the conference, averaging 2.1 per game, an average that ranks No. 48 in NCAA Division I. His 32 total steals are 26th in the nation.
- Loyola also ranks first in the conference, and 74th in the nation, in turnovers forced per game, averaging 14.93.
Boxing Out
- Neither Golden Dike, nor Alonso Faure played more than 24 minutes against Goucher, but each posted big rebounding numbers. Dike was two off tying his career-high, finishing with 16, and Faure grabbed a career-best 13.
- Dike's 16 are tied for 14th-most in school single-game history and boosted him into the top-20 of the career all-time charts (20th, 536). He is now sixth in the Patriot League with 5.9 rebounds per game.
- It was also the second tie in their careers that both players have been in the starting five (also at Boston University, Patriot Leauge Quarterfinals, March 3, 2022).
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.
- In 15 games this year, Kuzemka has averaged 7.4 points per game, and his .429 mark from 3-point range ranks 11th 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 60 percent from the field in his first eight games this year, making 54 of 90 shots. His field-goal percentage this season ranks fourth 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 now 28th in points (1,180), tied for 12th in 3-pointers made (123) and ninth in steals (153).
- Jones is seventh in 3-pointers made (167), 11th in assists (349) and tied for 11th in steals (137).
- Golden Dike, meanwhile, is now 20th in rebounds (536) and second in career field-goal percentage (.567).
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 120 career games, of which he has started 97, Andrews is averaging 9.8 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.
- Over his career, Jones has played in 121 games, starting 55, 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 9.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 0.9 blocked shots per game for the Grizzlies in 33 games played.
Up Next
- Loyola heads on the road for its next two games, playing first at College of the Holy Cross on Sunday, January 8, in a 12 noon game.
- The Greyhounds then make the trip to Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, for a Wednesday, January 11, game at Bucknell University.
