Game Information
Opponent	American Eagles
Follow Us	Instagram | Twitter
Game Notes	Loyola
Date	Saturday, February 25, 2023
Time	5:00 p.m.
Location	Baltimore, Md. | Reitz Arena
Tickets	Purchase
Directions	Click Here
Watch	ESPN+ | International View Stream
Online Media	Live Stats

Quick Hits About The Hounds

• Loyola University Maryland plays its final regular-season game of the 2022-23 campaign on Saturday, February 25, when it hosts American University in a 5 p.m. game at Reitz Arena.
• The contest will stream on ESPN+.
• Deon Perry was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week on February 13, the second time this year he's won the honor.
• Perry has raised his scoring average throughout conference play and is averaging 13.1 points in 17 Patriot League games. In 13 non-conference outings, he averaged 7.8 per game.
• Golden Dike and Alonso Faure have similarly boosted their rebounding numbers during the conference season. Dike has averaged 6.9 against Patriot League teams, compared to 6.0 in non-league games. Faure is up to 6.8 over 4.8 earlier in the year.
• 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 18th game of League play with an average of 7.6 per game. Jones is fourth individually with 52 total and 1.6 per game, and Deon Perry ranks sixth in the conference with 49 total, 30 in Patriot League games.

Senior Day Ceremony

• The Greyhounds will honor their three senior student-athletes  – Golden Dike, Daraun Gray & Alex Jackson – and three managers – Nick Giordano, Cam Harris and Joe Shanahan – in a pregame ceremony beginning at 4:40 p.m.

Watch The Action

• Saturday game, along with all non-televised Patriot League contests, will stream live on ESPN+.

Series History Versus American

• Loyola and American will meet or the 104th time in series history and the 22nd time as Patriot League foes.
• American leads the all-time series, 53-50, after a 71-55 win in this season's first meeting on January 2, 2023. The teams split last season's games with each winning on its home floor.
• The teams first met in 1927-28 when the Eagles pulled out a 27-25 win in Baltimore. They were later conference opponents in the Mason-Dixon Conference from the early 1940s through mid 1970s.
• Loyola is 38-25 in games played on its home campus in the series, while the Eagles hold a 12-8 advantage in Patriot League contests.

Last Time Out

• Deon Perry scored 27 points to lead four Loyola players in double figures on Wednesday as the Greyhounds had their second 90-point game in two weeks with a 90-68 victory over visiting Holy Cross.
• Loyola raced out to a 55-39 halftime lead, scoring the most points in a half, and the Greyhounds the opened the second half on a 16-3 run to lead 71-42 on an Alonso Faure dunk 6:10 into the period, pushing the margin to its largest point at 29.
• Faure had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, while Jaylin Andrews scored 17 and Kenneth Jones added 12. Golden Dike nearly had the second double-double in Greyhounds' history, scoring eight points to go with 11 rebounds and a career-high eight assists.

Second Half Story

• Loyola finished the first half of Patriot League play with a 2-7 record, but through the first eight games of the second half, the Greyhounds are 4-4.
• Improved offensive has been the key to the improved second half as they have shot 47.4 percent from the field, 40.1 from 3-point range and 70.5 from the free-throw line. During the first half of the conference schedule, Loyola shot 43.7 overall, 31.3 from 3-point range and 57.1 from the line. This has led to an increase in scoring from 59.7 points per game to 73.4
• Assists are up, as well, going from 10.9 to 14.9, while turnovers have decreased from 14.6 to 11.5. 
• Loyola is outrebounding teams by 1.3 boards per game after opponents had a 2.7 rebound advantage in the first nine.
• Individually, Kenneth Jones was the only Loyola player averaging more than nine points per game in the first nine conference games, but now all five Greyhounds starters – Deon Perry (18.3), Jaylin Andrews (14.0), Alonso Faure (10.8), Jones (10.3) and Golden Dike (9.3) – are over that average. 
• Perry has made the biggest increase, going from 8.4 points in the first nine games to 18.3 in the last eight. Faure has raised his scoring average from 6.7 to 10.8, while Andrews has jumped from 8.1 to 14.0.

Playing Big

• Deon Perry has been the Greyhounds' leading scorer over their last 13 games, averaging 15.8 points in a stretch that opened January 11 with a then-career-high 22 at Bucknell.
• The 5-foot-8 guard has shot 44.8 percent (42 of 94) from 3-point range during the 13 games, raising his per-game scoring average from 6.9 after the January 8 game at Holy Cross to its current mark of 10.8.
• Perry has been more aggressive in getting into the paint during the stretch of 13 games and has gone to the free-throw line 42 times, making 38. Prior to the first Bucknell game, he had taken only 16 free throws this year.
• In his last seven games, Perry has averaged 18.3 points per game and is 31 of 64 from 3-point range (48.4 percent).
• Defensively, Perry has 23 steals in Loyola's last seven games to raise his season total to 39, a number that is sixth in the Patriot League. He is third in the conference in steals in League games with 30.

In Terms Of Freshmen

• Perry's 28 points on February 11 at Lehigh are a to-date career-high, and they're the most by a Loyola freshman since Lucious Jordan scored 28 in February 2002, a stretch of 21 years.
• Perry has four games with 20 or more points, the most by a Loyola freshman since Jordan also posted four in the 2001-02 campaign.
• Amongst a strong crop of Patriot League freshmen this season, Perry's 13.2 points during conference play ranks third behind Holy Cross's Will Batchelder (15.4) and Army West Point's Ethan Roberts (14.2). Overall, Perry's scoring average ranks 10th among all players.

Righting The Ship

• Jaylin Andrews had his best game of the conference season against Bucknell on January 28, scoring 24 points on 7 of 8 from the field and 9 of 12 from the line.
• The game, and eight subsequent outings, raised his conference scoring average to 10.9 points after he entered averaging 8.1 points in nine games. Andrews has also boosted his field-goal percentage to 44.5 percent overall in Patriot League play after he was shooting 37.3 percent through nine games.
• Andrews is averaging 13.6 points in Loyola's wins this year, 9.7 in its losses.

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 23 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 30 contests, averaging 7.6 per game with 228 total. Loyola's steals per game rank 70th in the nation.
• Kenneth Jones is third in the conference, averaging 1.73 per game, an average that ranks No. 96 in NCAA Division I. His 52 total steals are 60th in the nation. Deon Perry is sixth in the conference with 1.63 steals per game. He's 82nd nationally with 49 total steals.
• Loyola also ranks first in the conference, and 84th in the nation, in turnovers forced per game, averaging 13.9.

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. Kuzemka scored 11 of his 15 in the second half of a win over Navy.
• In 30 games this year, Kuzemka has averaged 6.9 points per game. Kuzemka, who has started 3 of 30 games, is the conference's No. 2 bench player who has opened less than half of his team's games.

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. He posted his second double-double with 16 points and 10 boards at Lehigh in February, and he followed that with 13 and eight against Lafayette.
• Faure is shooting a team-best 58.7 percent from the field this year, making 105 of 179 shots, and his 2-point field goal percentage is 64.6 percent (97 of 150). 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 16th in points (1,340), 11th in 3-pointers made (133) and seventh in steals (163).
• Jones is  fourth in 3-pointers made (192), fifth in assists (401) and ninth in steals (157). On February 4, he became the 41st player in school history with 1,000 points and now has 1,056.
• Against Lafayette on January 28, Jones became Loyola's all-time leader in games played with 128 (now 136). Andrews is now second at 135.
• Golden Dike, meanwhile, is now tied for 13th in rebounds (635) and second in career field-goal percentage (.561).

Jaylin's Game

• 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.
• 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.
• Through 135 career games, of which he has started 112, 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.
• Over his career, Jones has played in 136 games, starting 70, and averages 7.8 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 9.5 points and 4.6 rebounds per game for the Grizzlies in 55 games played.

Up Next

• The Greyhounds will play Tuesday, February 28, in the Patriot League Championships First Round. Location, opponent and time will be determined after Saturday's conference games.